One doesn’t discover new lands without consenting to lose sight, for a very long time, of the shore.

Gide’s image of exploration frames innovation—artistic, intellectual, or moral—as a wager against security. “The shore” stands for the familiar: established habits, reputations, orthodoxies, and the reassurance of what is already known. To “lose sight” of it is to accept disorientation and risk for an extended period, without guarantees of success or even of return. The line thus valorizes patience and courage in transition: genuine discovery requires enduring uncertainty long enough for new possibilities to appear. It also implies that clinging to constant reference points (approval, precedent, certainty) prevents real novelty; one must tolerate solitude and doubt to reach “new lands.”