Book 4 (Part II)

119 When speaking of the Cup, it was shown how every fact must be made significant, how every stone must have its proper place in the mosaic. Woe were it were one stone misplaced! But that mosaic cannot be wrought at all, well or ill, unless every stone be there. These stones are the simple impressions or experiences ; not one may be foregone. Do not refuse anything merely because you know that it is the cup of poison offered by your enemy; drink it with confidence; it is he that will fall dead! How can I give Cambodian art its proper place in art, if I have never heard of Cambodia? How can the Geologist estimate the age of what lies beneath the chalk unless he have a piece of knowledge totally un- connected with geology, the life-history of the animals of whom that chalk is the remains? This then is a very great difficulty for the Magician. He cannot possibly have all experience, and though he may console himself philo- sophically with the reflection that the Universe is conterminous with such experience as he has, he will find it grow at such a pace during the'early years of his life that he may almost be tempted to believe in the possibility of experiences beyond his own, and from a practical standpoint he will seem to be confronted with so many avenues of knowledge that he will be bewildered which to choose.