The Fool
But indeed the business of the universe is to make such a fool of you that you will know yourself for one, and so begin to be wise!
– George MacDonald, Lilith 1895
I love the Platonic ring to this. Socrates in the Apology makes a similar statement about how little we really know and how we let ourselves to believe otherwise.
Well, although I do not suppose that either of us knows anything really beautiful and good, I am better off than he is – for he knows nothing, and thinks that he knows. I neither know nor think that I know.
– Plato, Apology
In MacDonald’s novel, as a twist of irony, the statement comes from the mouth of a talking raven! The exchange leading up to the quotation above is fantastic. It reminds me in how we sometimes do not want to go through the trouble of learning things for ourselves or doing the work required to acquire some skill. Here’s the rest if you’re interested.
“Could you not teach me to know a prayer-flower when I see it?” I said.
“I could not. But if I could, what better would you be? You would not know if of yourself and itself! Why know the name of a thing when the thing itself you do not know? Whose work is it but your own to open your eyes?”
– George MacDonald, Lilith 1895
Part of the fun is the journey itself. I know, it seems trite these days, but that doesn’t make it any less true.