Page:Novalis Schriften - Volume 2.djvu/146

★ 136 ★ both accelerate, both lead to the goal. So it seems in a novel when the poet appears to nearly approach the goal, he soons retreats, and is never nearer when seeming to be furthest away.

100. A criminal cannot complain of injustice if treated harshly and inhumanely. His crime was an entry into the realm of violence, of tyranny. Moderation and proportion do not exist in this world, so the disproportionate nature of the countermeasures should not be strange to him.

101. Mythology contains the history of the archetypal world; it understands past, present and future.

102. If the spirit consecrates it, every genuine book is a bible. But a book is seldom written for the book's sake, and if the spirit is a precious metal, most books are debased coinage. Of course, every useful book must at least be of a strong alloy. The pure precious metal is of no use in trade and exchange. Many true books are like gold nuggets in Ireland. For many years they only serve as weights.

103. Some books are longer than they seem. Indeed they have no end. The boredom they arouse is truly absolute and infinite. Messrs. Heydenreich, Jacob, Abicht and Pölitz have provided outstanding examples of this kind. Here is a stock that anyone can enlarge from their own acquaintances with similar works.

104. There are many anti-revolutionary books that have been written for the revolution. But Burke wrote a revolutionary book against the revolution.

105. Most observers of the revolution, especially the bright and distinguished, have pronounced it a life-threatening