"
"But," I continued, as Isaacs assented to my simile by a nod, "there is
another class of minds also. There are persons who regard the whole
imaginable and unimaginable knowledge of mankind, past, present, and
future, as a boundless plain over which they hang suspended and can look
down. Immediately beneath them there is a map spread out which
represents, in the midst of the immense desert, the things they
themselves know. It is a puzzle map, like those they make for children,
where each piece fits into its appointed place, and will fit nowhere
else; every piece of knowledge acquired fits into the space allotted to
it, and when there is a piece, that is, a fact, wanting, it is still
possible to define its extent and shape by the surrounding portions,
though all the details of colour and design are lacking. These are the
people who regard knowledge as a whole, harmonious, when every science
and fragment of a science has its appointed station and is necessary to
completeness of perfect knowledge. I hope I have made clear to you what
I mean, though I am conscious of only sketching the outlines of a
distinction which I believe to be fundamental."
"Of course it is fundamental. Broadly, it is the difference between
analytic and synthetic thought; between the subjective and the objective
views; between the finite conception of a limited world and the infinite
ideal of perfect wisdom.
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