Hear you, or forbear...

Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote about Goethe in "Representative Men" thus: "He has the formidable independence which converse with truth gives: hear you, or forbear, his fact abides; and..." What does the segment "hear you, or forbear, his fact abides" mean?

Whether you listen to it or do not listen to it, it endures (remains the same).

"Forbear" (to hear) = hold back, abstain (from hearing) = don't listen. ~rb