”When associating with scholars and artists we easily miscalculate in opposite directions: behind a remarkable scholar one finds not infrequently a mediocre man, and behind a mediocre artist quite often- a remarkable man.”

(Beyond Good and Evil, Friedrich Nietzsche, Epigrams and Interludes, #137, pg. 88, Kaufmann translation)

Temperance, temperance, where art thou among the many,
I must persevere, and not be tormented.

The artist learns to be even and calm,
he learns good virtue through being rejected.

Years and years, artists suffer judgment and pain,
they have to learn to deal with what people may say.
Artists have no chance to hide behind pedantic fog,
the universal aesthetic is apparent to them all.

Some pedants, in their esoteric elevations,
become lost in so many words, and upper class nomenclature.

The virtue of goodness is not attainable only through pedantry,
though it takes close evaluation of the person’s identity.

If you spend your time buried deep in books of information,
you might not take the time to evaluate egoism, and humiliation.
Wisdom, virtue, temperance and satisfaction may pass you by,
intelligent and knowledgeable, you still throw your hands up to the sky.