The Moral Vision
What Must Be Known Before One Can Understand
~ 158 ~
half, then one can be told the rest of the story; but if
one does not have half of it in one’s mind
beforehand, then how can one grasp the whole
picture? However reasonable a thing may be, and
however well substantiated, if one does not have
some prior knowledge of it, it will remain beyond
one’s comprehension.
If one says to someone, “So-and-so batsman scored
a century,” he will immediately understand that
what is meant by a century is a hundred runs in
cricket. But if one says, “A century of hard struggle
is needed for the development of a nation,” no one
will truly understand; for no one can know what it
is to devote oneself individually to constructive
work for so long a period.
