That men are slow to recognize genuine merit
when it appears in their own age, also proves that they do not
understand or enjoy or really value the long-acknowledged works of
genius, which they honor only on the score of authority. The crucial
test is the fact that bad work--Fichte's philosophy, for example--if
it wins any reputation, also maintains it for one or two generations;
and only when its public is very large does its fall follow sooner.
Now, just as the sun cannot shed its light but to the eye that sees
it, nor music sound but to the hearing ear, so the value of all
masterly work in art and science is conditioned by the kinship and
capacity of the mind to which it speaks. It is only such a mind as
this that possesses the magic word to stir and call forth the spirits
that lie hidden in great work. To the ordinary mind a masterpiece is
a sealed cabinet of mystery,--an unfamiliar musical instrument from
which the player, however much he may flatter himself, can draw none
but confused tones. How different a painting looks when seen in a good
light, as compared with some dark corner! Just in the same way, the
impression made by a masterpiece varies with the capacity of the mind
to understand it.
A fine work, then, requires a mind sensitive to its beauty; a
thoughtful work, a mind that can really think, if it is to exist and
live at all.
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