Knowledge#
Summary#
The seeker of knowledge must abandon the comfort of his private citadel and descend into the study of ordinary humanity, enduring disgust, bad company, and the loss of elevated tastes. Knowledge demands a form of cruelty toward oneself: the spirit is compelled to perceive against its own inclination, to say “Nay” where it would prefer to affirm, forcing it away from its natural tendency toward appearance and superficiality. In every desire for knowledge there is a drop of cruelty.