Dusty and the Brain

The following quote is from an obscure contemporary of R.W. Emerson, the rev. Stan Phillips (1810 - 1879), son of a Yorkshire headmaster and first librarian of the London School of Economics. This awkward text is only brought here as some evidence of a bygone age, being completely irrelevant for today. Laugh at it and forget.

"Those who are too proud of their knowledge are mostly ignorant, those who are proud of their ignorance are mostly dumb. If you are too lazy to read or too stupid to learn at least do not boast on that and do not despise others who are capable of doing what you can't. Those who have no knowledge have no right to condemn it, while those who have but little knowledge have a sacred duty to increase it. Socrates' Irony was never intended as an excuse for idiots. Only when you have the mind of a Socrates you can discuss the value of knowledge, and not a minute earlier. In the meantime go burn some books, you will be recognised for what you are."(Phillips' Essays, ch. I).