Daily Hérault

Daily Hérault de Séchelles from Théorie de l’ambition

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Foreword to Théorie de l’ambition

By reading with particular attention the books of the most famous writers, such as Rousseau, Montesquieu and other authors, Greek, Latin, etc.; by observing the conduct of the great men who have astonished the world, the instincts of the animals found there, and the movement of all this matter; a country gentleman, in the depths of an old castle raised like an eagle's nest above the Mantuan plains, was struck by several new ideas which, at the time, seemed quite important to him. He convinced himself that he had discovered, and even perfected in many respects, the secret of so many honest people; this kind of meditation reminded him of the means employed by Caesar, and he good-naturedly wrote this little Theory of Ambition, to make himself laugh alone, or at least with a friend who was not ambitious.

Fas nihil Graiorum sacrata resolvere jura.

1788

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XXIII.

Make it a law not to read any part of a sentence, or at least any sentence, without putting your mind to it.

Chapter Three - Reading.

Se faire une loi de ne lire aucun membre de phrase, ou au moins aucune phrase, sans y mettre une action de sa tête.

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XXII.

To understand a philosophical book properly, evaluate it and profit from it, we must attack the author's language, and obtain his vocabulary, supposing he has one, by seeking the meaning he gives to his usual words in the various places where he places them; then go back to the physical origin of each word, considered [either] (1) as a conventional sign of the sensations it represents; a great key. For a language is but a more or less regular assemblage of names, of sensations experienced, observed, compared or combined, or of comparisons and combinations of these first comparisons or combinations, and so on as the sensations become more numerous and the signs more general.

(1): This unnecessary word perhaps indicates a second phrase crossed out on the Codicile proofs.

Chapter Three - Reading.

Pour bien entendre un livre philosophique, l’évaluer et en profiter, il faut attaquer la langue de l’auteur, et se procurer son vocabulaire, supposé qu’il en ait un, en cherchant la signification qu’il donne à ses mots habituels dans les différens lieux où il les place; puis remonter à l’origine physique de chaque mot, considéré [soit] (1) comme signe conventionnel des sensations qu’il représente; grande clef. Car une langue n’est qu’un assemblage plus ou moins régulier de noms, de sensations éprouvées, observées, comparées ou combinées, ou de comparaisons et de combinaisons de ces premières comparaisons ou combinaisons, et ainsi de suite à mesure que les sensations deviennent plus nombreuses et les signes plus généraux.

(1): Ce mot inutile indique peut-être un second membre de phrase biffé sur les épreuves du Codicile.

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XXI.

Until now, we've been passive, now we're active.

Chapter Three - Reading.

Jusqu’ici nous n’avons été que passifs, devenons actifs.

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XX.

Read poetic or oratorical books quickly, but analytical and reasoned books slowly; for books of imagination can only be composed in circumstances where the head is very hot, and thought very quick. Books of reasoning can only be well executed in times when the head is cold and thought slow. Now, to feel and to conceive books as well as the author, in addition to a certain degree of familiarity with the subject, one must also give one's head the same degree of speed as the author's had at the time of composition.

Chapter Three - Reading.

Lisez rapidement les livres poétiques ou oratoires, mais lentement les livres analytiques et raisonnés; car les livres d’imagination ne peuvent être composés que dans les circonstances où la tête est très-échauffée, et la pensée très-rapide. Les livres de raisonnement ne peuvent être bien exécutés que dans les tems où la tête est froide et la pensée lente. Or, pour sentir et pour concevoir des livres aussi bien que l’auteur, outre un certain degré de familiarité avec le sujet, il faut encore donner à sa tête le même degré de vitesse qu’avait celle de l’auteur au moment de la composition.

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XIX.

There are also two different degrees of speed for opposing genres.

Chapter Three - Reading.

Il y a aussi deux différent degrés de vitesse pour les genres opposés.

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XVIII.

Whatever the current of thought is when we come to it, we must read all kinds of books in two different ways. First quickly, either to grasp easily the intention and plan, or to enjoy the beauties of style. (For one no more tastes beautiful compositions by peeling away every word, than one enjoys the beauty of a woman by analyzing her with a magnifying glass in hand). Then slowly, to grasp the nuances, notice the flaws, and surpass the author.

Chapter Three - Reading.

Quelque soit le mouvement de la pensée à l’époque où l’on est arrivé, il faut lire toute espèce de livres de deux manières différentes. D’abord rapidement, soit pour saisir facilement l’intention et le plan, soit pour jouir des beautés du style. (Car on ne goûte pas plus les belles compositions en épluchant tous les mots, qu’on ne jouit de la beauté d’une femme en l’analysant une loupe à la main.) Puis lentement, pour saisir les nuances, remarquer les défauts, et surpasser l’auteur.

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XVII.

The right moment for reading, as for composing, is when you have the tone and movement of your subject; you can gain both, either with the help of another book, or by reflection.

Chapter Three - Reading.

Le bon moment pour lire comme pour composer, est celui où l’on a le ton et le mouvement de son sujet, on peut se donner l’un et l’autre soit à l’aide d’un autre livre, soit par la réflexion.

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XVI.

What we say here about reading can be applied to composition.

Chapter Three - Reading.

Ce que nous disons ici de la lecture peut s’appliquer à la composition.

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XV.

Beyond a certain point, the human spirit hates constraint, and an enslaved reader is no better than an enslaved citizen. To develop a generous spirit, one must be a slave only to oneself, or at most constrain oneself only for a moment, in order to better taste freedom. In this way, you can put before your eyes two books of opposite genres at the same time. For example, if the genre is pleasant, a mathematical book, and vice versa. Or if it's a difficult genre, add an even more difficult book to the one you want to read carefully. You start with the accessory book to get your head moving, and your faculties rising through contradiction; then you wait for your head to return of its own accord to the main book, and you come back to it with all your strength.

Chapter Three - Reading.

Au-delà d’un certain point, l’esprit humain hait la nécessité, et le lecteur esclave ne vaut pas mieux que l’esclave citoyen. Pour se faire un esprit généreux, il ne faut être esclave que de soi-même, ou tout au plus se contraindre un instant, afin de mieux goûter la liberté. Ainsi on mettra sous ses yeux deux livres à-la-fois et de genre opposé. Par exemple, s’il s’agit du genre agréable, un livre de mathématique, et vice versa. Ou s’il est question d’un genre difficile, on joindra à celui qu’on veut lire avec soin un livre encore plus difficile. On commencera par le livre accessoire pour mettre sa tête en mouvement, et monter ses facultés par la contradiction; puis on attendra que la tête se reporte d’elle-même sur le livre principal, et on y reviendra de toute sa force.

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XIV.

You can't say you've read an author unless you remember his main ideas, his plan and his purpose.

On ne peut pas dire qu’on ait lu un auteur à moins qu’on ne se rappelle ses principales idées, son plan et son but.

Chapter Three - Reading.

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XIII.

One proof that one must fix one's sight on a book in order to have the right to say, I have read it, is that of two or three thousand volumes that a movable letter may have read, he is left with little more than a French marquis of the countries over which he has glided in a chaise de poste.

Chapter Three - Reading.

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XII.

At the age when memory has its measure, a good line read in a day instructs more than the whole book of which it is a part; for if one has always been occupied with one's object in these two cases, one has been in the first inventor and master, and in the second disciple and labourer.

Chapter Three - Reading.

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XI.

There is more. Books and papers that do not belong to our present object must be kept out of sight; for attention is compounded by the contemplative's isolation, by that of the object he is studying, and by the passion with which he considers it.

Chapter Three - Reading.

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X.

This is achieved by fixing one's eye on men, on things and on the books that represent them; by reducing more and more the number of objects that one considers, by focusing one's view by degrees on a genre, on a book, a chapter, a paragraph, a line, a word.

Chapter Three - Reading.

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IX.

So, after spending the first part of life making acquisitions and sorting them, we'll spend the other distributing them, varying these gifts, according to the faculties and character with which we're endowed.

Chapter Three - Reading.

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VIII.

At first glance, it seems that this way of studying can only produce a vague and confused science. Don't worry; later on everything will work itself out, everything will take its place, its measure, for the same instinct that leads an active soul to throw itself wholeheartedly at one side at its first attempt, also shows it the qualities and faculties it has lacked, and gives it the need to acquire them in order to complete itself.

Chapter Three - Reading.