The Name of Thought

We arrive at that which bears the appellation of thought when we ourselves think. To meet that end successfully, we must be at the ready to learn how to think.

As soon as we accept the need for such education, we accept the fact that we are yet incapable of thought.

But man, says you, is he who has hallowed thought––and rightly so. For he is that happy creature. Indeed, his happiness is hidden in his enjoyment of thought. The happy creature need only wish it, and thought is his. But perhaps he wishes it and cannot. And in the end, his wish to do so much allows him to undertake very little. Insofar that he has the possibility of thought, he thinks. But the possiblity alone cannot begin to guarantee the enjoyment of its undertaking. We enjoy what elates us, but on the other hand, we enjoy that which stays true to our way, that which holds us to our way, that which we, in our own way, enjoy. To hold means to foster and raise, to allow us to graze on the green garden pasture. That which holds us to our way holds us only as long as we are willing to be held. Behold: the hard hold of mnemonic hands on our heavy hearts. Memory is the cold sum of thoughts. Of what? Of that which holds us! Of that which holds us precisely because we allow it to––because we allow it to remain on the pastures of our minds. Things thought of are accompanied by Mnemon, who accompanies them because we enjoy her company. Only when we enjoy the enjoyment of those thought of things can we come to enjoy thought.

So, in order to enjoy thought, we have to learn how to do so. What is learn? Man learns as long as he is able and inclined. We learn how to think by investigating and observing the components of thought.