It is unfortunate that the printed page democratically levels all alike; that it puts on terms of a flat plane of equality the vital convincing speech of a Jesus with the speech of a nonentity; that it invests a man or an idea with a dignity which in actuality they may not at all possess; that all words when set in type look more or less equally imposing and important, no matter by whose lips they are spoken or by whose hand they are written. Were we all gifted with profounder mental percipiency, the fool in philosopher's clothing would then be plainly revealed for what he is; the scratcher of Truth's surface would no longer be able to bawl successfully that he had solved the secrets of the universe; and even the brainless idiot who stumbles on a momentary ecstasy would not be able to assert to an admiring audience of devotees that he had become a Master. Then, too, we would be able to penetrate the disguises of some humble ones and raise them high up on the pedestals of respect which they deserve; we would bend the knee in reverence before the figures of those who really do possess truth but do not possess the gift for personal publicity, who know the Infinite reality but who know not how to turn it to finite profit.
-- Notebooks Category 16: The Sensitives > Chapter 7 : The Path of Individuality > # 64
