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"Think with the Few and speak with the
Many. By swimming against the stream it is
impossible to remove error, easy to fall into
danger; only a Socrates can undertake it. To
dissent from others' views is regarded as an
insult, because it is their condemnation. Disgust
is doubled on account of the thing blamed and of
the person who praised it. Truth is for the few,
error is both common and vulgar. The wise man is
not known by what he says on the house-tops, for
there he speaks not with his own voice but with
that of common folly, however much his inmost
thoughts may gainsay it. The prudent avoid being
contradicted as much as contradicting: [U]though
they have their censure ready they are not ready
to publish it. Thought is free, force cannot and
should not be used to it. [U]The wise man therefore
retires into silence, and if he allows himself to
come out of it, he does so in the shade and before
few and fit persons."
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Preparation. Discipline. Patience. Decisiveness.
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