On Teaching

Then said a teacher, Speak to us of

Teaching.

And he said:

“No man can reveal to you aught but that

which already lies half asleep in the

dawning of your knowledge.

The teacher who walks in the shadow of

the temple, among his followers, gives

not of his wisdom but rather of his

faith and his lovingness.

If he is indeed wise he does not bid

you enter the house of his wisdom, but

rather leads you to the threshold of

your own mind.

The astronomer may speak to you of his

understanding of space, but he cannot

give you his understanding.

The musician may sing to you of the

rhythm which is in all space, but he

cannot give you the ear which arrests

the rhythm nor the voice that echoes it.

And he who is versed in the science

of numbers can tell of the regions

of weight and measure, but he cannot

conduct you thither.

For the vision of one man lends not its

wings to another man.

And even as each one of you stands alone

in God’s knowledge, so must each one of

you be alone in his knowledge of God and

in his understanding of the earth.