l'
HE SELF
AND TH E
0 THE R
is
not flabby, which is necessary to life. Let us retum-I repeat–
from myths to clear and distinct ideas, as, three centuries ago, they
were called, with programmatic solemnity, by the keenest mind
which the West has known: Rene Descartes, "that French cavalier
who set out at such a good pace," as Peguy put it. I know very
well that Descartes and his rationalism are outdated, but man is
nothing positive if he is not continuity. To excel the past we must
not allow ourselves to lose contact with it; on the contrary, we
must feel it under our feet because we have raised ourselves upon it.
(Translated from the Spanish by Willard R. Trask)
