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The Egotist Becomes a Personage
HewaswhereGoethewaswhenhebegan"Faust";hewaswhereConradwaswhenhewrote"Almayer’sFolly."
Amorysaidtohimselfthattherewereessentiallytwosortsofpeoplewhothroughnaturalclarityordisillusionlefttheenclosureandsoughtthelabyrinth.ThereweremenlikeWellsandPlato,whohad,halfunconsciously,astrange,hiddenorthodoxy,whowouldacceptforthemselvesonlywhatcouldbeacceptedforallmen—incurableromanticistswhonever,foralltheirefforts,couldenterthelabyrinthasstarksouls;therewereontheotherhandsword-likepioneeringpersonalities,SamuelButler,Renan,Voltaire,whoprogressedmuchslower,yeteventuallymuchfurther,notinthedirectpessimisticlineofspeculativephilosophybutconcernedintheeternalattempttoattachapositivevaluetolife....
Amorystopped.Hebeganforthefirsttimeinhislifetohaveastrongdistrustofallgeneralitiesandepigrams.Theyweretooeasy,toodangeroustothepublicmind.Yetallthoughtusuallyreachedthepublicafterthirtyyearsinsomesuchform:BensonandChestertonhadpopularizedHuysmansandNewman;Shawhadsugar-coatedNietzscheandIbsenandSchopenhauer.Themaninthestreetheardtheconclusionsofdeadgeniusthroughsomeoneelse’scleverparadoxesanddidacticepigrams.
Lifewasadamnedmuddle...afootballgamewitheveryoneoff-sideandtherefereegottenridof—everyoneclaimingtherefereewouldhavebeenonhisside....
Progresswasalabyrinth...
