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The new Orientalists
With a blind heart,
You yourself understand nothing.
How can you explain anything?
You sell your erudition for possessions,
And spend life meaninglessly.
– Sant Kabir's admonition to the learned
When asked to comment upon the significance of the French Revolution, the first prime minister of the People's Republic of China, Zhou Enlai, is reputed to have answered without a moment's hesitation, "It's too early to tell." Indeed, a century or two is hardly enough time to pass judgment upon the cataclysmic events of history.