That purely intellectual life of the individual has its counterpart in humanity as a whole.  For there, too, the real life is the life of the will, both in the empirical and in the transcendental meaning of the word.  The purely intellectual life of humanity lies in its effort to increase knowledge by means of the sciences, and its desire to perfect the arts.  Both science and art thus advance slowly from one generation to another, and grow with the centuries, every race as it hurries by furnishing its contribution.  This intellectual life, like some gift from heaven, hovers over the stir and movement of the world; or it is, as it were, a sweet-scented air developed out of the ferment itself—­the real life of mankind, dominated by will; and side by side with the history of nations, the history of philosophy, science and art takes its innocent and bloodless way.

The difference between the genius and the ordinary man is, no doubt, a quantitative one, in so far as it is a difference of degree; but I am tempted to regard it also as qualitative, in view of the fact that ordinary minds, notwithstanding individual variation, have a certain tendency to think alike.  Thus on similar occasions their thoughts at once all take a similar direction, and run on the same lines; and this explains why their judgments constantly agree—­not, however, because they are based on truth.  To such lengths does this go that certain fundamental views obtain amongst mankind at all times, and are always being repeated and brought forward anew, whilst the great minds of all ages are in open or secret opposition to them.

A genius is a man in whose mind the world is presented as an object is presented in a mirror, but with a degree more of clearness and a greater distinction of outline than is attained by ordinary people.  It is from him that humanity may look for most instruction; for the deepest insight into the most important matters is to be acquired, not by an observant attention to detail, but by a close study of things as a whole.  And if his mind reaches maturity, the instruction he gives will be conveyed now in one form, now in another.  Thus genius may be defined as an eminently clear consciousness of things in general, and therefore, also of that which is opposed to them, namely, one’s own self.

The world looks up to a man thus endowed, and expects to learn something about life and its real nature.  But several highly favorable circumstances must combine to produce genius, and this is a very rare event.  It happens only now and then, let us say once in a century, that a man is born whose intellect so perceptibly surpasses the normal measure as to amount to that second faculty which seems to be accidental, as it is out of all relation to the will.  He may remain a long time without being recognized or appreciated, stupidity preventing the one and envy the other.  But should this once come to pass, mankind will crowd round him and his works, in the hope that he may be able to enlighten some of the darkness of their existence or inform them about it.  His message is, to some extent, a revelation, and he himself a higher being, even though he may be but little above the ordinary standard.