But when the errors are on
a large scale, while we lament the brevity of human life, we shall
in any case, do well to lag behind our own age when we see it on a
downward path. For there are two ways of not keeping on a level with
the times. A man may be below it; or he may be above it.
ON GENIUS.
No difference of rank, position, or birth, is so great as the gulf
that separates the countless millions who use their head only in the
service of their belly, in other words, look upon it as an instrument
of the will, and those very few and rare persons who have the courage
to say: No! it is too good for that; my head shall be active only in
its own service; it shall try to comprehend the wondrous and varied
spectacle of this world, and then reproduce it in some form, whether
as art or as literature, that may answer to my character as an
individual. These are the truly noble, the real _noblesse_ of the
world. The others are serfs and go with the soil--_glebae adscripti_.
Of course, I am here referring to those who have not only the courage,
but also the call, and therefore the right, to order the head to quit
the service of the will; with a result that proves the sacrifice to
have been worth the making. In the case of those to whom all this can
only partially apply, the gulf is not so wide; but even though their
talent be small, so long as it is real, there will always be a sharp
line of demarcation between them and the millions.
Pages:
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144