Page:Aphorisms — an address delivered before the Edinburgh Philosophical Institution, November 11, 1887.djvu/40

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been validated.
APHORISMS
31

who think for other people; between genuine Philosophers, who look at things first hand for their own sake, and Sophists, who look at words and books for the sake of making an appearance before the world, and seek their happiness in what they hope to get from others: he takes Herder for an example of the Sophist, and Lichtenberg for the true Philosopher. It is true that we hear the voice of the Self-thinker, and not the mere Book-philosopher, if we may use for once those uncouth compounds, in such sayings as these:—

"People who never have any time are the people who do least."

"The utmost that a weak head can get out of experience, is an extra readiness to find out the weaknesses of other people."

"Over-anxiously to feel and think what one could have done, is the very worst thing one can do."

"He who has less than he desires, should know that he has more than he deserves."

"Enthusiasts without capacity are the really dangerous people."

This last, by the way, recalls a saying of