LEAVE we the pedants to quarrel and strive, <br /> <br />Rigid and cautious the teachers to be! <br />All of the wisest men e'er seen alive <br /> <br />Smile, nod, and join in the chorus with me: <br />"Vain 'tis to wait till the dolt grows less silly! <br />Play then the fool with the fool, willy-nilly,-- <br /> <br />Children of wisdom,--remember the word!" <br /> <br />Merlin the old, from his glittering grave, <br />When I, a stripling, once spoke to him,--gave <br /> <br />Just the same answer as that I've preferr'd; <br />"Vain 'tis to wait till the dolt grows less silly! <br />Play then the fool with the fool, willy-nilly,-- <br /> <br />Children of wisdom,--remember the word!" <br /> <br />And on the Indian breeze as it booms, <br />And in the depths of Egyptian tombs, <br /> <br />Only the same holy saying I've heard: <br />"Vain 'tis to wait till the dolt grows less silly! <br />Play then the fool with the fool, willy-nilly,-- <br /> <br />Children of wisdom,--remember the word!"<br /><br />Johann Wolfgang von Goethe<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/coptic-song/
