Preface

[19th Paragraph]

To say a word more about instructing how the world ought to be, philosophy always comes too late anyway. As the thought of the world, it only appears in time after actuality has completed its process of formation and finished itself. This, which the concept teaches, is necessarily shown likewise by history: that only in the maturity of actuality does the ideal appear over against the real and builds for itself that same world, grasped in its substance, in the shape of an intellectual kingdom. When philosophy paints its gray in gray, then a form of life has grown old, and with gray in gray it cannot be rejuvenated, but only recognized; the owl of Minerva begins its flight only with the falling of dusk.

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