much more difficult. Young he was, and strong he was, but, already, he
felt the dragging power of the things he would have been better for
not knowing--the things he desired to forget. They were very little
things in comparison to the things that in the future he would wish to
forget; but to him, at this time, they did not seem small. So it was
that, in his effort to acquire Knowledge, the man began to strive also
for Ignorance.

I do not know what it was that the man had learned that he desired to
forget. My story is not the kind of a story that tells those things. I
know, only, that for him to forget was imperative. I know, only, that
had he held fast to Ignorance in some things of which he had gained
knowledge, it would have been better. For him in some things Ignorance
would have been the truest wisdom. Ignorance would have helped him to
work out his dreams when Knowledge only hindered by forcing him to
spend much time striving to forget. Those who know too much of evil
find it extremely difficult to gain knowledge of the good. Those who
know too much of the false find it very hard to recognize the true. A
too great knowledge of things that are wrong makes it almost
impossible for one to believe in that which is right. Ignorance,
rightly understood, is, indeed, one of the Thirteen Truly Great Things
of Life.

And then this man, in learning the value of Ignorance, came perilously
near believing that no man could _know_ anything. He came
dangerously near the belief that Knowledge is all a mirage toward
which men journey hopelessly; a phantom to be grasped by no hand; a
will-o'-the-wisp to be followed here and there but leading nowhere.
He, for a little, said that Ignorance is the truest wisdom. He
believed, for a time, that to say always: "I do not know," is the