Besides the large number of unqualified philologists there is, on the
other hand, a number of what may be called born philologists, who from
some reason or other are prevented from becoming such. The greatest
obstacle, however, which stands in the way of these born philologists is
the bad representation of philology by the unqualified philologists.

Leopardi is the modern ideal of a philologist: The German philologists
can do nothing. (As a proof of this Voss should be studied!)


11

Let it be considered how differently a science is propagated from the
way in which any special talent in a family is transmitted. The bodily
transmission of an individual science is something very rare. Do the
sons of philologists easily become philologists? _Dubito_. Thus there is
no such accumulation of philological capacity as there was, let us say,
in Beethoven's family of musical capacity. Most philologists begin from
the beginning, and even then they learn from books, and not through
travels, &c. They get some training, of course.


12

Most men are obviously in the world accidentally; no necessity of a
higher kind is seen in them. They work at this and that, their talents
are average. How strange! The manner in which they live shows that they
think very little of themselves: they merely esteem themselves in so far
as they waste their energy on trifles (whether these be mean or
frivolous desires, or the trashy concerns of their everyday calling). In