[Lilith by George MacDonald]@TWC D-Link bookLilith CHAPTER III 5/10
Again he turned, and I saw him a raven. "I have seen you before, sir," I said, feeling foolish rather than surprised. "How can you say so from seeing me behind ?" he rejoined.
"Did you ever see yourself behind? You have never seen yourself at all!--Tell me now, then, who I am." "I humbly beg your pardon," I answered: "I believe you were once the librarian of our house, but more WHO I do not know." "Why do you beg my pardon ?" "Because I took you for a raven," I said--seeing him before me as plainly a raven as bird or man could look. "You did me no wrong," he returned.
"Calling me a raven, or thinking me one, you allowed me existence, which is the sum of what one can demand of his fellow-beings.
Therefore, in return, I will give you a lesson:--No one can say he is himself, until first he knows that he IS, and then what HIMSELF is.
In fact, nobody is himself, and himself is nobody.
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