A Small Sample from Exposition for the Advanced Mind
on The Thinking Man's CDROM
by David Quinn
Copyright (c) David Quinn 1994
INTRODUCTION
Someone took a youth to a sage and said: "Look, he is being corrupted by women." The sage shook his head and smiled. "It is men," said he, "that corrupt women; and all the failings of women should be atoned and improved in men. For it is man who creates for himself the image of woman, and woman forms herself according to this image."
"You are too kindhearted about women," said one of those present; "you do not know them." The sage replied: "Will is the manner of men; willingness that of women. That is the law of the sexes - truly, a hard law for women. All of humanity is innocent of its existence; but women are doubly innocent. Who could have oil and kindness enough for them?"
"Damn oil! Damn kindness!" Someone else shouted out of the crowd; "women need to be educated better!" - "Men need to be educated better," said the sage and beckoned to the youth to follow him. - The youth, however, did not follow him.
- Nietzsche, 1882
Of all the myriad creations of Nature, there can be none more fascinating than woman. Beautiful,
mysterious, charming, warm, sensual, childlike - one could spend an eternity listing the most sublime adjectives
and yet still fail to do justice to her womanhood. There are even moments when she seems on the brink of infinite
glory. Without any warning, she can all of a sudden appear so angelic that it would not surprise one in the least
if she were to, at the very next moment, disappear into Heaven itself.
Rare is the person oblivious to her powers. She casts her spell on men and women alike. The whole of human history shapes itself around her, much as everyday things around us shape themselves around the earth's gravitational forces. Woman is the centre of all society. She is the glue which keeps it all together.
But exactly what is she? Where does her power come from? What lies at the core of her being? Is she really more "spiritual" than man? More divine? Does she possess wisdom? Is she really worthy of the tremendous respect we all give her? What is she?
If I am to answer these questions, then I must look at her with an honest and open mind. I must examine her every feature with the same meticulousness a scientist applies when studying his object of interest. I must carefully probe my own mind to uncover all its movements in relation to woman and not let emotion place it under her spell.
I admit this is not easy. Woman is simply too pleasurable an entity to want to destroy, and serious thinking destroys everything it touches. O, woe is the person who thinks! Nowhere can he find refuge. Women and men flee him incessantly. Suffering upon suffering afflicts him, all of which he bears alone. Such is the price for pure clear thought. Wisdom is not for everyone.
I present woman here in a very different light to the accepted dogma. It is woman naked, as it were, stripped of her bright colours and finery. It is a more truthful view precisely because it is woman without her finery. Is she allowed to protest against such scrutiny? She will, of course - for she only welcomes those truths which overlook her.
Without a shadow of a doubt, these essays will be misunderstood by all but a few rare individuals. I have no illusions here. History does not treat kindly those who are honest in their dealings with woman. To most, these essays will constitute sure proof that there is something horribly wrong with my nature. In anticipation of this, let it be known that there is not the slightest trace of misogyny in me.
I offer these essays as a guide to those who wish to be free of woman in their attempt to live the philosophic life. Woman is a plethora of contradictions, an infinity of finitudes, which must be understood if one is to succeed in relinquishing the ego. For the study of woman (and man) is really the study of the ego and how it manifests in the world.
This work is not a scientific or philosophical thesis aimed at converting all and sundry with irrefutable evidence. It is written only for those few individuals who have cultivated a serious interest in ultimate truth. Everyone else are advised to read no further. But it will be these few precious individuals, male or female, who upon reading these lines will clasp their hands with a joy of having met a long-lost friend. Yes, it is to you I write, my brothers! My thoughts are with you - always.
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