A philosopher is a vivisectionist of himself. In learning himself he has inadvertently inflicted some injuries that may be irremediable and may steal some of his grace. That is why students can become more graceful than the teachers who really pushed the boundaries of their discipline; they learn the lessons without suffering the injury, like cadets who learn lessons of a battle in which others died for.

What they miss, however, is the pride in showing one’s scars that men who know the lesson without having been to the war cannot have.