The Essays of Arthur Schopenhauer; Studies in Pessimism by Arthur Schopenhauer
page 50 of 103 (48%)
page 50 of 103 (48%)
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gesticulations. Everything about them cries out; _in terram prona_!
It is not to them, it is only to the nobler and more highly endowed natures--men who really think and look about them in the world, and form exceptional specimens of humanity--that the next lines are applicable; _Os homini sublime dedit coelumque tueri Jussit et erectos ad sidera tollere vultus_. * * * * * No one knows what capacities for doing and suffering he has in himself, until something comes to rouse them to activity: just as in a pond of still water, lying there like a mirror, there is no sign of the roar and thunder with which it can leap from the precipice, and yet remain what it is; or again, rise high in the air as a fountain. When water is as cold as ice, you can have no idea of the latent warmth contained in it. * * * * * Why is it that, in spite of all the mirrors in the world, no one really knows what he looks like? A man may call to mind the face of his friend, but not his own. Here, then, is an initial difficulty in the way of applying the maxim, _Know thyself_. This is partly, no doubt, to be explained by the fact that it is |
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