I do not say that
the impossibility of being certain about these and similar matters
was designed, but it is as complete as though it had been not only
designed but designed exceedingly well.
Squaring Accounts
We owe past generations not only for the master discoveries of music,
science, literature and art--few of which brought profit to those to
whom they were revealed--but also for our organism itself which is an
inheritance gathered and garnered by those who have gone before us.
What money have we paid not for Handel and Shakespeare only but for
our eyes and ears?
And so with regard to our contemporaries. A man is sometimes tempted
to exclaim that he does not fare well at the hands of his own
generation; that, although he may play pretty assiduously, he is
received with more hisses than applause; that the public is hard to
please, slow to praise, and bent on driving as hard a bargain as it
can. This, however, is only what he should expect. No sensible man
will suppose himself to be of so much importance that his
contemporaries should be at much pains to get at the truth concerning
him. As for my own position, if I say the things I want to say
without troubling myself about the public, why should I grumble at
the public for not troubling about me? Besides, not being paid
myself, I can in better conscience use the works of others, as I
daily do, without paying for them and without being at the trouble of
praising or thanking them more than I have a mind to.
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