Think with the few, speak with the many.

Think with the few and speak with the many.

xliii

Swimming against the current is impossible to remove errors, and it is easy to fall into danger. Disagreeing with the views of others is considered an insult because it is an indictment of them. Disgust is multiplied on account of the one condemned and the one who praised it. Truth belongs to the few; error is common and vulgar. The wise are not known by what they say on the rooftops. For there he speaks not in his own voice, but by the voice of common stupidity. Wise people avoid being refuted as much as they refute. Thought is free, and force cannot and should not be used. Therefore, the wise man retires to silence, and if he allows himself to break out of it, he does so in the shade, in the presence of a few deserving people.

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