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44 THE FOURFOLD ROOT. [CHAP. IV.
is, and pique themselves upon that knowledge. But you
yourself must come forward disguised, in the form of an
enthymeme. Be sure and leave behind you all those prosyllogisms
and premisses, by which you used to drag us
wearily up the long climax, for everyone knows how utterly
useless they are. Come forward with a bold face and a
self-sufficient, supercilious air, like a man of few words,
and at one bound you will reach the goal.
Exclaim (and
we will chime in), The Absolute, confound it ! that must
exist, or there would be nothing at all ! Here, strike
the table with your fist. Whence does the Absolute
come ? What a silly question ! Did not I tell you
it was the Absolute ? That will do, forsooth ! That
will do ! Germans are accustomed to content themselves
with words instead of thoughts. Do we not train them
to it from their cradle? Only look at Hegelianism !
What is it but empty, hollow, nauseous twaddle ! Yet
how brilliant a career was that of this philosophical
time-server ! A few mercenary individuals had only to
strike up a laudation of this stuff, and they at once
found an echo to their voices in the empty hollow of a
thousand numskulls an echo which still continues to re
sound, and to extend and behold ! an ordinary intellect,
a common impostor soon became a sublime thinker. Take
heart, therefore ! Besides, our friend and patron, we will
also second you in other ways, for how, indeed, are we to
get a living without you ? So that carping old faultfinder,
Kant, has been criticizing Reason, and clipping her wings,
has he ? Well, then, we will invent a new sort of Reason,
such as has never been heard of a Eeason that does not
think, but which has direct intuition a Reason which sees
Ideas (a high-flown word, made to mystify), sees them
or which apprehends directly that which you and
bodily ;
others seek to prove ; or, again,
a Reason which has
forebodings of all this this last for the benefit of those