University of Virginia Library

19   Whoever you are! motion and reflection are especi-     ally for you;
The divine ship sails the divine sea for you.
20  Whoever you are! you are he or she for whom the      earth is solid and liquid,
You are he or she for whom the sun and moon hang      in the sky,
For none more than you are the present and the past,
For none more than you is immortality.
21  Each man to himself, and each woman to herself,      such is the word of the past and present, and      the word of immortality;
No one can acquire for another — not one!
Not one can grow for another — not one!
22  The song is to the singer, and comes back most to      him;
The teaching is to the teacher, and comes back most      to him;
The murder is to the murderer, and comes back most      to him;
The theft is to the thief, and comes back most to him;
The love is to the lover, and comes back most to him;
The gift is to the giver, and comes back most to him       — it cannot fail;
The oration is to the orator, the acting is to the actor      and actress, not to the audience;
And no man understands any greatness or goodness      but his own, or the indication of his own.