more on this theme | more from this thinker | more from this text
Full Idea
Whoever first understood how to count to two, even if he still found it difficult to keep on counting, saw nonetheless the possibility of infinite counting according to the same laws.
Gist of Idea
Whoever first counted to two must have seen the possibility of infinite counting
Source
Novalis (Logological Fragments I [1798], 84)
Book Ref
Novalis: 'Philosophical Writings', ed/tr. Stoljar,M.M. [SUNY 1997], p.65
A Reaction
Presumably it is the discerning of the 'law' which triggers this. Is the key concept 'addition' or 'successor' (or are those the same?).