"I at first wanted the book to appear anonymously; but the public is
accustomed now to see a proper name on the title page. If it does
not find one, its curiosity is excited, and what I particularly
wished to avoid comes to pass, namely, the diversion of attention
from the essential to the unessential."
"That does not explain why you have not put your own name to it,"
said Paul.
"My own name? What for? What is a name? What is an individuality,
which a name symbolizes? The thoughts which I have put down in this
book are not from me, the transient accident called Dorfling, but
from the absolute everlasting thing which thinks in my brain. I am
merely the carrier of the truth, appointed by it. What would you say
if a postman put his name on all the letters he delivers?"
"I should not be capable of such self-effacement," said Paul. "If I
had devoted the best years of my life to any work I should be unable
to renounce the recognition I had earned."
"Recognition, Herr Haber. What sort of word is that? One does what
one does, not because one wills, but because one must; not on
account of an operation aimed at, but because of a compelling cause.
He who reckons on any kind of reward for his works is on the same
footing as a silly woman who claims men's approbation because she is
pretty or an unreasoning child, who wants to be praised and petted
because he has eaten his dinner.
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