Two Chinamen visiting Europe went to the theatre for the first time. One of them occupied himself with trying to understand the theatrical machinery, which he succeeded in doing. The other, despite his ignorance of the language, sought to unravel the meaning of the play. The former is like the astronomer, the latter the philosopher.
"Counsels and Maxims". Book by Arthur Schopenhauer (Volume 2 "On Various Subjects"), 1851, as translated by R. J. Hollingdale in "Essays and Aphorisms", 1970.
