On Teaching

Then said a teacher, Speak to us of Teach-

ing.

    And he said:

    No man can reveal to you aught but that

which already lies half asleep in the dawn-

ing of your knowledge.

    The teacher who walks in the shadow of

the temple, among his followers, gives not

of his wisdom but rather of his faith and

his lovingness.

    If he is indeed wise he does not bid you

enter the house of his wisdom, but rather

leads you to the threshold of your own

mind.

   The astronomer may speak to you of his

understanding of space, but he cannot give

you his understanding.

   The musician may sing to you of the

rhythm which is in all space, but he cannot

give you the ear which arrests the rhythm

nor the voice that echoes it.

   And he who is versed in the science of

numbers can tell of the regions of weight

and measure, but he cannot conduct you

thither.

   For the vision of one man lends not its

wings to another man.

   And even as each one of you stands alone

in God’s knowledge, so must each one of

you be alone in his knowledge of God and

in his understanding of the earth.