Vad skall man göra med det mentala träsket?

A swamp still skirts the mountain chain
And poisons all the land retrieved;
This marshland I yet hope to drain,
And thus surpass what we have achieved.
For many millions I shall open regions
To dwell, not safe, in free and active legions.
Green are the meadows, fertile; and in mirth
Both men and herds lives on this newest earth,
Settled along the edges of a hill
That have been raised by bold men's zealous will.
A veritable paradise inside,
Then let the dams be licked by raging tide;
And as it nibbles to rush in by force,
A common will fills gaps and checks its course.
This is the highest wisdom that I own,
The best that mankind ever knew:
Freedom and life are earned by those alone
Who conquer them each day anew.
Surroundered by such danger, each one thrives,
Childhood, manhood and age lead active lives.
At such a throng I would fain stare,
With free men on free ground their freedom share.

Det citerade är en passage ur Goethes Faust översatt av Walter Kaufmann--den bästa översättningen enligt många.