Three of the wisest men that can be got are met to consider what is
the function which transcends all others in importance to build up
the young generation, which shall be free from all that perilous stuff
that has been weighing us down and clogging every step, and which is
the only thing we can hope to go on with if we would leave the world
a little better, and not the worse of our having been in it for those
who are to follow. The man who is the eldest of the three says to
Goethe, "You give by nature to the well-formed children you bring into
the world a great many precious gifts, and very frequently these are
best of all developed by nature herself, with a very slight assistance
where assistance is seen to be wise and profitable, and forbearance
very often on the part of the overlooker of the process of education;
but there is one thing that no child brings into the world with it,
and without which all other things are of no use." Wilhelm, who is
there beside him, says, "What is that?" "All who enter the world want
it," says the eldest; "perhaps you yourself.
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