Without going to extremes, Fabre benefited by this twofold lesson. No one had a greater respect for his masters; he quotes them readily and is chary neither of praising their works nor of expressing his gratitude to them;[18] but no one was ever more independent in his researches and his conclusions, which are often the very contrary of theirs. If he revered his masters he revered the truth still more, and he might well have made his own the celebrated maxim: Amicus Plato, magis amica veritas. [[165]]
Let us add that while no one was ever more interested in authors and their writings, to purchase which he often sacrificed his last coppers, and even his daily bread, no one was more resolutely determined to give the first place to the language of facts, and direct intercourse with the tiny living creatures whom he had chosen for his own. So much so that, if we wish fully to describe his method, we must complete the maxim which we have just quoted by this other, which forms its exact counterpart: Amicus liber, magis amica natura. [[166]]
[1] Horace, Ars Poetica, 409 et seq. [↑]
[2] Souvenirs, III., p. 193. [↑]
[3] Ibid., I., p. 182. The Hunting Wasps, chap. xi., “An Ascent of Mont Ventoux.” [↑]
[4] Souvenirs, I., pp. 182–3. The Hunting Wasps, chap. xi., “An Ascent of Mont Ventoux.” [↑]
[5] Souvenirs, I., p. 180. [↑]
[6] Th. Delacour and Bernard Valot of the Jardin des Plantes. [↑]
[7] Souvenirs, I., pp. 181–186. The Hunting Wasps, chap, xi., “An Ascent of Mont Ventoux.” [↑]