in society, or in books, and well received--or, at any rate, not
refuted--that that is no reason why you should despair or think there
the matter will rest. You should comfort yourself with the reflection
that the question will be afterwards gradually subjected to
examination; light will be thrown upon it; it will be thought over,
considered, discussed, and generally in the end the correct view will
be reached; so that, after a time--the length of which will depend
upon the difficulty of the subject--everyone will come to understand
that which a clear head saw at once.
In the meantime, of course, you must have patience. He who can see
truly in the midst of general infatuation is like a man whose watch
keeps good time, when all clocks in the town in which he lives are
wrong. He alone knows the right time; but what use is that to him?
for everyone goes by the clocks which speak false, not even excepting
those who know that his watch is the only one that is right.