The Case of Wagner Complete Works, Volume 8 · Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche
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On inquiring into the origin of the philologist I find: 1. A young man cannot have the slightest conception of what the Greeks and Romans were. 2. He does not know whether he is fitted to investigate into them; 3. And, in particular, he does not know to what extent, in view of the knowledge he may actually possess, he is fitted to be a teacher. What then enables him to decide is not the knowledge of himself or his science; but _(a)_ Imitation. _(b)_ The convenience of carrying on the kind of work which he had begun at school. _(c)_ His intention of earning a living. In short, ninety-nine philologists out of a hundred _should_ not be philologists at all.
Text from Project Gutenberg, public domain in the United States.