<![CDATA[
“It is the most foolish of all errors for young people of good intelligence to imagine that they will forfeit their originality if they acknowledge truth already acknowledged by others.” — Goethe, Maxims and Reflections
Goethe is not saying to accept any truth handed your way. This is why he writes “young people of good intelligence,” which assumes a critical subject who can consider and decide on the validity of a proposition. One might even apply a truth differently or respond to the perceived truth with a novel act, but ignoring truths simply because they pre-date you is foolish.
]]>