Our grand business undoubtedly is, not to see what lies dimly at a distance, but to do what lies clearly at hand.

Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) Scottish essayist and historian

Essay (1829-06), “Signs of the Times,” Edinburgh Review, Vol. 49, No. 98, Art. 7
    (Source)

Review of three 1829 books: Anticipation; or, an Hundred Years Hence; The Rise, Progress, and Present State of Public Opinion in Great Britain; Edward Irvine, The Last Days; or, Discourses on These Our Times.