We Philologists · Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche
2
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.