There is great disorder in the world
And the guilt of it is due to that fondness
For knowledge. Thus, it is that all men
Know to seek for the knowledge
That they have not attained to;
And do not know to seek for that
Which they already have in themselves;
And that they know to condemn
What they do not approve in others,
And do not know to condemn
What they have allowed in themselves—
It is this which causes the great disorder.
It is just as though, above, the brightness
Of the sun and the moon were darkened;
As though, beneath, the productive vigour
Of the hills and streams were dried up;
As if, in the mid, the operation of all
The four seasons were brought to an end,
In which case there would not be a single
Wriggling insect, nor a plant that grows up,
Which would not lose its appropriate nature.
Great indeed is disorder produced in the world
By the love of knowledge. From the olden times
It has been so. The plain and honest-minded men
Are neglected while the plausible representations
Of restless spirits are received with pleasure;
The quiet and unexciting method of doing-no-ado
Is put away while pleasure taken in all ideas
Wordily expressed. Hence, each candidate
For the Presidency should mark it well
That it is the garrulity of speech which
Puts the world in disarray and disorder.
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