Goethe's rule is a
good one:--
"Willst du ins Unendliebe schreiten?
So sucht das Endliche, nach allen Seiten."
Would you reach the infinite? Then enter into finite things, working
out all that they contain.
IX
If in working them out a test is wanted to enable us to decide whether
we are working wisely or to our harm, I believe such a test may be
found in the congruity of the new with the old. Shall I by adding a
fresh power to myself strengthen those I already possess? By taking
this path, rich in a certain sort of good as it undoubtedly is, shall
I be diverted from paths where my special goods lie? Here I am, a
student of ethics. A friend calls and tells me of the charms of
astronomy, a study undoubtedly majestic and delightful. Since I desire
to take all knowledge for my province, why not hurry off at once to
study astronomy? No indeed. No astronomy for me. I draw a ring about
that subject and say, "Precious subject, fundamentally valuable for
all men. But I will remain ignorant of it, because it is not quite
congruous with the studies I already have on hand." That must be my
test: not how important is the study itself, but how important is it
for me? How far will it help me to accept and develop those
limitations to which I am now pledged?
In this acceptance of limitation, therefore, which seems at first so
humiliating, I believe we have the starting point of all self-
development.
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