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Brotherhood (1937) - 85:
85. The bliss of the thinker or the torment of the thinker? It is customary to represent a thinker as in torment, but if you ask him whether he wishes to be freed from such pangs, any thinker will reply in the negative. In the depth of his consciousness he experiences great bliss, for the process of thinking is a higher enjoyment. People have only two real joys - thinking and the ecstasy over beauty. The path to the Fiery World has been affirmed by these two manifestations. Only through them can man advance to the lofty spheres. Every higher communion will contain these two fundamentals. Therefore, it is absurd to talk about the torments of the thinker or the creator. They are not suffering but rejoicing. However, people understand joy in such a singular fashion! For some people joy is in thinking nothing and doing nothing. Brotherhood (1937) - 301:
Not only is knowledge precious, but equally valuable is the process of acquiring knowledge. At one time philosophers compared such a process to a higher enjoyment. The more deeply it can be felt, the greater the joy. But if in the accumulation of knowledge there enters the bondage of egoism, then not joy but rancor boils up. Conflict is inseparable from the accumulation of knowledge, but it also should be a treasure trove. None of the paths will be misanthropic.
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