The most hateful form of self-conceit is the callous form, when it boasts and swells up on the score of its own ignorance, as implying exemption from a folly. "We profess not to understand;" ­ "We are so unhappy as to be quite in the dark as to the meaning of this writer;" ­ "All this may be very fine, but we are not ashamed to confess that to us it is quite unintelligible:" ­ then quote a passage without the context, and appeal to the PUBLIC, whether they understand it or not! ­ Wretches! Such books were not written for your public. If it be a work on inward religion, appeal to the inwardly religious, and ask them! ­ If it be of true love and its anguish and its yearnings, appeal to the true lover! What have the public to do with this?

Contents
Contents, p.5