Recently read Berlin's biography of Karl Marx. What struck me: how extraordinary a character Engels was. Engels was smart--at least your average professor smart. But his entire influence on the world and the only reason we remember him today is because he recognized that Marx

was far more brilliant than he was, and that he had a much better chance of making a mark on the intellectual (and actual) word if he attached his entire project to Marx.

How many intellectuals have the humility to do that?

If you could ensure your work would be remembered for centuries, would literally change the course of world history after you were gone.... but it came at the cost of becoming the side kick to some greater mind, would you do it? *Could* you do it?

Engels did, and he is remembered, while all of the hundred other socialists Marx met and fought with have been reduced to historical trivia.