to the culminating men of talent of his time might be expressed in the words of the Evangelist: "(
Greek characters)" (John vii. 6). The man of talent can achieve what is beyond the power of achievement of other men, but not what is beyond their power of apprehension: therefore he at once finds those who prize him. But the achievement of the man of genius, on the contrary, transcends not only the power of achievement, but also the power of apprehension of others; therefore they do not become directly conscious of him. The man of talent is like the marksman who hits a mark the others cannot hit; the man of genius is like the marksman who hits a mark they cannot even see to; therefore they only get news of him indirectly, and thus late; and even this they only accept upon trust and faith. Accordingly Goethe says in one of his letters, "Imitation is inborn in us; what to imitate is not easily recognised. Rarely is what is excellent found; still more rarely is it prized." And Chamfort says: "Il en est de la valeur des kommes comme de celle des diamans, qui d'une certaine mesure de grosseur, de pureté, de perfection, ont un prix fixe, et marqué, mais qui, par-delà cette mesure, restent sans prix, et ne trouvent point d'acheteurs." And Bacon of Veruhim has also expressed it: "Infimarum virtutum, apud vulgus, laus est, mediarum admiratio, supremarum sensus nullus" (De augm. sc., L. vi. c. 3). Indeed, one might perhaps reply, Apud vulgus! But I must then come to his assistance with Machiavelli's assurance: "Nel mondo non è se non volgo;"[1] as also Thilo (Ueber den Ruhm) remarks, that to the vulgar herd there generally belongs one more than each of us believes. It is a consequence of this late recognition of the works of the man of genius that they are rarely enjoyed by their contemporaries, and accordingly in the freshness of colour which synchronism and presence imparts, but, like figs and dates, much more in a dry than in a fresh state.
- ↑ There is nothing else in the world but the vulgar.
