Most systematisers relate to their systems like a man who builds a vast castle and then lives beside it in a barn: th...

Most systematisers relate to their systems like a man who builds a vast castle and then lives beside it in a barn: they don’t live in that immense systematic edifice themselves. But in matters of the spirit this is a decisive objection. Spiritually understood, a man’s thoughts must be the building he lives in – otherwise something’s wrong. — Kierkegaard, Journals, 1846, no. 82 (my tr.)