Great, genuine and extraordinary work can be done
only in so far as its author disregards the method, the thoughts, the
opinions of his contemporaries, and quietly works on, in spite of
their criticism, on his side despising what they praise. No one
becomes great without arrogance of this sort. Should his life and work
fall upon a time which cannot recognize and appreciate him, he is at
any rate true to himself; like some noble traveler forced to pass the
night in a miserable inn; when morning comes, he contentedly goes his
way.
A poet or philosopher should have no fault to find with his age if it
only permits him to do his work undisturbed in his own corner; nor
with his fate if the corner granted him allows of his following his
vocation without having to think about other people.
For the brain to be a mere laborer in the service of the belly, is
indeed the common lot of almost all those who do not live on the work
of their hands; and they are far from being discontented with
their lot. But it strikes despair into a man of great mind, whose
brain-power goes beyond the measure necessary for the service of
the will; and he prefers, if need be, to live in the narrowest
circumstances, so long as they afford him the free use of his time for
the development and application of his faculties; in other words, if
they give him the leisure which is invaluable to him.
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