The Case of Wagner Complete Works, Volume 8 · Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche
170
To overcome Greek antiquity through our own deeds: this would be the right task. But before we can do this we must first _know_ it!--There is a thoroughness which is merely an excuse for inaction. Let it be recollected how much Goethe knew of antiquity: certainly not so much as a philologist, and yet sufficient to contend with it in such a way as to bring about fruitful results. One _should_ not even know more about a thing than one could create. Moreover, the only time when we can actually _recognise_ something is when we endeavour to _make_ it. Let people but attempt to live after the manner of antiquity; and they will at once come hundreds of miles nearer to antiquity than they can do with all their erudition.--Our philologists never show that they strive to emulate antiquity in any way, and thus _their_ antiquity remains without any effect on the schools. The study of the spirit of emulation (Renaissance, Goethe), and the study of despair. The non-popular element in the new culture of the Renaissance: a frightful fact!
Text from Project Gutenberg, public domain in the United States.