Volume Ii Part 18 (2/2)

AGAINST THE CULTIVATION OF MUSIC.-The artistic training of the eye from childhood upwards by means of drawing, painting, landscape-sketching, figures, scenes, involves an estimable gain in life, making the eyesight keen, calm, and enduring in the observation of men and circ.u.mstances. No similar secondary advantage arises from the artistic cultivation of the ear, whence public schools will generally do well to give the art of the eye a preference over that of the ear.

214.

THE DISCOVERERS OF TRIVIALITIES.-Subtle minds, from which nothing is farther than trivialities, often discover a triviality after taking all manner of circuitous routes and mountain paths, and, to the astonishment of the non-subtle, rejoice exceedingly.

215.

MORALS OF SAVANTS.-A regular and rapid advance in the sciences is only possible when the individual is compelled to be not so distrustful as to test every calculation and a.s.sertion of others, in fields which are remote from his own. A necessary condition, however, is that every man should have compet.i.tors in his own sphere, who are extremely distrustful and keep a sharp eye upon him. From this juxtaposition of ”not too distrustful” and ”extremely distrustful” arises sincerity in the republic of learning.

216.

REASONS FOR STERILITY.-There are highly gifted minds which are always sterile only because, from temperamental weakness, they are too impatient to wait for their pregnancy.

217.

THE PERVERTED WORLD OF TEARS.-The manifold discomforts which the demands of higher culture cause to man finally pervert his nature to such an extent that he usually keeps himself stoical and unbending. Thus he has tears in reserve only for rare occasions of happiness, so that many must weep even at the enjoyment of painlessness-only when happy does his heart still beat.

218.

THE GREEKS AS INTERPRETERS.-When we speak of the Greeks we unwittingly speak of to-day and yesterday; their universally known history is a blank mirror, always reflecting something that is not in the mirror itself. We enjoy the freedom of speaking about them in order to have the right of being silent about others-so that these Greeks themselves may whisper something in the ear of the reflective reader. Thus the Greeks facilitate to modern men the communication of much that is debatable and hard to communicate.

219.

<script>