Frithjof Schuon Archive

The river of genius comes from man alone;But — as with Dante — also from above:The Creator has something to say to the world,And the poet or artist has to carry the burden.From both God and earth his work is woven.

Greatness in the arts is not alwaysA proof of greatness on the human plane;The man may be small, but the value of his workIs like an intervention of God in the world.Greatness blossoms not only in the tracks of man —God willing, it lies in nature itself.

Against St. Anselm’s thesis, it has been saidThat this way of proving God is worthless;That through it one could prove any absurdity,Such as the darkness of sunlight.A vain objection! Because: what countsIs only That which is beyond the conditioned —And not the desert...

If someone tells you that tomorrowWill be the last day in the history of the world —You must nonetheless act as if the timeUntil the Last Judgment were still a thousand years —Thus spake the Prophet. And it was not a jest;So take his wise saying to heart.