Page:The reflections of Lichtenberg.djvu/88

 been altogether unconscious of the change of language in reading. I seemed to have been reading it all in English or French. I am convinced that if, during this period of undivided attention to the matter in hand, I had found it necessary to consult a German book, I should not have noticed the transition here either; for as far as understanding them goes, and especially on the subject of physics, which was the subject on which I then happened to be engaged, I am almost equally at home in all three languages. One may venture to say this much of oneself without fear of being taken to task for boasting, as there will certainly be countless others in Germany in the same situation. But why do I enter into all these details here? To introduce the following considerationwhether, namely, it is good and advantageous to accustom oneself to the use of so many languages? I cannot possibly bring myself to believe so. In saying this I do not, however, refer to the loss of time involved, though that is obviously very great; but quite apart from this, I am of opinion that it also is harmful in a psychological respect, to have such a variety of tokens in one’s head for the same thing. It would be far better that a word should denote some fresh quality, instead of standing for an old one. In the transition from the English work to the French a totally different index had to be consulted, and yet I never noticed the change. This is a point I should like to see examined. One may be competent, I think I shall be right in