"How does it happen then that so few try to practice it and
still fewer possess it? It is because it is ravishing to speculate
on, but its practice is disagreeable to nature; its very appearance
is disagreeable to nature. To practice it means that we should always
choose the lowest place, put ourselves below others, even the least,
bear with calumnies, seek after contempt, love abjection; and to all
these things we are naturally adverse. Yet it is essential for us to
overcome this repugnance; it is essential for each of us to make
strong efforts to arrive at the actual exercise of this virtue.
Otherwise, we shall never acquire it." (SV XI, 54)
