(_To be read before the lectures, although it in no way relates to
them._)
The reader from whom I expect something must possess three qualities:
he must be calm and must read without haste; he must not be ever
interposing his own personality and his own special "culture"; and he
must not expect as the ultimate results of his study of these pages
that he will be presented with a set of new formulæ. I do not propose
to furnish formulæ or new plans of study for _Gymnasia_ or other
schools; and I am much more inclined to admire the extraordinary power
of those who are able to cover the whole distance between the depths
of empiricism and the heights of special culture-problems, and who
again descend to the level of the driest rules and the most neatly
expressed formulæ. I shall be content if only I can ascend a tolerably
lofty mountain, from the summit of which, after having recovered my
breath, I may obtain a general survey of the ground; for I shall never
be able, in this book, to satisfy the votaries of tabulated rules.
Indeed, I see a time coming when serious men, working together in the
service of a completely rejuvenated and purified culture, may again
become the directors of a system of everyday instruction, calculated
to promote that culture; and they will probably be compelled once more
to draw up sets of rules: but how remote this time now seems! And what
may not happen meanwhile! It is just possible that between now and
then all _Gymnasia_--yea, and perhaps all universities, may be
destroyed, or have become so utterly transformed that their very
regulations may, in the eyes of future generations, seem to be but the
relics of the cave-dwellers' age.
This book is intended for calm readers,--for men who have not yet been
drawn into the mad headlong rush of our hurry-skurrying age, and who
do not experience any idolatrous delight in throwing themselves
beneath its chariot-wheels. It is for men, therefore, who are not
accustomed to estimate the value of everything according to the amount
of time it either saves or wastes. In short, it is for the few. These,
we believe, "still have time." Without any qualms of conscience they
may improve the most fruitful and vigorous hours of their day in
meditating on the future of our education; they may even believe when
the evening has come that they have used their day in the most
dignified and useful way, namely, in the _meditatio generis futuri_.
No one among them has yet forgotten to think while reading a book; he
still understands the secret of reading between the lines, and is
indeed so generous in what he himself brings to his study, that he
continues to reflect upon what he has read, perhaps long after he has
laid the book aside. And he does this, not because he wishes to write
a criticism about it or even another book; but simply because
reflection is a pleasant pastime to him. Frivolous spendthrift! Thou
art a reader after my own heart; for thou wilt be patient enough to
accompany an author any distance, even though he himself cannot yet
see the goal at which he is aiming,--even though he himself feels only
that he must at all events honestly believe in a goal, in order that a
future and possibly very remote generation may come face to face with
that towards which we are now blindly and instinctively groping.
Should any reader demur and suggest that all that is required is
prompt and bold reform; should he imagine that a new "organisation"
introduced by the State, were all that is necessary, then we fear he
would have misunderstood not only the author but the very nature of
the problem under consideration.
The third and most important stipulation is, that he should in no case
be constantly bringing himself and his own "culture" forward, after
the style of most modern men, as the correct standard and measure of
all things. We would have him so highly educated that he could even
think meanly of his education or despise it altogether. Only thus
would he be able to trust entirely to the author's guidance; for it is
only by virtue of ignorance and his consciousness of ignorance, that
the latter can dare to make himself heard. Finally, the author would
wish his reader to be fully alive to the specific character of our
present barbarism and of that which distinguishes us, as the
barbarians of the nineteenth century, from other barbarians.
Now, with this book in his hand, the writer seeks all those who may
happen to be wandering, hither and thither, impelled by feelings
similar to his own. Allow yourselves to be discovered--ye lonely ones
in whose existence I believe! Ye unselfish ones, suffering in
yourselves from the corruption of the German spirit! Ye contemplative
ones who cannot, with hasty glances, turn your eyes swiftly from one
surface to another! Ye lofty thinkers, of whom Aristotle said that ye
wander through life vacillating and inactive so long as no great
honour or glorious Cause calleth you to deeds! It is you I summon!
Refrain this once from seeking refuge in your lairs of solitude and
dark misgivings. Bethink you that this book was framed to be your
herald. When ye shall go forth to battle in your full panoply, who
among you will not rejoice in looking back upon the herald who rallied
you?