,digital ,library47            ,love and
 ,marriage     ,by    ,ellen ,key       
,author of 8,the ,century of the        
,child10 etc4     ,translated from the  
,swedish by    ,arthur ,g4 ,chater      
,with a ,critical and ,biographical     
,introduction by    ,havelock ,ellis    
,g4 ,p4 ,putnam's ,sons   ,new ,york and
 ,london    ,the ,knickerbocker ,press  
,,copyright1 #aiaa    ,,by    ,g4 ,p4   
,,putnam',s ,,sons    ,ninth ,printing  
,the ,knickerbocker ,press4 ,new ,york  
,,publishers' ,,note   ,in this         
treatise1 the veteran ,swedish reformer 
attacks problems the most vital to the  
welfare of the human race1 problems     
which have throughout the centuries     
engaged the attention of leaders of     
thought4  ,the writers who have given   
attention to the complex subject of the 
relations of the sexes1 of the          
obligations of the state in the control 
of these relations1 and of the          
organisation of the family as the       
foundation of society1 include such     

authors as ,plato1 ,goethe1 ,richter1   
,rousseau1 ,mary ,wollstonecraft1       
,fourier1 ,comte1 ,mrs4 ,browning1      
,mill1 ,ibsen1 ,westermarck1 ,charlotte 
,gilman1 ,havelock ,ellis1 and many     
others4  ,these problems are complex1   
and the difficulties presented by them  
most serious4 ,no writer has ever yet   
presented solutions that could be       
accepted as finally satisfactory4 ,ellen
 ,key writes with a profound antagonism 
to the philistinism and hypocrisy which 
have characterised much of the          
consideration given by the community to 
the subjects4 ,she points out 7as has1  
of course1 been emphasised by many      
earlier writers7 that the ignoring of an
 evil does not dispose of it1 and that  
so far from preserving society from its 
influence1 the burying of an evil merely
 tends to increase its corrupting and   
demoralising results4  ,whether or not  
the reader be prepared to accept the    
conclusions and recommendations of the  
,swedish thinker1 he must recognise that

 these conclusions represent the result 
of painstaking and scholarly thought and
 investigation4 ,daring and iconoclastic
 as they may be1 the views of ,ellen    
,key are presented with a calmness and  
philosophy of method that is absolutely 
free from any trace of sensationalism4  
,the book1 which is being distributed in
 half a dozen languages to a world's    
public1 must be accepted as a most      
important contribution to philosophic   
thought4  ,the introduction by ,havelock
 ,ellis1 himself an authority on social 
problems1 will help to make clear its   
purpose and character4   ,,new ,,york1  
,january1 #aiaa4     ,,contents         
,,page    ,,introduction ,,by ,,havelock
 ,,ellis                         vii    
,,chapter        ,i4 ,,the ,,course ,,of
 ,,development ,,of ,,sexual ,,morality 
#a       ,,ii4 ,,the ,,evolution ,,of   
,,love                            #eg   
,,iii4 ,,love',s ,,freedom              
#ajg       ,,iv4 ,,love',s ,,selection  
#adj        ,v4 ,,the ,,right ,,of      

,,motherhood                            
#afi       ,,vi4 ,,exemption ,,from     
,,motherhood                       #bjj 
,,vii4 ,,collective ,,motherliness      
#bdf     ,,viii4 ,,free ,,divorce       
#bhg       ,,ix4 ,a ,,new ,,marriage    
,,law                              #cei 
,,introduction   ,ellen ,key1 whose most
 important book is here for the first   
time presented in ,english1 is no       
stranger in the ,english-speaking world4
 ,her ,century of the ,child has already
 found many appreciative readers in     
,america as well as in ,england4 ,ellen 
,key is descended from a ,scotch        
,highlander1 ,colonel ,m',key 7probably 
of the famous ,mac,kay clan7 who fought 
under ,gustavus ,adolphus1 and she      
attaches no little significance to this 
ancestry4 ,she has always interested    
herself in ,english matters1 and is well
 acquainted with the life and literature
 of ,great ,britain2 but she belongs    
first and foremost to ,scandinavia4     
,she was born in #ahdi in the ,swedish  

province of ,smaland1 on a country      
estate of her father4 ,he had played a  
distinguished part in the ,swedish      
parliament as an avowed radical1 but his
 wife was a representative of an old and
 noble family4 ,ellen1 their eldest     
child1 was marked from an early age by  
her love of nature and of natural       
things4 ,this devotion to nature may be 
considered hereditary1 for her          
great-grandfather was an ardent disciple
 of ,rousseau1 and a special admirer of 
,rousseau's famous treatise on          
,education4 ,he gave to his son the name
 of mile1 which was handed down to      
,ellen ,key's father4 ,it was perhaps   
owing to the ,rousseau tradition that   
the young girl was initiated from       
childhood in swimming1 rowing1 riding1  
and other exercises then usually        
reserved for boys4 ,at the same time1   
she loved music and devoured books      
including ,scott's novels and           
,shakespeare's plays4 ,an early         
enthusiasm was for ,goethe's ,hermann   

and ,dorothea2 it may be said1 indeed1  
that the ideal of natural1 beautiful1   
and harmonious living for which that    
book stands has never left ,ellen ,key4 
,she was educated for the most part at  
home by ,german1 ,french1 and ,swedish  
teachers1 but it may easily be believed 
that a girl of so much individuality of 
character1 so impetuous and so          
independent1 proved a difficult child to
 manage and was often misunderstood4    
,one may divine as much from the        
sympathetic attitude towards children   
and the reverence for their healthy     
instincts1 which are revealed in ,the   
,century of the ,child4 ,fortunately    
young ,ellen had a wise and discerning  
mother1 to whom she owed much2 with a   
fine intuition1 this mother overlooked  
her daughter's indifference to domestic 
vocations and left her free to follow   
her own instincts1 at the same time     
exercising a judicious influence over   
her development4 ,while still a young   
girl1 the future author1 inspired by    

,bjrnson and other ,scandinavian        
writers1 conceived the idea of devoting 
herself to the study of the condition of
 the people and wrote several novels on 
peasant life4 ,a remark of her          
mother's--that her daughter surely could
 not be meant to write novels1 because  
the main questions for her were 8the    
questions of her own soul0--opened her  
eyes to the truth that fiction could not
 be her vocation4 ,but she was very far 
from knowing what her life's work was to
 be1 and her dreams were of love and    
motherhood1 not of a career4  ,with     
,bjrnson she was throughout in friendly 
relationship4 ,he had recognised her    
fine abilities before she even began to 
write1 and she on her side was full of  
admiration for his genius1 strength1 and
 goodness4 ,the other world-famous      
writer of ,scandinavia ,ellen ,key      
learned to know through his work at the 
age of eighteen1 when her mother        
presented to her ,love's ,comedy1       
,brand1 and ,peer ,gynt2 this also was  

an influential event in her life4 ,among
 writers to whom she was later attracted
 were ,elizabeth ,b4 ,browning1 ,george 
,eliot1 ,john ,stuart ,mill1 ,herbert   
,spencer1 and ,john ,ruskin4  ,at the   
age of twenty-three1 ,ellen ,key began  
those constant excursions to all the    
great centres of ,europe1 which may be  
said never since to have ceased1 at     
first in the company of her father1     
whose secretary1 confidant1 and almost  
co-worker she had become1 and she was   
thus gradually led to writing for       
journals4 ,a love of art seems to have  
been a primary inspiration of these     
early journeys1 for at this time ,ellen 
,key was fascinated by the art of       
painting as she has always been by the  
greater art of living1 and her wide     
knowledge of pictures has often happily 
illuminated her later writings4 ,after  
#ahhj1 however1 when her father1 as the 
result of an agricultural crisis1 lost  
his property1 she was compelled1 at the 
age of thirty1 to choose a career and   

for a time became a teacher in a girls' 
school4 ,she had always been attracted  
to teaching and many years earlier1 at  
the instigation of ,bjrnson1 had studied
 the school system of ,denmark4 ,at a   
later period she gave courses of        
lectures in literature1 history1 and    
sthetics4 ,for twenty years she occupied
 the ,chair of ,history of ,civilisation
 in ,sweden at the ,popular ,university 
of ,stockholm4  ,the early years of her 
career as a teacher seem to have been a 
period in ,ellen ,key's life of much    
struggle1 hardship1 and mental          
depression due to personal sorrows4     
,amongst these were the deaths in rapid 
succession of several distinguished     
women with whom she was closely         
associated1 ,sophie ,kowalevsky1 ,anna  
,charlotte ,leffler1 and 7by suicide7   
,ernst ,ahlgren4 ,she had not yet       
reached full development nor found her  
true place in the world4 ,although her  
abilities1 when she was still a girl of 
twenty1 had been discerned by a         

distinguished ,swedish woman's rights   
advocate1 ,sophie ,adlersparre1 who     
encouraged her to write for her journal1
 she has always been shy and diffident1 
with none of the self-confident         
qualities1 which an outsider might be   
tempted to attribute to her1 of an      
imposing ,corinne4 ,she published no    
book till she had reached               
middle-age--most of her best books      
belong to the present century--and      
though she had so far overcome her      
timidity as to discuss literary and     
sthetic questions before a public       
audience1 she had yet scarcely touched  
openly on those dangerous and difficult 
questions which arouse fierce           
antagonisms4 ,it required some assault  
on her most cherished convictions to    
arouse her latent courage4 ,this        
occurred when an old ,swedish law       
against heresy was revived in order to  
send to prison some young men who had   
freely argued the consequences1 as they 
conceived them1 of the ,darwinian       

doctrine in religion and sexual morals4 
,there is nothing so sacred to ,ellen   
,key as the right to personal opinion   
and personal development2 the sight of  
any injustice or oppression has always  
moved her profoundly1 and on this       
occasion she sprang forward into the    
fray like a lioness in defence of her   
cubs4 ,she is1 in the opinion of ,georg 
,brandes1 8a born orator10 and she      
publicly brought her eloquence to the   
service of the cause she had at heart4  
,her discussion of the question was     
marked by moderation1 skill1 and        
learning1 but her attitude on this      
occasion served to define publicly her  
real position4 ,thenceforward the       
conventionally respectable elements of  
,swedish society felt justified1        
according to the usual rule1 in dealing 
out reckless and random abuse to the    
daring pioneer4 ,she1 on her side1      
retained her serenity1 remaining a true 
woman1 with much of the mother in her   
and something of the child1 but before  

long her literary activities developed  
along her own native lines1 and in full 
maturity she frankly approached the     
essential questions of life and the     
soul4 ,a considerable series of volumes 
began rapidly to appear1 often rather   
informal in method and personal in      
style1 but freely following the author's
 thought and feeling1 full1 not only of 
ardent enthusiasm but of fine intuition 
and mellow wisdom4 ,in #aijc was begun  
the publication of her most extensive   
work1 ,lifslinjer 7,lines of ,life71 of 
which work the first two volumes        
constitute the book here presented to   
the ,english reader4 ,a few years later 
appeared ,the ,century of the ,child and
 in #aiji ,the ,woman's ,movement1 by   
many regarded as the best statement     
which has been made of that movement in 
its widest bearings4 ,ellen ,key has    
also published a long series of essays  
on literary personalities--,c4 ,j4 ,l4  
,almquist1 the ,brownings1 ,anna        
,charlotte ,leffler1 ,ernst ,ahlgren1   

etc4--who have appealed to her as       
illustrating some aspect of her own     
ideals4 ,the latest of these is a       
lengthy study of ,rahel ,varnhagen4#a   
,ellen ,key is a ,scandinavian and may  
perhaps even be said to be a typical    
figure of the country whose foremost    
woman she is4 ,moreover1 she loves her  
own land and is resolved to spend the   
rest of her life in a house she proposes
 to build in a beautiful part of the    
country1 ,alvastra1 near ,lake ,wetter1 
close to the ruins of the first ,swedish
 monastery1 a spot already sacred       
through its associations with the great 
,swedish saint1 ,brigitta4 ,but the     
prophet is a prophet everywhere except  
in his own country4 ,it is easy to find 
estimable ,swedes who are far from      
anxious to claim the honour which ,ellen
 ,key reflects on their land4 ,it is in 
,germany that her fame has been made4   
,to-day the ,germans1 and not least the 
,german women1 awaking from a long      
period of quiescence1 are inaugurating a

 new phase of the woman movement4 ,the  
first phase of that movement dates from 
the eighteenth century1 and its ideals  
were chiefly moulded by a succession of 
distinguished ,english women who claimed
 for their sex the same human rights as 
for men3 the same right to be educated1 
the same right to adopt the occupation  
they were fitted for1 the same political
 rights4 ,in the course of a century    
these claims1 although not yet          
completely realised1 have gradually been
 more and more generally conceded as    
reasonable4  ,at the same time1 however1
 it began to be seen that these demands1
 important as they are1 by no means     
cover the whole ground1 while1 taken    
separately1 they were liable to lead in 
a false direction2 they tended to       
masculinise women and they ignored the  
claims of the race4 ,in their ardour for
 emancipation1 women sometimes seemed   
anxious to be emancipated from their    
sex4 ,thus it was not enough to claim   
woman's place as a human                

being--especially in an age when man was
 regarded as the human being par        
excellence--but it also became necessary
 to claim woman's place in the world as 
a woman4 ,that was not1 as it might at  
first seem1 a narrower but a wider      
claim4 ,for on the merely human basis   
women were reduced to the level of      
competitive struggle with men1 were     
allowed to bring no contribution of     
their own to the solution of common     
problems1 and1 worst of all1 their      
supreme position in the world as mothers
 of the race was altogether ignored4 ,so
 that the assertion of the essential    
rights of women as women meant at the   
same time the assertion of the rights of
 society and the race to the best that  
women have to give4 ,it was certainly by
 no accident that the ,germans1 who once
 before led the evolution of ,europe by 
their triumphant assertion of the       
fundamental human impulses and have     
since been pioneers in social           
organisation1 should take the leading   

part in the inauguration of this new    
phase of the woman movement4  ,the      
publication of ,ellen ,key's books      
corresponded in date with the recent    
tendency of the ,germans to bring to    
bear on the questions of sex their      
characteristic ,teutonic thoroughness   
and practicality4 ,it is not surprising1
 therefore1 that this ,swedish woman1   
with her many-sided vision of the world1
 her daring yet serene statement of the 
secrets of human hearts1 should be      
greeted as the natural leader of the    
movement on its most womanly side4      
,love1 as ,ellen ,key regards it1 is at 
the core of the woman question1 and     
these opening volumes of ,lifslinger    
are1 above all1 a contribution to the   
woman question1 a modern and more mature
 version of that ,vindication of the    
,rights of ,woman which ,mary           
,wollstonecraft had set forth a century 
earlier4  ,in ,england1 and the same may
 be said of ,america1 we are yet but at 
the beginning of this new phase of the  

woman movement4 ,we have been mainly    
concerned with the rights of women to be
 like men2 we are only now beginning to 
understand the rights of women to be    
unlike men1 rights which1 as ,ellen ,key
 understands them1 include1 although    
they go beyond1 the rights embodied in  
the earlier claims4 ,the dogmatic       
fanatics of every party1 it is true1    
cannot endure ,ellen ,key2 they cannot  
understand her1 though she understands  
them1 and even regards them with a      
certain sympathetic tolerance1 as we    
should expect from a disciple of        
,montaigne and ,shakespeare and ,goethe4
 ,she is many-sided and is quite able to
 see and to accept both halves of a     
truth4 ,in one of her earliest essays   
she showed how individualism and        
socialism1 which some people suppose to 
be incompatible1 are really woven       
together1 and in the same way she now   
shows that eugenics and love--the social
 claims of the race and the individual  
claims of the heart --are not opposed   

but identical4 ,similarly1 she declares 
that to build up1 to help1 to console is
 the greatest of women's rights2 but1   
she adds1 they cannot adequately        
exercise that right unless they also    
possess the right of citizenship--so    
disconcerting the narrow partisan on    
each side4 ,in matters of detail we may 
at many points reserve our opinion4     
,ellen ,key is1 above all1--like ,olive 
,schreiner1 to whom she is1 in some     
respects1 akin--the prophet of a        
movement which transcends merely        
isolated measures of reform4 ,her       
writings are the candid expression of   
her intimate self4 ,in this book1       
especially1 we feel that we are in the  
inspiring presence of a woman whose     
personality is one of the chief moral   
forces of our time4    ,illustration3   
,signature of ,havelock ,ellis          
,,london1 ,september1 #aiaj4   ,love and
 ,marriage     ,,chapter ,i  ,,the      
,,course ,,of ,,development ,,of        
,,sexual ,,morality   ,all thoughtful   

persons perceive that the ideas of the  
morality of sexual relations upheld by  
the religions and laws of the ,western  
nations are in our time undergoing a    
radical transformation4  ,like all other
 such changes1 this one is opposed by   
the distrust of the guardians of        
society1 a distrust which is based upon 
the view that human beings lack the     
power of themselves directing their     
development on an upward course4        
,according to these critics1 this       
direction is the concern of             
transcendental reason1 which expresses  
itself in the real and thus causes the  
real to become rational4 ,marriage as it
 exists is a historically produced      
reality1 and therefore also rational4   
,historical continuity--as well as      
religious and ethical needs--must entail
 the permanence of the actual           
institution of marriage as an           
indispensable condition of the existence
 of society4  ,the reformers leave      
transcendental reason on one side4 ,but 

they too acknowledge the connection     
between the real and the rational to    
this extent1 that what has been real1   
has also been rational--so long as in   
certain given sociological and          
psychological conditions it has answered
 best the needs of humanity in some     
particular direction4 ,they acknowledge 
the necessity of fixed laws and customs1
 since these alone intensify the        
feelings into sources of impulse1 strong
 enough to be translated into action4   
,they perceive that the conservative1   
tenacious emotions have the same        
importance for the soul as the skeleton 
for the body4  ,but the historical      
necessity1 on the other hand1 according 
to which it is alleged that mankind     
awaits and surrenders itself to a fate  
over which it has no control1 is to     
these reformers an absurdity4 ,the      
8historical necessity0 in every age is  
the realised will of the strongest men1 
either in number or character1 realised 
in the degree in which nature and       

history favour their exercise of power4 
,the reformers know that the ,western   
institution of marriage has arisen      
partly from the permanent1              
physico-psychological causes of the     
maintenance of the race1 partly from    
historical causes which were transitory1
 although their effects in this domain1 
as in many others1 still continue4 ,they
 know that of all the fabrics of society
 marriage is the most complicated1 the  
most delicate1 and the most significant2
 they understand1 therefore1 that the   
majority must be seized with terror when
 the shrine of so many generations is   
threatened4  ,but they know also that   
all life is subject to transformation2  
that each transformation involves the   
death of once active realities1 and the 
formation of new ones4 ,they know that  
this dying-off and replacing never takes
 place uniformly2 that laws and customs1
 which have become a drag upon the lives
 of those in a better position1 are     
still of advantage to the majority1 and 

therefore ought to continue in existence
 as long as they remain so4 ,but they   
know at the same time that it is through
 the few in a better position--those    
whose needs and powers are most         
ennobled--that a higher standard of     
existence will finally become the       
portion also of the majority4 ,the      
condition of all development is1 not to 
be content with the present1 but to have
 the courage to ask how everything can  
be made better and the good fortune to  
find a right answer to this question in 
thought or in action4  ,it is thus the  
dissatisfaction of the most cultured    
class with the existing contradictions  
between its sexual needs and the form of
 their legitimate gratification which is
 now giving rise to attacks on that     
institution of marriage which was still 
sufficient for their own grandparents1  
just as it is even now for a countless  
number of their contemporaries4 ,these  
people know well enough that their      
dissatisfaction will not destroy        

marriage1 so long as the psychological  
and social conditions which now maintain
 it continue to exist4 ,but they know at
 the same time that their will is       
destined gradually to transform these   
psychological and social conditions4    
,and they already see on the hemisphere 
of the soul signs and wonders which     
portend that the fulness of time is at  
hand4  ,the reformers do not believe    
that the inconsistencies and            
contradictions which are indissolubly   
connected with the natural conditions of
 the maintenance of the race can be got 
rid of by any legislation4 ,and since   
they understand that complete freedom is
 an idea which only corresponds with    
perfected development1 they are also    
aware that new forms frequently entail  
hitherto unknown limitations1 as well as
 extensions1 of liberty4  ,what they    
desire is such forms as1 whether they   
limit or extend liberty of action1 will 
promote a life-enhancing use of the     
sexual powers both for the individual   

and for the race4 ,they have no hope    
that the new form will arrive in a state
 of perfection1 any more than they      
expect that all mankind will be prepared
 for it4 ,but they hope to foster the   
higher needs1 to awaken the richer      
powers1 which are destined finally to   
render the new form necessary also to   
the majority4 ,this hope kindles their  
calculated efforts1 which are directed  
by the certainty that personal love is  
life's highest value1 as well directly  
for the individual himself as indirectly
 for the new lives his love creates4    
,and this certainty is spreading from   
day to day all over the world4  ,unless 
one believes in a superhuman reason     
which directs evolution1 one is bound to
 believe in a reason inherent in        
humanity1 a motive power transcending   
that of each separate people1 just as   
the power of the organism transcends    
that of the organ4 ,this reason         
increases in proportion as the unity of 
mankind becomes established4 ,less and  

less are the individual nations able to 
preserve their own peculiarities from   
the influence of their neighbours4 ,and 
this is now becoming especially plain   
with regard to sexual questions4 ,while 
,scandinavian and ,anglo-,saxon ideas on
 sexual morality appear here and there  
in the literature of the ,latin races1  
the ,latin view of love has helped to   
shape the ideas which in ,scandinavia go
 by the name of 8the new immorality40   
,thus from one country to another fly   
the shuttles of gold and shuttles of    
steel1 drawing the fine and             
many-coloured woof of contemporary      
consciousness through thread after      
thread of the strong warp1 made up of   
the laws and customs of various nations4
 ,what follows is in part a drawing of  
the new pattern this weaving is         
fashioning1 in part an insertion into   
this pattern of certain new motives4    
,those who regard monogamy as the only  
standard of sexual morality and the only
 legitimate form of personal love1 do   

not mean the ostensible monogamy now    
established by law but circumvented by  
custom4 ,they mean real monogamy3 one   
man for one woman during that man's     
lifetime2 one woman for one man during  
that woman's lifetime1 and beyond that  
complete abstinence4 ,in the way of     
development1 they acknowledge only one  
gradual realisation of this ideal2 in   
the tendency of the present day to adopt
 several lines of development they see  
nothing but decadence4  ,again1 those   
who profess the faith of ,life regard   
the ideals of mankind as an expression  
of man's higher needs4 ,ideals which    
were once incentives to development thus
 become a drag upon it1 whenever life's 
needs demand new forms that are not     
recognised by the prevailing idealism4  
,only he who believes in supersensuous1 
,god-inspired ideals will consider these
 fixed for all natures and all times4   
,evolution1 on the other hand1 shows us 
that the same ideals never have been and
 never can be accepted by all the beings

 we include in the single expression1   
the human race1 but which in reality    
belong to almost as many separate races 
as the animal world4 ,evolutionists     
indeed rejoice that humanity cannot be  
equated under a single faith1 a single  
code of custom1 a single ideal1 since in
 the diversity of life they see a great 
part of its worth4 ,they think that this
 in itself is a sufficient reason for   
gradually granting to individuals of the
 same time and country that liberty     
which1 from a historical point of view1 
is allowed to the same nation at        
different periods1 and1 from an         
ethnographical point of view1 to        
different nations at the same period3   
namely1 the liberty1 within certain     
limits1 of choosing its own form of     
sexual life4 ,and they would be the more
 ready to do so1 since the geographical1
 climatic1 historical1 and economic     
differences between individuals are just
 as great as those between nations and  
periods1 and thus what is adequate to   

the needs and development of one cannot 
answer to those of the rest4  ,few      
propositions are so lacking in proof as 
that monogamy is the form of sexual life
 which is indispensable to the vitality 
and culture of nations4 ,neither history
 nor ethnography need be appealed to    
against an assertion which is           
sufficiently refuted by the fact that   
monogamy1 according to our strict       
definition above1 has never yet been a  
reality even among the ,christian       
nations1 except for a minority of       
individuals2 that all the progress that 
is ascribed to ,christian civilisation  
has taken place while monogamy was      
indeed the law but polygamy the custom4 
,during the period which is rhetorically
 alluded to as that of 8virtue and      
manliness10 the days of heathenism in   
the ,north1 those laws and customs      
prevailed which now--after a thousand   
years' further refinement of the        
emotional life under ,christianity--are 
regarded as involving the dissolution of

 society6 ,our excellent forefathers1   
whose morals seem so greatly to have    
outshone our own1 were all born in civil
 matrimony and brought up in homes where
 not infrequently the concubine lived by
 the same hearth as the wife1 and where 
the latter was liable to be repudiated  
for reasons as trivial as those for     
which she might herself obtain divorce4 
,indeed1 these ancestors were sometimes 
the offspring of a 8free love0 which    
found a home in the wilderness when the 
guardian had forbidden the lawful union 
of a loving couple4 ,the introduction by
 the ,catholic ,church of an            
indissoluble marriage tie did not       
prevent the people from narrowly        
escaping ruin in the ,middle ,ages4 ,no 
one1 again1 will give to                
eighteenth-century ,france the credit   
for monogamous morality4 ,nevertheless1 
,france retained vitality enough to     
determine the history of ,europe by her 
economical1 intellectual1 and military  
power4 ,and1 in spite of its erotic     

8immorality10 the heart of the ,french  
nation still possesses a great reserve  
of health and tenacity1 together with   
excellent civic virtues and powers of   
work4  ,those who are so fond of        
asserting that monogamy and indissoluble
 marriage determine the existence of    
nations1 are either ignorant of the past
 history and present condition of the   
nations1 or conceal their knowledge     
behind the prejudiced view that the     
white humanity of ,europe is to be taken
 as the criterion for the morality as   
well as for the faith of the whole race4
  ,on the other hand1 what can be proved
 is this3 that the vitality of a people 
depends first and foremost on the       
capacity and willingness of its women to
 bear and foster children fit to live1  
and on their husbands' capacity and     
willingness to protect the national     
existence4 ,in the next place1 it       
depends on the whole people's fondness  
for work and ability in the achievement 
of prosperity for itself and of value   

for mankind at large1 and finally on the
 will of the individual to sacrifice his
 own ends when the common weal demands  
it4 ,what can further be proved is that1
 if a people wastes its strength in     
sexual dissipation1 this will often     
prevent its fulfilling the conditions we
 have mentioned as necessary to its     
progress1 and will thus bring about its 
ruin4  ,but this does not involve any   
proof that a nation will be ruined if it
 alters the forms of sexual life        
according to a newly-acquired knowledge 
of the most reasonable sexual morality6 
,monogamy was victorious from many      
causes1 above all from experience of its
 advantages4 ,it minimised the struggle 
of the men for the women and thus       
economised forces for other ends2 it    
provided an incentive to work for       
offspring2 it developed modesty and     
tenderness within the sexual            
relationship and thus raised the        
position of the woman and with it her   
importance in the bringing-up of the    

children2 it provided them and her with 
a protection against the arbitrary will 
of the husband2 through home life it    
fostered self-command and co-operation2 
the need of the two for each other led  
to mutual kindness4 ,the authority of   
the husband was ennobled by the sense of
 responsibility and the joy of          
protection2 the dependence of the wife  
by devotion and fidelity4 ,this last was
 strengthened by fear of the husband's  
proprietary jealousy1 by his craving for
 the certainty that his property would  
be inherited by his own children2 by    
religions1 according to which the       
admixture of foreign blood in the race  
was a sin2 by the hope of ,christianity 
for a life together beyond the grave2   
and by their common children1 the       
feeling of tenderness for whom grew     
deeper as development proceeded4 ,and   
monogamy still continues to exercise    
this cultivating influence on the morals
 and on the soul4 ,it might1 therefore1 
seem that this admission of the value of

 even an imperfect monogamy rendered all
 further proof unnecessary for those who
 assert that the true development of    
sexual morality can only be secured     
through a gradually perfected monogamy4 
,but they forget that monogamy1 which   
was a custom long before the            
introduction of ,christianity1 became   
injurious as well as beneficial to true 
sexual morality1 from the moment the    
,church prescribed it as the only form  
of this morality4  ,then1 by a common   
trick of thought1 the conclusion was    
drawn that the mighty development of    
culture which had taken place under     
monogamy would have been impossible if  
this had not been the sole legitimate   
form of sexual relationship4 ,and thus  
it was established as the indispensable 
condition of all higher culture6  ,the  
import of the moral controversies which 
now arise with increasing frequency is  
the examination of the relatively higher
 value for real sexual morality of      
marriage or love4  ,so long as man      

believed that he had been created       
perfect1 had then fallen and continued  
in everlasting strife between the spirit
 and the flesh1 no doubt could arise of 
the absolute value of the ,christian    
ideal of morality4 ,even those who      
strove hardest to attain this ideal1    
even those vanquished in the strife1    
confessed themselves sinners in so far  
as the flesh triumphed over the spirit4 
,it was evolutionism that first gave man
 courage to wonder whether he may not   
also be 8sinning0 when the spirit       
triumphs over the flesh2 to ask himself 
whether perchance marriage did not exist
 for mankind1 and not mankind for       
marriage2 to assert the right of the    
present time to more universal          
experience with regard to the sexual    
customs most favourable to the          
development of the race4 ,for 8the idea 
of marriage0 is to them nothing else    
than to further this development4 ,but  
universal experience cannot be won so   
long as religion and law prescribe a    

single custom as certainly the right    
custom and all others are thus condemned
 and obstructed--as soon as they show   
themselves with serious frankness--while
 secret trespass against the monogamous 
ideal is countenanced4 ,it cannot be    
denied that the sanctioning of this     
ideal has incited many to try to realise
 it2 indeed1 hypocrisy itself is an     
indirect tribute to its worth4 ,but its 
fixity has now become a danger to       
continued evolution4   ,on the question 
of marriage1 as in all other respects1  
,lutheranism is a compromise1 a bridge  
between two logical views of the        
universe3 the ,catholic-,christian and  
the ,individualistic ,monist4 ,and      
bridges are made to go over1 not to     
stand upon4  ,none of our 8immoral0     
authors has insisted more strongly than 
,luther and ,olaus ,petri on the power  
of the sexual life4 ,both regard modesty
 without marriage as unthinkable4 ,both 
see in marriage the means given by ,god 
to satisfy desire1 just as food is the  

means given by ,god to satisfy hunger4  
,but man has as little right to satisfy 
the former by unchastity as he has to   
still the latter by theft4 ,there would 
be nothing to object to in this if      
unchastity had not been made synonymous 
with every form of sexual relation      
outside matrimony1 while chastity became
 equivalent to every form of marriage4  
,luther showed some knowledge of nature 
when he taught that1 though it may be   
possible for human beings to repress    
their actions outside wedlock1 they     
cannot repress their feelings and       
desires4 ,on the other hand he knew     
nothing of that creation of culture1    
love1 and therefore he failed to see    
that exactly the same sentence which he 
used to confute celibacy may also be    
employed to confute marriage1 for the   
vow of fidelity no more entails real    
faithfulness than the vow of chastity is
 the cause of true purity4 ,real        
fidelity can only arise when love and   
marriage become equivalent terms4 ,the  

substance of ,luther's controversy on   
marriage was not a higher conception of 
matrimony than that of the ,catholic    
,church1 it was merely the restoration  
of marriage to churchmen and monastic   
communities4 ,we have to thank ,luther  
for the ,lutheran parsonage and with it 
for a great contribution to the poetry  
of country life1 to popular culture1 to 
the production of many great minds1     
and--indirectly--to the moulding of many
 passionate free-thinkers4 ,the         
,lutheran doctrine of marriage1 on the  
other hand1 deserves no thanks1         
since--like ,protestantism as a         
whole--it stopped short in an insoluble 
contradiction4 ,instead of upholding1 in
 the spirit of the ,catholic ,church and
 of ,christ1 the indissolubility of     
marriage and demanding the suppression  
of sensuality when the peace of the soul
 required it1 ,luther1 by his insistence
 on the strength of natural             
inclinations1 was forced into           
concessions1 which--quite in accordance 

with the teachings of the ,bible--went  
so far as to approve of bigamy4 ,to the 
gross apprehension of the ,reformation  
period the choice of a personal love    
meant nothing4 ,with marriage possible  
from a natural point of view alone1 it  
might be contracted with any one2       
indeed1 to the genuinely pious it seemed
 a higher thing to enter into matrimony 
without any earthly love1 which         
interfered with the love of ,god4 ,the  
,lutheran doctrine of marriage made ,god
 8indulgent0 towards all the impurity   
that the sexual life shut up within the 
whited sepulchre of lawful wedlock4 ,he 
has shut his eyes to all the            
wife-murders that the command of        
fecundity involved2 to all the worthless
 children produced by ill-matched and   
impure marriages4 ,he has 8blessed0 all 
unions entered into1 even though from   
the lowest motives1 under the most      
unnatural circumstances3 between a sick 
person and a healthy one1 an old and a  
young1 a willing and an unwilling or two

 unwilling ones1 coupled together by    
their families4 ,to-day1 countless women
 are still being sacrificed to this     
doctrine of marriage1 or to its         
unconscious effects2 their exhausted    
wombs are a poor soil for the new       
generation2 their crushed souls a broken
 support for the growth of new wills4   
,for one woman who defends herself with 
the resolution lent by horror1 there are
 thousands who have conceived and still 
conceive children in loathing4 ,for one 
wife who is met with the modest prayer  
of love1 there are thousands who with a 
feeling of humiliation concede to their 
proprietors the right inculcated by the 
,lutheran doctrine of matrimony4 ,but   
the signs of the times are visible even 
within the ,lutheran ,church4 ,there are
 to be found younger men who maintain   
that love--not merely the formula about 
love in the marriage-service--must be   
present if the marriage is to be        
regarded as a moral one4 ,and probably  
these neo-,lutheran prophets of love use

 their influence to prevent a number of 
repulsive marriages4 ,but it does not   
occur either to them or to their        
congregation to treat with contempt a   
couple who have been married for the    
most despicable reasons4 ,on the other  
hand1 if two young and healthy people1  
united only by their love1 should live  
together and fulfil the command of      
fruitfulness1 then indeed this couple   
would be made to feel1 through shameful 
treatment--if not by the young clergyman
 himself1 then by his flock--that a     
sexual connection sanctioned by law is  
the only one that is respected1 and     
that1 therefore1 it is not the          
seriousness of personal love in itself1 
but primarily society's official stamp  
that makes it pass as a moral ground for
 the cohabitation of two human beings4  
,and if a person who is unhappy in a    
loveless marriage frees himself and     
establishes a new home on 8personal     
love1 the moral ground of marriage10    
then the churchmen hasten to substitute 

for 8the moral ground of marriage0 that 
of duty4  ,the doctrine that love is the
 moral ground of sexual relations is    
thus as yet only an unendorsed sequence 
of words4 ,the attempt to realise it was
 for a long time a punishable crime in  
,lutheran countries1 and will probably  
be still treated about the year #bjjj as
 a culpable error4  ,thus the marriage  
doctrine of ,lutheranism--like that of  
,christianity in general--has ended1    
according to the moral ideas of the     
religion of ,life1 in immorality1 since 
it no more protects the right of the    
race to the best conditions of life than
 it admits the right of the individual  
to realise his love according to the    
needs of his personal morality4 ,the    
object of the ,lutheran marriage was to 
unite man and woman1 with or without    
love1 as a means to securing their      
mutual morality1 to make them breeders  
of children for society1 and in addition
 to retain the husband as breadwinner4  
,by relentlessly pursuing this object1  

the church has succeeded in damming up  
but not in purifying sensuality1 in     
developing the sense of responsibility  
but not of love4 ,it has thus merely    
rough-planed the material for a higher  
morality4 ,this rough-planed material   
may still be the most suitable for      
general use1 but more and more people   
will now require finer instruments4     
,the new conception of morality grows   
out of the hope of the gradual ascent of
 the race towards greater perfection4   
,those forms of sexual life which best  
serve this progress must therefore      
become the standards of the new         
morality4 ,but as the nature of a       
relation can only be determined by its  
results1 those who hold the faith of    
,life will apply a conditional judgment 
also in the case of sexual affairs4     
,only cohabitation can decide the       
morality of a particular case--in other 
words1 its power to enhance the life of 
the individuals who are living together 
and that of the race4 ,thus sanction can

 never be granted in advance nor--with  
certain exceptions relating to          
children--can it be denied to any       
matrimonial relationship4 ,each fresh   
couple1 whatever form they may choose   
for their cohabitation1 must themselves 
prove its moral claim4  ,this is the new
 morality1 which is now called immoral  
by the same type of souls as condemned  
,luther on his appearance as immoral1--a
 judgment which is repeated in the      
,catholic world1 where to-day the same  
abuse is heaped upon 8the unchaste monk0
 as is poured upon the adherents of     
8free love0 within the ,lutheran        
communities4 ,the question for ,luther's
 present-day 8liberal0 followers1 both  
in this matter and in that of faith1 is 
whether they shall turn back or go      
forward2 back to the firm ground of     
absolute authority1 or over the bridge  
of free experiment into the untrodden   
country of an entirely personal faith2  
back to indissoluble marriage or over   
the bridge of coercion to the rights of 

love4 ,the right course of a consistent 
thought admits of no third possibility4 
,the neo-,protestant doctrine of        
marriage is already much less logical   
than ,luther's4 ,they agree with him in 
admitting the right of the sensual side 
of love1 and with their contemporaries  
in granting to love its share in human  
life4 ,but when they proceed to draw    
limits for both1 they bring themselves  
into an untenable position4  ,they bring
 themselves into an untenable position  
not because they insist upon            
self-control within as well as outside  
of matrimony 7all preparation for a     
final enhancement of life involves      
temporary checks upon life7 but because 
the self-control they demand is so      
comprehensive that it will be in a high 
degree obstructive to life without the  
compensation of a final enhancement1 for
 they limit the sexual part of love to  
the task of continuing the species1 and 
the part of love in human life to a     
single relationship4 ,those couples who 

are unable or unwilling to take upon    
themselves the responsibility for a new 
life are thus condemned to celibacy in  
marriage4 ,those couples who have once  
founded their marriage on love must     
maintain the relationship even without  
love4  ,these demands are more ruthless 
to human nature than those opposed by   
,luther4 ,complete celibacy is easier   
than married celibacy4 ,the needs of the
 soul are stronger than those of the    
senses4 ,this ought not1 however1 to    
prevent the setting up of the strict    
demands if these were really conducive  
to a higher existence from the sexual   
point of view4 ,but only one who        
disregards life's reality 7and the      
,christian is often such a one7 can at  
the same time set up personal love as   
the ground of sexual morality and limit 
its rights within certain bounds of     
morality4  ,personal love1 as now       
developed by civilisation1 has become so
 complicated1 comprehensive1 and        
involved that not only does it          

constitute in itself 7independently of  
its mission to the race7 a great asset  
in life1 but it also raises or lowers   
the value of all else4 ,it has acquired 
a new significance besides its original 
one3 that of bearing the flame of life  
from generation to generation4 ,no one  
calls him immoral who--disappointed in  
his love--abstains from continuing the  
race in his marriage2 nor would the     
couple be called immoral who continue in
 a marriage made happy by love1 although
 it has shown itself to be childless4   
,but in both these cases1 the parties   
concerned follow their subjective       
feelings at the cost of the race and    
treat their love as an end in itself4   
,the right already granted to the       
individuals in these cases at the cost  
of the race will in future be extended  
more and more in proportion as the      
significance of love grows4 ,on the     
other hand1 the new morality will demand
 of love an ever greater voluntary      
limitation of its rights1 during the    

times that a new life claims it1 as well
 as voluntary or compulsory renunciation
 of the right to produce new lives1     
under conditions which would render them
 of less value4  ,the marriage doctrine 
of neo-,protestantism1 like that of     
,tolstoy1 rests finally on the ascetic  
distrust of the sexual life4 ,neither   
doctrine supposes that the sensual side 
can be ennobled otherwise than by being 
placed exclusively at the service of the
 race4 ,it is this point of view which  
is finally decisive in all ,christian   
conceptions of morality4 ,christianity  
is sustained by the knowledge that the  
object of man's life on earth is his    
development as an eternal being4        
,therefore none of his expressions of   
life can be an end in itself1 but must  
serve a higher purpose than the earthly 
life and happiness of the individual--or
 even than that of the race4  ,when the 
foundation of sexual morality was laid  
in an existence beyond this world1 it   
lost its connection with the            

continuation of the race and thus was   
brought into contradiction with itself4 
,this is the reason why ,christianity1  
while it has indirectly done much for   
the spiritualisation of love1 has yet   
never succeeded in combining the needs  
of the individual with those of the     
race1 the cravings of the soul with     
those of the senses4 ,that moral        
standard will alone be all-embracing    
which is determined by the belief that  
the meaning of life is its development  
through individuals towards higher and  
higher forms of life for the whole race4
 ,this standard will not regard any     
asceticism as moral which contemplates  
the freeing of the soul from the bonds  
of sensuality1 as is the great          
aspiration of ,eastern asceticism4 ,it  
only recognises the claim of such       
self-discipline as brings about an      
ever-increasing unity between the soul  
and the will of the body4 ,such a       
self-discipline1 indeed1 renounces the  
nearer and lesser good for the more     

distant and greater4 ,but it finds this 
good1 in the domain of love as in       
everything else1 in an increasingly     
soulful sensuousness1 or in an          
increasingly sensuous soulfulness1 not  
in the spirituality of asceticism1 more 
and more freed from the senses4 ,to the 
chapel of this spirituality a mountain  
path leads1 which--however arduous every
 step may be--yet goes straight to the  
goal4 ,the soulful-sensual existence    
again is a cell to which a labyrinth    
leads4 ,here each step is less          
difficult1 but the whole journey        
involves infinitely greater dangers and 
excitement4 ,it may be for this reason  
that as yet it only attracts the        
strongest--those who never renounce     
pleasure1 since they find pleasure even 
in renunciation4 ,for him who seeks the 
latter goal a single standard of        
morality will appear                    
inapplicable--simply because human      
nature is manifold4 ,sexual abstinence  
in youth1 for instance1 may strengthen  

nine out of ten young men4 ,the tenth it
 may change into a man of bestial       
impulses1 who1 although before marriage 
he has been chaste1 may show1 when      
married1 a coarseness or depravity which
 drags down the wife to his level or    
opens an abyss between them4 ,purely    
sensual unions may in nine cases out of 
ten deteriorate both the man and the    
woman4 ,in the tenth case such a        
connection may deepen into a feeling    
that determines the course of two lives1
 and the resulting marriage offers      
better prospects of happiness than that 
of many a young couple who have entered 
upon married life according to the rule 
which is regarded as the only one to    
give security of happiness4 ,thus it is 
possible in one case out of ten that the
 love for which a young man has kept    
himself pure until marriage really is   
personal love4 ,in the other nine cases 
it is not so1 but on the contrary the   
most impersonal of all love4 ,thus in   
nine cases out of ten1 it is possible   

that such disappointments can be borne  
through a sense of duty1 so that        
personality grows beneath them4 ,in the 
tenth1 again1 persistence in the mistake
 will be the ruin of personality4       
,those who make--and rightly--complete  
purity before marriage and personal love
 in the married state the standard of   
morality1 ought1 on account of          
innumerable similar experiences1 to make
 up their minds to let every one decide 
for himself how this purity can best be 
attained1 before as well as after       
marriage1 and what personal love shall  
be held to imply4 ,either it must mean  
nothing for or against the sanctity of  
marriage2 or1 if it is to mean sanctity 
at the outset of married life1 then it  
must also mean the same during its      
continuance4 ,but only the individual   
himself knows how long his marriage     
remains sanctified by personal love or  
when it ceased to be so4 ,no one can be 
burdened with the duty of remaining in  
an unhallowed relation1 and             

neo-,protestantism must therefore either
 declare personal love to be the moral  
ground of marriage or unconditional     
fidelity to be the expression of moral  
personality4  ,the monist in these      
questions does not ask whether a sexual 
relationship is the first and only one1 
before he acknowledges its morality4 ,he
 only wishes to know whether it was such
 that it did not exclude the            
personalities of the lovers2 whether it 
was a union in which 8neither the soul  
betrayed the senses nor the senses the  
soul40  ,in these words ,george ,sand   
gave the idea of the new chastity4      
,the claims of the new sexual morality  
show curious similarities and           
dissimilarities to those to which the   
age of chivalry gave rise in the same   
sphere4 ,thus the ,courts of ,love held 
the principle that marriage and love are
 mutually exclusive4 ,on the other hand1
 the conception of personality has given
 rise to a desire for unity which makes 
it repulsive to many people to live in  

matrimony unless there is a longing of  
the soul and of the senses for one's    
partner in marriage4 ,the age of        
chivalry in its idea of love ignored the
 new generation whereas the hope of the 
present day is through love to perfect  
the race just as much as the lovers     
themselves4  ,nor does the new morality 
deny to the many1 who have not even been
 capable of dreaming of personal love1  
the right to contract a marriage1 which 
will at least contribute to their poor  
existence the interest of home and the  
joy of parentage4 ,but it will be severe
 with those who1 having had experience  
or intuition of love1 have entered      
without it into a marriage which will   
certainly impoverish and perhaps ruin   
more lives than their own4 ,prudence may
 counsel leniency of judgment in the    
individual case1 since the majority of  
human beings learn to know their hearts 
late in life1 if at all4 ,once more1 as 
a guiding principle of morality1 the    
unity of marriage and love must be      

maintained4 ,by his power of creating   
ideals1 and the ever-increasing demand  
for happiness which results1 man has    
deepened his instinct of spiritual      
needs1 and the same power of            
idealisation is now ruthlessly          
withdrawing the outward supports of     
sexual morality and replacing them by   
the idea of unity4 ,that the halt and   
the lame are thereby deprived of their  
crutches will be no stumbling-block to  
him who looks beyond the halt and the   
lame to the finer and healthier men of  
the future4  ,it is true that the idea  
of unity involves the right of every    
person to shape his sexual life in      
accordance with his individual needs1   
but only on condition that he does not  
prejudice unity or the rights of the    
beings to whom his love gives life4     
,love thus becomes more and more a      
private affair of the individual1 while 
children are more and more the business 
of society1 and from this it follows    
that the two lowest expressions of      

sexual division 7dualism7 sanctioned by 
society1 namely1 coercive marriage and  
prostitution1 will by degrees become    
impossible1 since after the triumph of  
the idea of unity they will no longer   
answer to the needs of humanity4  ,by   
coercive marriage is meant that under   
which not only are the morality of      
cohabitation and the rights of the      
children dependent on the form of       
cohabitation1 but the possibility of    
divorce for one of the parties is also  
dependent on the other's will4 ,by      
prostitution is meant all trading with  
one's sex1 whether this traffic is      
carried on by women or by men1 who from 
necessity or inclination sell themselves
 with or without marriage4 ,both these  
things occur under grosser and under    
milder forms4 ,there is a scale of      
degrees for loveless marriage1 as there 
is for loveless--8love40 ,the distance  
is great between1 for instance1 8,la    
,dame aux ,camlias0 or ,raskolnikoff's  
8,sonja0 on the one hand1 and a prowler 

of the gutter on the other4 ,so it is   
between a woman who contracts a marriage
 from the longing for motherhood and one
 who does it from love of luxury2       
between a man who seeks a partner in his
 work and one who only wants a wife to  
console his creditors4 ,but whether one1
 with part of one's person1 buys one's  
self free from hunger or from debts1    
loneliness or desire2 however great in  
itself the value one gains may be1 still
 the transaction remains1 for buyer as  
well as for seller1 a humiliation from  
the point of view of the sexual morality
 which sees things as a whole4  ,the    
development of the consciousness of     
erotic personality is at present        
hindered in an equal degree by the      
8morality0 settled by society1 and by   
the 8immorality0 regulated by society4  
,whether it is a question of maintaining
 the former or of excusing the latter1  
we are told that idealism must make way 
for 8the needs of real life40 ,the same 
men who with reason are afraid of the   

dissolution of society if the right of  
the hungry to steal were preached in the
 name of 8the needs of real life10      
consider themselves wise when1 in a far 
more important sphere than that of      
property1 they proclaim the necessity of
 stealing1 in the form of prostitution4 
,real life has certainly its claims3 in 
the one case1 that all who are hungry   
for food should have work1 at such a    
rate of pay that they can eat2 in the   
other1 that all who are of marriageable 
age should have the possibility of      
contracting marriage at the right time4 
,but the changes that must take place   
before this can come to pass will fail  
to appear so long as society--under the 
assumption that prostitution is a       
necessary evil--superintends its results
 and thus gives itself the illusion that
 its dangers can be provided against4   
,for thus society escapes the search for
 expedients which would better provide  
for the two fundamental needs--love and 
hunger--for the satisfaction of which   

prostitution at present provides the    
only means for many men and women4  ,but
 these changes will also fail to appear 
so long as society--under the assumption
 that marriage is a necessary           
good--retains this as the sole mark of  
morality in sexual relations4  ,for this
 state of things1 those preachers of    
morality are to blame who persuade      
themselves that the only cure for the   
evil is a still stricter maintenance of 
the claims of monogamy4 ,they are afraid
 of any mention of the wealth of varied 
experience1 of the longing for          
happiness1 or the joy of life4 ,they    
proclaim nothing but the sense of duty1 
responsibility for one's individual     
soul1 and obligations to society4 ,but  
this has been constantly preached from  
the dawn of ,christianity1 and yet the  
standard of sexual morality as a whole  
is no higher than it was4 ,this gives   
food for reflection4 ,the more so when  
this dread of love is carried as far as 
,tolstoy's--or rather1 the ,oriental    

world's--detestation of the senses2 when
 marriage is regarded solely as a       
palliative for a hereditary disease1    
which ought rather to be stamped out so 
as to render the remedy unnecessary4    
,when psychical phenomena have been as  
much investigated as physical1 love will
 also receive its cumatology--that is1  
its science of waves4 ,we shall follow  
the curves of the emotions through the  
ages1 their movement of rise and fall1  
the oppositions and side-influences by  
which they have been determined4 ,such a
 rising wave in our time is the growing 
detestation of young men for socially   
protected immorality1 their longing for 
singleness in love4 ,an opposing        
influence1 again1 is the disinclination 
of many young women for love4 ,they are 
not content1 like the neo-,protestant   
clergymen1 with demanding that carnality
 shall be sanctified by marriage3 they  
want to kill it4 ,they do not merely    
hate--and with reason--desire apart from
 love3 they depreciate love itself1 even

 when it appears as the unity of soul   
and senses4 ,according to them1 marriage
 ought to be merely the highest form of 
sympathetic friendship1 in conjunction  
with a sense of duty directed to the    
procreation and rearing of children4    
,when marriage is freed from feelings of
 carnal pleasure as well as from claims 
of personal happiness1 when it is the   
union of two friends in the duty and joy
 of living entirely for their           
children--then alone will it become     
8moral06  ,on the other hand1 love1     
treated as a synthesis of spiritual     
sympathy and the life of the race1 as   
the vital force through which a human   
being's existence is enhanced and       
beautified1 is to them worthless2 and   
the idea of a distinction between the   
nature of woman and of man is to them   
meaningless4 ,they demand of both       
complete abstinence outside marriage1   
and within it they permit only certain  
few exceptions1 which nature's yet      
imperfect arrangements render necessary 

for the continuance of the race4 ,with  
the advance of science1 they hope that  
chemistry and biology will set humanity 
free from its degradation in love1 just 
as ,werner von ,heidenstam expects his  
8food-powder0 to bring freedom from     
degradation by hunger4 ,possibly they   
will both be right4 ,but with these     
possibilities the people of the         
twentieth century have nothing to do4   
,what we rather require at present is   
more love--and more food--not less4  ,it
 is therefore not likely that the line  
we have just touched upon will be that  
followed by the development of sexual   
morality1 for even now an increasing    
proportion of mankind shows itself too  
exacting in erotic questions to allow of
 the realisation of the above-mentioned 
ideal of purity4 ,no thought of the end 
will to their minds sanctify a means    
which when deprived of love appears to  
them ugly4  ,the children begotten under
 a sense of duty would moreover be      
deprived of a number of essential       

conditions of life2 among others that of
 finding in their parents beings full of
 life and radiating happiness1 which    
constitutes the chief spiritual         
nourishment of children--and it may be  
added that parents who 8live entirely   
for their children0 are seldom good     
company for them4  ,the programme of    
morality here alluded to is explicable  
from a justified hatred of socially     
protected immorality and                
a--partly--justified resentment against 
the love which leaves the child out of  
account4 ,but its solution of love's    
deepest conflict--that between the      
claims of the individual and those of   
the race--is prejudicial to the will of 
nature as well as to the conditions of  
civilisation4 ,independently of both    
factors1 these zealots believe they can 
attain that white world of purity which 
attracts their minds1 afflicted as they 
are by the impurity and misery with     
which sexual relations still load       
existence4 ,they forget that above the  

snow-line only the poorest forms of life
 can flourish4 ,but human development   
tends towards the production of an ever 
richer and stronger series of forms4    
,any attempt to separate morality from  
sensuousness will not accelerate        
development but only retard it1 since   
the transplantation of sexual emotion to
 a soil other than that of the senses is
 an impossibility in our present earthly
 conditions4  ,the demand for purity    
which aims at non-sensuousness--or      
supersensuousness--may perhaps provide  
protection from minor dangers4 ,in great
 ones it will be as futile as a hedge   
against a forest fire4 ,no obstructing  
of appetites1 but only their release in 
other directions1 can really purify     
them4 ,passions can be curbed only by   
means of stronger passions4 ,in the same
 appetite and the same passion in which 
the danger lies1 in the instinct of love
 itself1 we have the true starting-point
 for its ennobling4 ,he to whom the     
destruction of this instinct is a       

passionate desire possesses in this     
passion itself a prospect of attaining  
his unnatural end4 ,he1 again1 who does 
not wish to kill1 but only to control   
the sexual instinct1 will become1 in his
 struggle against this desire--still    
immeasurably stimulated through heredity
 and social custom--a strong and proud  
conqueror only when he imagines and     
finally experiences unity in love4      
,assuredly also secondary expedients are
 to be found4 ,before all1 that of      
acquiring the instinct of chastity from 
parents2 of being strengthened and      
protected from childhood against the    
dangers of callousness as well as those 
of softness2 of being instructed in a   
refined and gentle way of the great     
purpose and great dangers of sexual     
destiny2 of receiving impressions       
through public opinion of the           
possibility of self-control and its     
importance to the happiness of the      
individual himself and of the race2 of  
avoiding the abuse of means of          

enjoyment1 especially of intoxicating   
liquors1 which both directly and        
indirectly weaken the will-power in the 
case of sexual1 as of all other kinds   
of1 temptation4 ,it is beyond question  
that noble sport1 dancing1 and          
games--and they are only noble when     
practised finely and worthily1 with the 
mind as well as the body--are a means of
 replacing and controlling the sexual   
instinct4 ,equally certain is it that   
bodily and mental labour1 whether       
undertaken independently or as a        
participation in some form of social    
endeavour1 is important as occupying and
 consuming the sexual powers in a       
substituted form4 ,all genuine artistic 
enjoyment is in the highest degree      
important for the ennobling of sexual   
life4 ,but all this self-discipline1 all
 these aids from the world of beauty and
 labour1 all this cultivation of the    
body to strength and beauty1 will be as 
lines without a centre so long as they  
do not all lead in the direction of     

love--love1 which certain preachers of  
morality would leave altogether outside 
the question1 as though even it were a  
danger and a temptation4 ,no one would  
venture to deny that healthy habits of  
life and strict self-control may be     
elevating for the individual1 even if   
love means nothing in his life4 ,but    
life in its entirety gains nothing by   
the production of hardened or harassed  
ascetic types1 which by exhausting      
bodily exercise1 by reading that leaves 
the imagination arid1 and by art that   
smothers nudity1 have succeeded in      
lulling to sleep the sensuousness which1
 nevertheless1 will perhaps some day    
awake4 ,life has as little joy of these 
harsh guardians of their 8higher0 nature
 as they themselves have of life4 ,we   
have not gained much if we are to have a
 youth which attains sexual abstinence  
at the cost of other excellent qualities
 equally necessary to the race4 ,a      
youth1 with large blinkers1 shunning the
 delights of the senses1 the varied joy 

of life1 the mobility of the fancy2 a   
youth devoid of all spiritual           
adventure--such1 with all its 8purity10 
would be a dead asset in life4  ,those  
on the other hand who preserve but      
control the wealth of suggestion of the 
sexual life will be--even though their  
control has not always been complete--of
 infinitely greater service to          
existence4  ,the prejudice originally   
fostered by ,christianity1 that sexual  
purity is in itself so great an asset in
 life that it outweighs the sacrifice of
 all others--this prejudice must be     
overcome4 ,a person is estimable for    
sexual purity only to the extent to     
which it fits him to fulfil the purpose 
of life for himself and for the race3   
that of leading an ever higher life4    
,his purity is too dearly won if it     
costs him1 and through him the race1    
irreparable losses of vital joy1        
courage1 and power4  ,and for the       
present--until many generations of      
marriage and bringing-up have arrived at

 a transformation of present-day human1 
and especially men's1 nature--the demand
 for purity will not admit of           
realisation without such losses2 that   
is1 if this demand takes the shape of   
the neo-,protestant formula1 or1 even   
more1 that of ,tolstoy4   ,those        
ascetics who recommend only self-control
 as a remedy for the mastery of the     
sexual instinct1 even when such control 
becomes merely obstructive to life1 are 
like the physician who tried only to    
drive the fever out of his patient3 it  
was nothing to him that the sick man    
died of the cure4  ,but these ascetics  
may have arrived at their fanaticism by 
two different paths4 ,one group--which  
includes most of the female             
ascetics--hates ,cupid because he has   
never shown to them any favour4 ,the    
other group--embracing the majority of  
male ascetics--curse him because he     
never leaves them in peace4 ,meanwhile1 
those who put a tremendous emphasis on  
purity and those who rave about         

pleasure1 meet on the common ground of  
distrust of love's possibilities of     
development4 ,love to them means desire 
and nothing else2 if the soul enters    
into it1 it becomes friendship and that 
alone4 ,they have never experienced a   
love which is creative in the fullest   
sense of the word4 ,sterility--of the   
soul or the body or both--is the mark of
 the only love these two groups are     
acquainted with4 ,the slaves of         
eroticism are admirably characterised by
 ,lord ,chesterfield's confession that  
he had made violent love to at least    
twenty women1 all of whom personally    
were entirely indifferent to him4 ,they 
know nothing of the soul's desire for   
one single person1 from among an        
unlimited selection2 a desire           
which--when it is deeply rooted--is met 
by the desire of the other4 ,they do not
 know that the elective affinity of     
sympathy causes the one to gather from  
the other's eyes an all-mastering1      
liberating force4 ,for they themselves  

experience in the violence of desire    
only prostration and humiliation of     
their higher being4 ,an otherwise       
sensitive man may feel unnerved by      
eroticism to such a degree that now he  
will wish all women dead1 to be thus    
freed from his thraldom2 now he will    
desire1 as ,caligula did of the ,romans1
 that they had but a single neck--but   
not to sever it4 ,the hatred of these   
men for eroticism is that of the savage 
for the hideous gods on whom he believes
 himself dependent1 and whom he knows to
 be making sport of his destiny4 ,and   
nothing is more certain than that love1 
thus conceived1 makes men degraded and  
ridiculous4 ,even he who in his         
innermost soul loves tragedy and hates  
farce1 is made1 under the attraction of 
this love1 to halt between the two and  
to turn his life into a tragi-comedy2   
for in order to attain to the true      
tragic greatness a man must be prepared 
to surrender himself unconditionally to1
 and to suffer through what is greatest 

in1 his nature1 his innermost ego4 ,but 
the tragic destiny is apt to pass a man 
by against his innermost will1 and then 
arises the impure form of the tragic    
that we have just mentioned4 ,thus men  
and women1 who have only sought fresh   
stimulants in eroticism1 at last come   
across a person who does not understand 
love in that way1 and who ends the game 
for ever4 ,or perchance they themselves 
are gripped by a great emotion1 but     
their past destroys the hope of its now 
being granted to them to worship in any 
holy grove the divinity to whom hitherto
 they have only burned paper lanterns in
 the turmoil of a fair4 ,in most cases  
the tragi-comedy takes the same form as 
with the drunkard3 satisfaction becomes 
more and more impossible2 the insatiable
 one is continually forced to fly to    
grosser means in order to quench his    
desire in some degree1 to indulge with  
increasing frequency1 but with          
diminishing festival gladness4 ,he who  
has sunk to this kind of intoxication   

becomes by degrees as weak-willed1 as   
heartless1 as devoid of character and   
conscience as the dipsomaniac1 and      
equally incapable of selection and      
appreciation within the sphere of his   
appetites4 ,the most sublime woman's    
love will at last leave him as          
insusceptible as is the drunkard to the 
liquid topaz of ,rhenish wine1 its      
bouquet and dewy freshness4 8,love's    
freedom0 will finally mean to him       
nothing but freedom from responsibility1
 from consideration1 from danger1 and   
from expense4 ,in comparison with this  
kind of 8free love10 prostitution is    
doubtless more dangerous to health1 but 
far less injurious to personality4      
,prostitution detracts from personality 
by a cleaving which excludes the soul2  
but it does not consume the personality 
in the same way as the 8love0 with which
 a man buys women who are not venal4 ,if
 they expect him to redeem his bonds in 
true coin1 they will be disappointed4   
,love may possess1 according to his     

belief1 no sterling value3 he regards it
 as always a forged note with which     
nature obtains the co-operation of human
 beings--especially of women--to her    
ends4  ,this love knows no atmosphere   
but that of the alcoves where it has    
pursued its bought or stolen pleasure4  
,it has never breathed the air of the   
wilds1 the air which quivers with       
sunshine and shakes with storms2 the air
 through which murmurs all life's       
longing for renewal1 all the wistful    
intuition of eternity born of a hunger  
for happiness1 which raises generation  
above generation towards unknown goals2 
an air which immeasurably enhances and  
eternally absorbs vitality2 the air of  
the wide expanses1 where ferocity and   
madness are not yet extinct1 where man  
and woman fight their eternal battles   
and suffer their eternal pains2 pains   
whose source even ,lucretius knew to be 
dualism4  ,but that only unity is       
capable of sealing up this source--that 
was known to none before our own time4  

,in literature it is sometimes from the 
alcoves1 sometimes from these wilds that
 the complaint arises of the mastery of 
the sexual instinct4  ,in the works of  
not a few of the writers on morality one
 fails to find even a suspicion of these
 wildernesses of human life4 ,these     
teachers betray their ignorance in a    
boundless narrow-mindedness1 a          
narrow-mindedness which includes the    
most far-reaching questions of humanity 
among--gymnastic and bath apparatus6 ,to
 their short-sighted view1 immorality   
has revealed itself not only as venal   
but in the shape of 8free love40 ,they  
do not suspect that free love as well as
 marriage includes many degrees of      
morality and immorality1 rising above or
 sinking below the ethical zero1 at     
which both the free love and the        
marriage of the majority are to be      
found4  ,between the free or lawful love
 which becomes ugly1 revengeful1 or     
murderous and the love which may perhaps
 take its own life but never that of the

 loved one1 the distance is therefore   
great4 ,from the point of view of       
enhancement of life there will be       
nevertheless a great difference between 
the free--or lawful--love which is      
devoted1 courageous1 self-sacrificing1  
faithful1 and that which leaves all the 
best human qualities unemployed4 ,in the
 same way1 the distance is great between
 the sterile erotic 8adventures0 of a   
paltry vanity1 a sordid hunger for      
sensation1 and the passion through which
 a human being attains to new creative  
power4 ,the concession to the storm of  
passion is in one case the pennant1 in  
the other the sail4  ,the artistic      
temperament often expresses itself in   
the demand for erotic renewal4 ,but     
while some thus increase their strength 
and health1 others grow ever poorer and 
uglier4 ,goethe was one of the former   
sort1 ,george ,sand likewise4 ,natures  
of this type contain a wonderful power  
of renewal4 ,they can love several times
 without becoming erotically            

depreciated4 ,their souls1 like the     
volcanic soils of the ,south1 can bear  
three crops without being exhausted4    
,but this is not the spiritual soil or  
climate of humanity at large4 ,and even 
such ,olympian gods and goddesses       
suspect that love may have some secret  
kept from them4 ,goethe1 who prayed of  
fate that he might only be required to  
love once in another existence1 may have
 known less of love than ,dante1 to whom
 was vouchsafed the marvellous vision   
described in the wonderful words        
,vede il cuor tuo 444  ,george ,sand1   
who implored of the gods the flame of a 
great love1 was never so thoroughly     
fired thereby as her sister poet1       
,elizabeth ,barrett ,browning1 who gave 
witness of her sympathy for her in the  
perfect lines which begin1    ,thou     
large-brained woman and large-hearted   
man 444  ,but great love1 like great    
genius1 can never be a duty3 both are   
life's gracious gifts to its elect4     
,there can be no other standard of      

morality for him who loves more than    
once than for him who loves once only3  
that of the enhancement of life4 ,he who
 in a new love hears the singing of     
dried-up springs1 feels the sap rising  
in dead boughs1 the renewal of life's   
creative forces2 he who is prompted anew
 to magnanimity and truth1 to gentleness
 and generosity1 he who finds strength  
as well as intoxication in his new love1
 nourishment as well as a feast--that   
man has a right to the experience4      
,those on the other hand--and they are  
the majority--whom every new love makes 
poorer in the qualities common to       
humanity and in personal sense of power1
 weaker in will1 less efficient in work1
 have1 from the point of view of the    
religion of ,life1 no right to such     
self-deterioration4 ,by its fruits love 
is known4 ,nothing is truer than that   
8there is no such thing as local        
demoralisation40 ,a person who in all   
his other doings is healthy and genuine2
 who continues strong and sound in his  

work1 is in most cases moral also in    
sexual matters according to his         
conscience--even if this does not       
harmonise with the doctrine of monogamy4
 ,he1 on the other hand1 who shows      
himself a cheat or a wretch in his other
 dealings will probably be the same in  
the affairs of love1 whether his morals 
are those of monogamy or polygamy2 and  
it is therefore more unreasonable to    
judge of a man's morality in other      
matters from his sexual code than it is 
to judge of his sexual morality from his
 ethical standpoint in other questions4 
,nor does the latter afford an          
infallible criterion1 for these are     
people who reach the summit of their    
natures in a great love1 but remain     
below it in the rest of their affairs4  
,others again never succeed in raising  
their erotic dealings to the level of   
the rest of their personality4 ,but in  
regard to the accuracy of the result the
 latter standard is nevertheless as     
superior to the former as a chemist's   

scales are to an old-fashioned          
steelyard4 ,it may often be the case    
that a person's other manifestations are
 in a certain sense greater or less than
 himself1 but his love1 on the other    
hand1 will in a thousand cases to one be
 his inmost self4 ,great or mean1 rich  
or poor1 pure or impure as he is in     
that1 so will one also find him in the  
other important relations of life4 ,of  
all summary characteristics of a person1
 therefore1 none is more sure than this 
that1 as a man has loved1 so he is4     
,although in this way a follower of the 
religion of ,life regards the ,tolstoy  
code of sexual morality as profoundly   
immoral1 he recognises that it has a    
purer as well as a less pure origin4    
,the former is the case with those who  
have suffered deeply from the passions  
which they now advise others to uproot  
for the sake of their peace2 also with  
those who are in the early spring of    
their age1 when life is still asleep and
 nature appears to wear the hues of     

autumn4  ,the latter is the case with   
those for whom life has been all autumn1
 since they were born withered2 women   
and men who have been seized with a     
hatred of the conditions of procreation 
because they have been the victims of   
those vices and sufferings which still  
make of erotics the ,divina ,commedia of
 earthly life2 but not as in that of    
,dante an architectonic arrangement of  
hell1 heaven1 and purgatory1 giving them
 a definite sequence in space and time1 
but a drama wherein the three states    
break in upon one another like waves on 
the shore4 ,but whether the haters of   
sexual life belong to the exhausted or  
to the excluded1 to the sterile or to   
the immature1 the withered or the       
poisoned1 they may doubtless be entitled
 individually to more or less leniency2 
their doctrine of morality1 however1    
must for the reasons we have given1 be  
rejected as entirely worthless4  ,the   
same holds good of those who solve the  
sexual problem as though it were one    

with the claim of individual liberty1   
irrespective of any consideration for   
the race4  ,these latter are in the     
habit of comparing the right to satisfy 
sexual desire with the right to satisfy 
hunger4 ,the former1 on the other hand1 
reject this comparison as untenable1    
since1 of course1 a person can live     
healthily in lifelong sexual abstinence4
 ,instead of it they compare the erotic 
passion with other passions1 such as    
gambling and drunkenness1 in which      
popular opinion recommends self-control 
and the will is capable of it4  ,both   
regard the question in an equally       
superficial way4 ,to compare the        
fundamental conditions of natural life1 
the motive forces of civilised life1    
love and hunger1 with any other passion 
than each other1 falsifies the whole    
statement of the problem4 ,the instinct 
of love1 as that of hunger1 may to a    
certain extent be suppressed2 in both   
cases an increase of strength in a      
certain direction may incidentally be   

gained4 ,but both needs must be         
satisfied in the right way if the       
individual being and the human race are 
to live and fulfil the intention of life
 in a higher development4 ,fasting men  
in the question of love are of as little
 value to the enhancement of life as    
they are in other fields4  ,christianity
 has so accustomed us to treat sexual   
purity as a question of the individual  
that1 whether we regard it from the     
point of view of the enthusiast for     
chastity or from that of the enthusiast 
for liberty1 we do not perceive that1   
while one satisfies hunger to prolong   
one's own life1 one produces children to
 prolong that of the race4 ,this renders
 the ascetic talk about the             
innocuousness of abstinence as          
superficial as the alleged right to     
satisfy sexual desire with the same     
freedom as hunger4  ,if the individual  
remains without food1 he himself loses  
his life2 but if he remains without the 
right of procreation1 the race loses the

 life he might have given to it4 ,again1
 if the individual dies of overeating1  
he is the only one who suffers2 if the  
sexual instinct is abused through       
excess1 it is the race that suffers4    
,the existing immorality involves an    
uninterrupted blood-poisoning of the    
organism of humanity4 ,the existing     
order of society and morality starves   
this organism4 ,it is not only with the 
melancholy their own inevitable fate    
inspires in them1 but also with         
indignation against unnecessary         
suffering1 that innumerable excellent   
men and women know that they are        
condemned to die without having given   
their blood1 their souls1 as an         
inheritance to a new generation of      
beings4  ,it is beyond all question that
 the instinct of the individual to      
continue his existence in the race must 
be controlled1 if it is to be an        
enhancement1 and not an obstruction1 to 
life4 ,but this1 in the most literal    
sense1 is the vital question for the    

individual and for the race3 ,,how and  
,,why and ,,to ,,what ,,extent this     
control is to be exercised4  ,thus both 
the life of the individual and that of  
the race are enhanced when young people 
live in abstinence till they have       
reached full maturity4 ,the development 
of the race gains when the lives less   
worthy to survive are not reproduced in 
offspring2 but the life of the          
individual and of the race suffers when 
young people1 mature and in every way   
fit1 are not in a position to produce   
and rear offspring4  ,at a low stage of 
development1 hunger as well as celibacy 
has been an ennobling force4 ,man has   
gradually learned to limit the quantity 
of his food while improving its quality 
and regulating the supply4 ,he now knows
 that the value of food depends to a    
large extent on the enjoyment it        
provides and the gratification with     
which it is associated2 that what is    
unappetising does not fulfil its        
purpose4 ,he knows too that the organism

 cannot be nourished by a diet          
accurately calculated for every age or  
for every class of work1 but that only a
 certain superfluity really gives the   
necessary satisfaction4 ,experience has 
shown that too great economy is as      
injurious as excess and that personal   
needs must within certain limits be the 
deciding criterion in a full and        
life-enhancing system of diet4 ,our     
understanding of this subject is now far
 in advance of the ability of the bulk  
of mankind to follow it4 ,in the        
question of the racial instinct1 on the 
other hand1 we are still a long way from
 knowledge of the conditions of         
equilibrium1 and we have much farther   
still to go before we actually arrive at
 that equilibrium between the starvation
 and excess in the satisfaction of this 
need which are at present characteristic
 of our ,western communities4  ,it was  
natural that ,luther should put an end  
to fasting as well as celibacy4 ,both   
were expressions of the ,oriental       

longing to attain the ideal condition of
 freedom from desire2 both had been     
necessary factors in the education of   
the ,germanic peoples4 ,but at the same 
time it was unfortunately inevitable    
that ,luther's work of liberation should
 be inconclusive2 that he was incapable 
of adopting the belief of the ancients  
in the divinity of humanity1 the rights 
of nature2 that he continually sought   
the sanctification of human nature by   
means exterior to itself4 ,someone has  
said that the courage of ,luther the    
monk in marrying a nun was worth more   
than all his doctrine4 ,that is a true  
saying4 ,filippo ,lippi certainly did   
the same4 ,the world gained thereby some
 magnificent madonnas and--,filippino   
,lippi4 ,but neither ,fra ,filippo nor  
any other vow-breaking monk brought     
about a revolution3 that was the        
achievement of ,luther alone1 who       
asserted his divine and natural right to
 his action4  ,the problem of the       
present day is to follow up the         

consequences of this declaration of     
natural rights4  ,but nature is no more 
infallible than she is perfect1 no more 
reasonable than unreasonable1 no more   
consistent than contrary in her         
purposes2 since she is all these4 ,she  
may be transformed--ennobled or         
debased--by culture1 and therefore a    
natural declaration of rights implies   
only the right of man consciously to    
cultivate nature1 so that in a certain  
direction she may fulfil her own purpose
 with a gradual approach to perfection2 
or1 in other words1 that the needs      
created by nature in and with human     
beings may by them be satisfied in a    
more beautiful and healthy way4 ,but    
this culture of the erotic nature cannot
 find its moral criterion in any divine 
command or transcendental idea4 ,it can 
only find it in the same mysterious     
longing for perfection1 which in the    
course of evolution has raised instinct 
into passion1 passion into love1 and    
which is now striving to raise love     

itself to an even greater love4  ,there 
are some who think that love should     
therefore advance a claim to a glory of 
its own1 which is incompatible with its 
8natural0 mission1 namely the           
perpetuation of the race4  ,every one   
knows1 however1 that evolution brings   
about a more complicated1 heterogeneous 
state than the original one2 and in this
 respect love is the most conspicuous   
example4 ,love--as we have already      
shown--has now become a great spiritual 
power1 a form of genius comparable with 
any other creative force in the domain  
of culture1 and its production in that  
region is just as important as in the   
so-called natural field4 ,just as we now
 recognise the right of the artist to   
shape his work1 or of the scientific man
 to carry out his investigations as it  
seems good to him1 so must we allow to  
love the right to employ its creative   
force in its own way provided only that 
in one way or another it finally        
conduces to the general good4  ,from    

this point of view1 then1 we cannot     
extend the proposition that love is an  
end in itself so far as to say that it  
may remain unfruitful4 ,it must give    
life2 if not new living beings then new 
values2 it must enrich the lovers       
themselves and through them mankind4    
,here as everywhere the truth which     
gives faith in life and creates morality
 is to be found included in the         
experience which creates happiness2 and 
the most serious charge against certain 
forms of 8free love0 is that it is      
unhappy love2 for there is no unhappy   
love but the unfruitful4  ,the capacity 
of mankind for forgetting is more       
wonderful than its capacity for         
learning4 ,if this were not so1 there   
would be no necessity to recall again   
and again that every band of apostles   
includes a ,judas2 nay1 that the truth  
can only be accepted by disciples in the
 hands of its enemies4 ,one is reminded 
by this that every reformation has its  
visionaries who arrest the blow when the

 reformers have put their axe to the    
root of the tree2 and one is not        
surprised that with every spring flood  
not only the ice but the earth itself is
 washed away4  ,mankind seems determined
 not to remember4 ,they must therefore  
be reminded once more that the new      
morality's band of combatants1 ever more
 closely united and more rapidly        
increasing1 are distinguished from their
 scattered followers and from their     
light advance-guard by the knowledge    
that love is subject to the same law as 
every other creative force2 the law of  
dependence on the whole for its own     
enhancement to its highest possible     
value4 ,love1 indeed1 whose origin is   
the very instinct of the race1 must be  
more deeply bound up with the race than 
any other emotion4 ,and experience shows
 too that it cannot preserve and promote
 its vital force if it lacks any        
connection with1 and does not stand in  
some relation1 either of giving or      
receiving1 to the race4 ,it is therefore

 an indisputable necessity that every   
love entirely detached from the rest of 
humanity must die for want of           
nourishment4  ,but the band which       
attaches it to humanity may be woven of 
several materials2 the gift to the race 
may express itself in various ways4 ,in 
one case a great emotion may bring about
 a tragic fate1 which opens the eyes of 
humanity to the red abysses it contains 
within itself4 ,another time it may     
create a great happiness1 which sheds a 
radiance around the happy ones1         
illuminating all who come near them4 ,in
 many cases love translates itself into 
intellectual achievements1 or useful    
social work2 in most it results in two  
more perfect human beings1 and new      
creatures1 still more perfect than      
themselves4  ,those couples1 on the     
other hand1 who have shed no radiance   
either in their life or in their death2 
who have not taken one step on the      
golden ladder to a higher humanity1 and 
who have only found in each other the   

lust of the beasts--without their       
readiness to sacrifice themselves for   
offspring --these are immoral1 since    
their love has not served the ascending 
development of life4 ,whether this      
lifeless love has taken the form of a   
light and irregular or of a lifelong and
 lawful connection1 it has in no respect
 enriched the life of the couple1 much  
less therefore that of the race4  ,with 
the enhancement of life as love's       
standard of morality1 it is thus        
impossible1 as we maintained at the     
beginning1 to decide in advance whether 
either a free or a married love1 an     
interrupted or a continued marriage1    
voluntary childlessness or parentage1 is
 moral or immoral2 for the result       
depends in each individual case on the  
will1 the choice1 which lies behind it1 
and only the development of events can  
decide the nature of this will and this 
choice4  ,it is true enough that human  
beings are often weaker in execution    
than in resolve4 ,but then they must    

content themselves with enlarging old   
ideas of morality1 for such as they are 
not called to make new morals4 ,and it  
is true that life occasionally lends an 
unexpected hand in the correction of a  
mistake2 but as a rule the consequences 
are as the cause4 ,a woman who for      
purely selfish reasons shuns motherhood 
will thus usually show herself to be a  
mistress without affection2 a wife who  
breaks loose from a marriage before she 
has tried to extract from it its        
possibilities of happiness will probably
 throw away her chances in the same way 
in a new one4 ,no relation can be better
 than the persons who compose it4 ,this 
law is so inflexible that the           
administration of moral justice might   
confidently be left to time4 ,this does 
not imply that love1 more than any other
 expression of life1 can be withdrawn   
from human arbitration1 but it implies  
that such arbitration will be faulty    
when it is decided by the forms of a    
union instead of by its results4 ,here  

we are on the watershed between the old 
and the new morality4 ,the course of the
 former is determined by doubts of1 and 
that of the latter by belief in1 the    
resources of the power in human nature4 
,the doubts of the former lead to the   
obligation of the individual to submit  
himself to the claims of society2 the   
belief of the latter leads to the       
liberty of the individual to choose his 
own duty to society4 ,on account of the 
weakness of human nature1 and of        
consequent care for the well-being of   
society1 the conservatives claim that   
the individual must convince society in 
advance of his willingness to serve its 
ends in his love1 by renouncing a part  
of his easily misused liberty4 ,on      
account of the richness of human nature 
and the claims of development1 the      
reformers demand for the individual the 
right of serving the community with his 
love according to his own choice1 and of
 using the freedom of his love under his
 own responsibility4  ,he who does not  

allow his eye to be caught by the light 
straws that float and are lost upon the 
stream of time will soon become aware   
that the new morality is growing deeper 
and deeper with fresh tributaries4      
,christian morality starts from the     
conception of human nature as complete  
in its constitution though not in its   
culture1 and of a human being divided   
into body and soul4 ,the soul is of     
divine origin1 but fallen1 and must be  
raised again by a process of culture    
determined by religion1 the object of   
which is that mankind may attain the    
ideal provided by religion1 that is1    
,christ4  ,there is another morality    
which rests--or which rested--upon the  
belief in the inborn divinity of human  
nature and the equality of all men2 this
 belief ended in the efforts of the     
eighteenth century towards universal    
welfare1 and in the expectation that    
liberty1 equality1 and fraternity could 
be realised even with the existing human
 material4  ,the new morality1 on the   

other hand1 adopts humanism in the form 
of evolutionism4 ,it is determined by a 
monistic belief in the soul and body as 
two forms of the same existence2 by the 
belief of evolutionism that man's       
psycho-physical being is neither fallen 
nor perfect1 but capable of perfection2 
that it is susceptible of modification  
for the very reason that it is not      
constitutively completed4 ,both         
utilitarian and ,christian humanism saw 
8culture10 8progress10 and 8development0
 in man's improvement of material and   
non-material resources within and       
without himself4 ,but evolutionism knows
 that all this has only been the        
preparation for a development which is  
to improve and ennoble the very material
 of mankind1 hitherto1 so to speak1 only
 experimentally produced4  ,our present 
8nature0 means only what1 at this stage 
of development1 is psychologically and  
physiologically necessary that we may   
exist as people of a certain time1 a    
certain race1 a certain nation4         

,hairiness was once 8nature10 as        
nakedness is now4 ,marriage by capture  
was once 8natural10 as courtship is now4
 ,what new transformations the race is  
destined to undergo2 what losses and    
gains1 at present unsuspected1 of organs
 and senses1 faculties and properties of
 the soul1 await it--this is the secret 
of the future4 ,but the more mankind is 
convinced of its power of intervening in
 its own development1 the more necessary
 does a conscious purpose become4 ,we   
must understand what obstructions we    
will root out1 what roads we will block 
up1 and what sacrifices we will impose  
upon ourselves4  ,the new morality is in
 the stage of enquiry on many           
questions--such as labour1 crime1 and   
education--but above all on the sexual  
life4 ,even on this question it no      
longer accepts commandments from the    
mountains of ,sinai or ,galilee2 here as
 everywhere else evolutionism can only  
regard continuous experience as         
revelation4 ,evolutionism does not      

reject the results of historical        
experience1 nor the fruits of           
,christian-human civilisation--even if  
it were possible to 8reject0 what has   
become soul and blood in humanity4 ,but 
it regards the course of historical     
civilisation that lies behind us as a   
battle-field of mutually conflicting    
ideas and purposes1 with no more        
conscious plan than the warfare of      
savages4 ,not until humanity chooses its
 ends and its means--and makes its more 
immediate end the enhancement of all    
that is at present characteristic of    
humanity--not until it begins to measure
 all its other gains and losses by the  
degree in which they further or retard  
that enhancement1 will it also adopt the
 right attitude towards its inheritance 
from former ages4 ,then it will reject  
what hinders and select what assists its
 struggle for the strengthening of its  
position as humanity and its elevation  
to super-humanity4  ,we stand on the    
verge of a stage of culture which will  

be that of the depths1 not1 as hitherto1
 of the surface alone2 a stage which    
will not be merely a culture through    
mankind1 but culture of mankind4 ,for   
the first time1 the great fashioners of 
culture will be able to work in marble1 
instead of1 as hitherto1 being forced to
 work in snow4 ,the true relation       
between the rights of the individual and
 those of the race will become in the   
field of love as important as the       
relation between the rights of the      
individual and those of society in the  
field of labour4 ,the conditions of     
labour raise or lower the value of the  
present as well as of the future        
generation4 ,the same holds good--and in
 an even higher degree--of the          
conditions of love4  ,how the boundary  
will finally be defined--in the one case
 as in the other--we cannot know at     
present4 ,it is true that there is here 
and there a glimmer of light which      
already shows the way2 but until these  
gleams become more frequent1 mankind can

 only grope and stumble along the path  
by which perhaps it will one day march  
in full daylight4  ,many who regard     
sexual morality from the point of view  
of evolutionism have never enquired     
whether monogamy--and an increasingly   
perfect monogamy--is really the best    
means of human development4 ,these      
evolutionists unite with the champions  
of ,christian idealism in condemnation  
of 8the immorality of the present day10 
which declares itself in sexual matters 
in the form of free connections outside 
matrimony2 of an increase of divorce    
among those married2 of disinclination  
for parentage and of the claim of       
unmarried women to the right of         
motherhood4 ,other evolutionists think  
that all this is the earliest           
announcement of the awakening which will
 assign to love its full importance1 not
 only for the perpetuation1 but for the 
progress of the race4 ,with the will of 
active1 effective life they attack the  
current standard of morality and the    

rights of the family4 ,the object of the
 conflict is not itself new2 what is new
 is only the boldness1 fostered1        
consciously or unconsciously1 by the    
evolutionary idea1 of thus asserting the
 rights of love against those of        
society1 the code of the future against 
that of the past4  ,the new morality    
knows that in a wide sense civilisation 
will only attain lasting power over     
nature when it combines higher emotions 
of happiness with the ends in the       
pursuit of which harsh means may be     
demanded4 ,that creed of life which     
makes the mission of the race co-operate
 with personal happiness in love1 will  
also demand of the latter the sacrifices
 which the former renders necessary4    
,but it must not augment these          
requirements by ascetic demands for     
purity which are meaningless for the    
racial mission4 ,the followers of this  
creed will take love as the criterion of
 the individual's sexual emotions and   
actions1 above all because they believe 

that the happiness of the individual is 
the most important condition also for   
the enhancement of the race4  ,they     
desire to fill the earth with hungerers 
for happiness1 since they know that only
 thus will earthly life attain its      
inmost purpose1 that of forming--in an  
altogether new sense--creatures of      
eternity4  ,the word1 which through     
,eros became flesh and dwells among us1 
is the profoundest of all3 ,joy is      
perfection4  ,if we accept this dictum  
of ,spinoza as the highest revelation of
 life's meaning1 our eyes are at the    
same time opened to the harmony of      
existence4 ,we perceive that the more   
perfect race will be in the fullest     
sense of the word created by love4 ,but 
this will not take place until love has 
become a religion1 the highest          
expression of the fear of life--not the 
fear of ,god2--when faith in life has   
scattered the superstition and unbelief 
which still disfigure love4 ,when the   
eldest of the gods has no other god     

before him1 then will the monsters who  
now fill the murky deeps over which the 
spirit of the god moves perish in the   
light of the new day of creation4   ,for
 the sake of clearness1 it has been     
necessary to sum up here the main ideas 
of the following exposition4 ,in some   
measure it will therefore be also       
necessary to return to them during the  
following treatment of the movements    
which have the deepest influence on     
sexual morality3 the evolution of love1 
its freedom and its selection2 the      
claims of a right to and an exemption   
from motherhood2 of collective          
motherhood1 of free divorce1 and of a   
new marriage law4     ,,chapter ,,ii    
,,the ,,evolution ,,of ,,love   ,just as
 the ,swedes1 in comparison with some   
other of the ,germanic peoples1 are     
behindhand in their view of l'amour     
passion1 so are the ,germanic races as a
 whole behindhand as compared with the  
foremost ,latin peoples4 ,the ,gallic   
counterpart of the ,lutheran doctrine of

 marriage is to be found in another     
monk1 ,luther's contemporary1 ,rabelais1
 with his joyous project of a new kind  
of convent1 where every monk should have
 his nun1 with the power of separating  
after a year of probation2 a plan which 
perhaps would not have been a much more 
roundabout way of educating mankind to  
love than was the ,lutheran doctrine of 
marriage4 ,nothing is farther from the  
truth than that the ,reformation        
increased respect for love and woman4   
,it raised the esteem for the married   
state as compared with the unmarried1   
but it enhanced neither the position of 
woman in matrimony nor the importance of
 love in regard to marriage4 ,even in   
the ,middle ,ages1 the ,latin nations   
render a homage to woman which to-day is
 still almost incomprehensible to the   
man of a ,germanic race4 ,and if1 on the
 one hand1 this homage took the form of 
the cult of ,venus1 which is born in the
 ,latin blood1 on the other1 it         
expressed through the cult of ,mary its 

reverence for what is deepest in woman1 
motherhood4 ,even to-day1 the           
,frenchwoman is esteemed not according  
to her age but according to her         
qualities4 ,it is not only the mothers  
who worship their sons1 but also the    
latter their mothers2 and not only the  
mother1 but besides her every admirable 
elderly woman receives attention in     
social life as in the family from men of
 all ages4 ,the middle-class            
wife--though indeed at the cost of the  
children--co-operates in her husband's  
calling with a seriousness unknown in   
the ,germanic middle-class4 ,in ,france 
as in ,italy1 family life has a kind of 
warm intimacy which the ,german does not
 understand2 since the ,latin           
temperament lacks that geniality which  
sheds its light over the frequently     
rough lines and harsh colours of the    
landscape of the ,germanic soul4 ,it is 
rather the coldness of his disposition  
than the strength of his soul that makes
 the ,german so much less erotic than   

the ,southerner2 it is more indifference
 to woman than respect for her that     
expresses itself in the distinction     
between the erotic customs of ,north and
 ,south4 ,but when all this has been    
admitted for the sake of justice1 we may
 fairly lay stress upon the influence of
 the ,germanic spirit in the struggle to
 put an end to that cleavage between    
love and marriage which has prevailed   
among the ,southern nations ever since  
the days of the ,courts of ,love4 ,for  
the peculiarity of the ,gallic spirit is
 to discriminate4 ,this gives it the    
power of following out an idea to its   
uttermost conclusions1 but at the same  
time renders it liable in actual life to
 split itself up among superficialities4
 ,the strength of the ,german1 on the   
other hand1 is his desire of unity4     
,this makes him inconsistent as a       
thinker1 since he must include          
everything1 but against this it makes   
him strive after consistency in life4   
,the same deep sense of personality     

which created ,protestantism has in the 
,germanic world sought to make love as  
well as faith the affair of the         
individual and to make marriage one with
 love4 ,among the educated classes in   
the ,north1 marriages of convenience or 
those arranged by the family are now    
things of the past1 while in the ,latin 
world they are still the rule1 though   
with increasingly frequent exceptions4  
,but in most cases it is still in free  
connections1 before and during marriage1
 that the ,frenchman engages his erotic 
feelings2 and the ,french wife has      
abundantly shown the emptiness of the   
assertion that 8a woman always loves the
 father of her child10 the most         
dangerous of the false doctrines which  
have led women into marriage and thence 
into adultery4 ,in ,shakespeare1 on the 
other hand1 we already find the wife and
 the mistress united in the same person1
 and it is always in ,english literature
 that we meet with the highest          
expression of the ,germanic feeling for 

unity in love4 ,since the medival       
minnesingers ceased to sing1 the        
literature of ,germany and ,scandinavia1
 dominated by ,lutheranism1 bears       
witness chiefly of 8the lust of the     
flesh40 ,women are esteemed according as
 they fulfil their destiny as bearers of
 children and housewives4 ,the abolition
 of the cloister and celibacy has1      
however1 brought about the good result  
of the transmission of spiritual forces 
which formerly died with the individual4
 ,and it may well have been through some
 of those who formerly took refuge with 
their idealism in a cloister1 that the  
longing for a great love has been left  
as an inheritance to sons and daughters4
  ,in ,germany1 the leading poet of the 
8age of enlightenment10 ,gottsched1     
asserts woman's right to culture2 in    
,america1 during the ,war of            
,independence1 the women gave evidence  
of their sense of citizenship2 and it   
was during a more recent struggle for   
liberty1 that against slavery1 that the 

woman's question came to the front in   
that country4  ,in ,france1 the         
eighteenth century1 more than any other 
period of history1 is 8the century of   
woman40 ,the salons are the focussing   
point of all ideas2 the most eminent men
 write for women1 who become electric   
batteries from which the ideas of the   
time send out kindling sparks in all    
directions4 ,thus the women of ,france  
help to prepare the ,french ,revolution4
 ,during the ,revolution1 ,olympe de    
,gouges writes her 8declaration of the  
rights of woman10 as a counterpart to   
that of the rights of man1 and          
,condorcet speaks in support of woman's 
claims4 ,the same spirit of a new age   
confronts us in ,mary ,wollstonecraft's 
,a ,vindication of the ,rights of ,woman
 7#agib71 as also in ,hippel's ,ueber   
die brgerliche ,verbesserung der        
,weiber1 published the same year1 and in
 the ,swede ,thorild's contemporary     
treatise ,om kvinnoknets naturliga hghet
 78,on the ,natural ,greatness of       

,women074 ,each in its way was a        
remarkable sign of the time which       
already included the whole              
8emancipation0 programme of equality of 
position3 the same rights for woman as  
for man as regards education1 labour1 a 
share in legislation1 and an equality of
 position under the law and in marriage4
  ,isolated instances of emancipated    
women were nothing new4 ,in ,greece1 the
 type was common enough to be employed  
in comedy2 in ,rome1 self-supporting    
women were to be found2 during the      
,middle ,ages not only ,bridget but many
 another woman--in the quality of abbess
 or regent--exercised a great and often 
beneficial activity4 ,the days of       
antiquity1 of the ,middle ,ages1 and of 
the ,renaissance all possessed female   
scholars1 physicians1 and artists4 ,but 
it is not until the century of the great
 ,revolution that we find among women   
themselves as well as among certain men 
a persistent and conscious striving to  
elevate the education and to secure the 

rights of women4  ,and wherever this    
striving has been profound1 it has been 
united with the desire to reform the    
position of woman in love and in        
marriage4   ,it is a very common but    
erroneous opinion that monogamy has     
given rise to love4 ,love appears       
already among animals1 and with them1 as
 in the world of men1 has shown itself  
independent of monogamy4  ,the origin of
 the latter in human society was the    
relation of proprietorship1 religious   
ideas1 considerations of collective     
utility1 but not perception of the      
importance of love's selection4 ,on the 
contrary1 love has been in perpetual    
strife with monogamy1 and it is         
therefore a profound mistake to suppose 
that the higher view of love has been   
formed solely through monogamy4 ,the    
idea of love has been developed in as   
great a degree by attacks on marriage as
 in association with marriage itself4   
,while1 in spite of the accumulation of 
evidence to the contrary1               

,christianity's share in the origin of  
human love is constantly exaggerated1   
sufficient stress has not been laid upon
 its indirect influence on the          
development of sexual love4 ,it is true 
that all over the world--from ,iceland  
to ,japan--songs and legends are to be  
found which give glorious evidence of   
the power of love in the heart of man in
 all ages4 ,but the sexual emotion1     
nevertheless1 held a subordinate        
position in the life of the human soul  
until ,christianity granted to woman    
also a soul to save--in other words1 a  
personality to cultivate4 ,christianity1
 moreover commended the womanly rather  
than the manly virtues1 and although    
,christ himself ignored woman1 love1 and
 the family life1 his ethics became thus
 in an indirect form a glorification of 
woman4 ,the importance attached by      
,christianity to the value of the       
individual as a soul--in                
contradistinction to the insistence by  
paganism on his value as a citizen--was 

likewise one of the unseen contributary 
causes which during the ,middle ,ages   
made love a life-power4  ,in antiquity1 
marriage was a duty to society2         
friendship1 on the other hand1 was the  
free expression of sympathy4 ,not until 
man's consciousness admitted a soul in  
woman1 could personal love arise4 ,but  
so mysterious are the influences through
 which the soul of mankind grows1 that  
the youthful love of the ancients       
indirectly developed the need of        
sympathy also between grown men and     
women2 and the suppression of the sexual
 instinct by ,catholic asceticism       
indirectly furthered the introspective1 
soulful emotion of love which rises     
above sensuality4  ,the modern view of  
love as the most lofty state of the soul
 had already taken shape in the time of 
the ,crusades sufficiently to bring into
 existence at this period the ,courts of
 ,love in the south of ,france4 ,woman1 
the knight1 and the singer together     
intensify and refine love1 in part by   

laying stress upon its incompatibility  
with marriage6  ,students have shown how
 the refined expression of love in      
poetry corresponds with the forms of the
 sexual life of the upper classes1 since
 monogamy became the law and a secret   
polygamy the custom4 ,this dual division
 of the erotic feelings has on the one  
side brought about such fine and lofty1 
and on the other such coarse and debased
 manifestations that neither one nor the
 other has any counterpart among the    
nations--or classes within a            
nation--where this division is unknown1 
since there the freedom of sexual choice
 is undisputed4  ,and this is natural2  
for there the sexual life preserves its 
innocence of 8paradise10 one of simple  
animality perturbed by no higher        
consciousness4 ,this innocence can only 
be replaced on a higher plane after a   
long period of development4 ,the way    
thither is by the cleavage which 8the   
division of labour0 involves even in    
regard to the development of the        

feelings4  ,the ,middle ,ages were thus 
only capable of dividing love from      
marriage4 ,this is witnessed by the     
greatest singers of love and by the     
greatest love stories4 ,tristan and     
,isolde in the world of poetry1 ,abelard
 and ,helose in that of reality1 are the
 highest types of the new age1 even then
 dawning1 which is finally to bring     
about the declaration of rights of human
 emotion as of human thought4 ,these    
lovers1 united in life and death1 are   
the highest testimony of the ,middle    
,ages to that free love which makes its 
own laws and abolishes all others2 to   
that great love which is the sense of   
eternity of great souls1 in opposition  
to the ephemeral inclination of small   
ones4  ,scholasticism1 ever extending   
introspective psychology2 mysticism1    
ever refining the life of the soul      
devoted to ,god1 unconsciously pour oil 
upon the red flame of love as upon the  
white flame of faith4 ,the ,vita ,nuova 
of love breaks out in the fire of       

poetry1 whose most aspiring flame was   
,dante4 ,it lived on in the souls of the
 elect among ,latin peoples4 ,the       
,platonism of the ,renaissance refined  
the medival conception of love as the   
most excellent means of bringing to     
perfection the highest human qualities4 
,and thus was established the right of  
lovers to independence of the customs of
 society4  ,it is significant that1 at  
the medival ,courts of ,love as at the  
courts of the ,renaissance and in the   
contests of wit of the seventeenth      
century1 women are granted not only the 
same right of sentiment as men but also 
the same liberty of using their         
spiritual gifts2 for every intensifying 
of love is connected1 openly or         
otherwise1 with the augmentation of     
woman's spiritual life and with man's   
thus enhanced estimation of the value of
 her personality4 ,instead of being to  
him 8the sex10 the means of enjoyment1  
woman becomes the mistress1 when love   
has come to mean an exclusive desire for

 one woman1 who is only to be won by    
devoted service4 ,whenever woman has    
taken the lead in erotic matters1 man's 
love has been ennobled4 ,in             
,shakespeare1 we find the whole of the  
preceding spiritual culture summed up4  
,all his best women are chaste in the   
same degree as they are devoted1 but    
they are also in the same degree        
spiritually rich and complete           
personalities4 ,therefore they are also 
leaders through their clear-sightedness 
and promptness in the moment of action4 
,and although ,shakespeare1 like every  
other great poet1 formed his women more 
of the material of dreams than of       
reality2 although the foremost men of   
the ,italian ,renaissance probably had  
more often a ,boccaccio's than a        
,petrarch's experience of love2 although
 the age of baroque turned le ,pays du  
tendre into a stiff garden surrounding  
decorative figures1 nevertheless life   
itself1 especially the life of the      
,latin peoples--as well as their best   

literature--can always show proud and   
beautiful examples of loving couples and
 sacrifices for love1 even in that      
century whose male 8philosophers0       
deprived woman of the lead1 when love   
became 8galanterie10 gay and ugly by    
turns4  ,at the time when ,rousseau     
appeared1 love was equally degraded     
through ,latin-,epicurean immorality and
 through ,germanic-,lutheran 8morality40
  ,what he did for love was the same    
that he would have done for the lungs1  
if in one of the boudoirs of those days1
 stuffy with perfumes and wax candles1  
he had thrown open the windows to the   
summer night1 with its scent of         
productive earth and blossoming plants1 
dark masses of foliage and the star-sown
 sky4  ,but ,rousseau did not follow out
 the ideas that lay nearest to his own3 
that only love ought to constitute      
marriage2 that only the development of  
the woman's personality deepens love4   
,even ,goethe1 who after ,rousseau      
carried the gleaming trail farther1 by  

showing love as the mysterious fateful  
power of elective affinity1 saw the     
happiness of love rather in the         
directness of woman's nature than in its
 development4 ,the ,french ,revolution  
drew the consequences of ,rousseau's    
propositions also in the questions of   
love and woman2 it made marriage civil  
and divorce free1 but it did not give to
 woman the franchise2 indeed1 it did not
 even preserve the form of it which she 
had previously possessed4 ,all the      
spirits influenced by ,rousseau and the 
,revolution have since1 in literature   
and in life1 followed out love's        
declaration of rights4  ,in the         
nineteenth century as in the ,middle    
,ages1 it was women1 poets1 and         
knights--the last under the name of     
social utopians--who took the lead in   
this4 ,in ,germany1 it was first the    
romantic school1 then 8,young ,germany10
 which went foremost2 in ,england1      
,shelley1 ,byron1 ,browning1 and a      
number of other thinkers2 in ,norway1   

,camilla ,collet and some great poets   
among the men4 ,in ,france1--in the     
midst of the reaction which reintroduced
 indissoluble marriage1--,madame de     
,stal attacks this in ,delphine4 ,in the
 country of literary salons1 it is      
attempted to prevent woman's genius from
 acting as a social force--and through  
,corinne and ,coppet1 ,mme4 de ,stal    
makes it a universal force4 ,her        
confidence that honour for a woman can  
signify only a means of winning love2   
her complaint that life denies to the   
woman of genius the fulfilment of her   
most beautiful dream1 love in marriage1 
were the prologue to innumerable        
tragedies during woman's century4 ,after
 her1 came the followers of ,st4 ,simon 
and the rest of the social              
revolutionaries1 and above all another  
of ,rousseau's spiritual daughters1 the 
woman in whose veins all the blood was  
mingled which the ,revolution had poured
 out on the scaffold and on the         
battle-field3 blood of the mob1 blood of

 the bourgeois1 noble blood1 royal      
blood6 ,the courage of her nation to    
follow truth to its utmost consequences1
 the fervent faith of her childhood1 the
 wistfulness of her blood1 her soul's   
longing for eternity1 the volcanic      
ardour and ashes of her experiences--all
 this ,george ,sand hurls forth in her  
indictment of the marriage upheld by    
,church and ,state1 which to her was    
8lawful ravishing0 and 8prostitution    
under vows40 ,long before her time1 the 
rights of love had been asserted in the 
case of exceptional natures4 ,george    
,sand's new courage was shown in        
demanding this right for all2 in        
branding it upon the conscience of her  
time that1 when two human beings wish to
 be together1 no bond is needed to hold 
them together2 that1 when they do not   
wish it1 to hold them together by force 
is a violation of their human rights and
 of their human dignity4  ,from this    
moment the battle was transferred from  
,olympus to the earth4 ,and since then  

all 8saviours of society0 have sought to
 quench1 and all 8enemies of society0   
have striven to spread1 its flames4     
,the love which a ,george ,sand herself 
sought in vain on paths from which she  
returned with feet wounded1 and         
sometimes soiled2 the love a ,rahel     
,varnhagen suffered from and lived on1 a
 ,camilla ,collet implored1 and an      
,elizabeth ,browning realised--this is  
the love of which the woman of the new  
age is also dreaming4  ,george          
,sand--like the followers of ,st4       
,simon1 and like the modern             
feminists--looked upon freedom in love  
as the central point in the woman's     
question4 ,like ,george ,sand1 the      
feminism of the present day asserts the 
right of free thought against the creed 
of authority in every field2 the        
solidarity of mankind and the cause of  
peace against the patriotism of         
militarism2 social reform against the   
existing relations of society4 ,the     
,american-,english-,scandinavian woman's

 question--whose supreme confession of  
faith is still ,j4 ,s4 ,mill's book1    
published in #ahed1 on ,the ,subjection 
of ,women--has1 on the other hand1      
overlooked to a great extent erotic1    
religious1 and social emancipation1 and 
asserted only woman's rights as a       
citizen4 ,thus1 especially in           
,scandinavia1 the new gospel of love has
 had to encounter from the leaders of   
emancipation1 now indifference1 now     
resentment4  ,ridicule and resentment   
from men have also fallen to the lot of 
the women's demand for a new love4 ,with
 arguments1 for which ,schopenhauer and 
,hartmann once provided the             
philosophical formul1 it has been shown 
that soulful love is an illusion of     
nature1 and that the unity in love1     
which woman now claims of man1 demands  
sacrifices which are opposed to his     
physiological and psychological nature4 
,undisturbed by ridicule and resentment1
 however1 the women of the new age have 
continued to preach the love of their   

dreams--which is also that of the dreams
 of poets4  ,for thousands of years1    
poetry has been picturing love as a     
mysterious and tragic power4 ,but when  
anyone says the same thing in plain     
prose1 and adds that life would be      
colourless and poor without the great   
passions1 then this is called           
immorality6 ,century after century1     
poetry sets forth the loftiness of love4
 ,but if anyone in everyday prose       
ventures to say that love may become an 
ever loftier emotion1 then this is      
called extravagance2 for it does not    
occur to the people of the present day  
to regard poetry as prophetic4  ,the new
 love is still the natural attraction of
 man and woman to each other for the    
continuance of the race4 ,it is still   
the desire of the active human being to 
relieve through comradeship the         
hardships of another and of himself at  
the same time4 ,but above this eternal  
nature of love1 beyond this primeval    
cause of marriage1 another longing has  

grown with increasing strength4 ,this is
 not directed towards the continuance of
 the race4 ,it has sprung from man's    
sense of loneliness within his race1 a  
loneliness which is ever greater in     
proportion as his soul is exceptional4  
,it is the pining for that human soul   
which is to release our own from this   
torment of solitude2 a torment which was
 formerly allayed by repose in ,god1 but
 which now seeks its rest with an equal1
 with a soul that has itself lain       
wakeful with eyelids heated from the    
same longing2 a soul empowered by love  
to the miracle of redeeming our soul--as
 itself by ours is redeemed--from the   
sense of being a stranger upon earth2 a 
soul before whose warmth our own lets   
fall the covering that the world's      
coldness has imposed upon it and shows  
its secrets and its glories without     
shame4 ,richard ,dehmel has summed this 
up in two immortal lines3    ,liebe ist 
die ,freiheit der ,gestalt    ,vom ,wahn
 der ,welt1 vom ,bann der eignen ,seele4

  ,the same feeling has possessed many a
 man before our time4 ,one of them was  
,eugne ,delacroix1 who speaks in his    
journal of the pain of only being able  
to show to each of his friends the      
aspect of himself which that friend     
understood1 and of thus being obliged to
 become another for each of them1       
without ever feeling himself completely 
understood2 a suffering for which he    
only knew one remedy1 une pouse qui est 
de votre force4  ,but what is new about 
it is that this sentiment has become    
diffused and has taken shape in the     
consciousness of the many2 that it is   
beginning to set its stamp upon the     
whole spirit of the age4  ,meanwhile1   
mankind continues to be guided by erotic
 impulses which lie deep below its      
conscious erotic needs4 ,man's senses   
are spurred by a desire which thrusts   
aside that of the soul4 ,the culture of 
the idea of love is far in advance of   
the instincts of love4 ,and thus our    
time is brimful of love-conflicts4  ,to 

this must be added that the increased   
sensibility of modern man has rendered  
him more and more inclined to wear      
masks1 protective disguises1            
artistically decorated armour4          
,protection is indispensable1 since no  
one would be able to endure life if he  
were hourly seeing the ill-bound or     
still open wounds of others1 or feeling 
his own touched by anyone4 ,existence   
would lose much of its excitement       
without secrets1 suspected or           
unsuspected1 in the destinies and souls 
of men4 ,but at the same time this      
protection renders love's struggle to   
penetrate appearances more and more     
difficult4 ,therefore a certain form of 
8flirtation0 serves as the attempt of   
awakening love to tear off the mask1 to 
outwit the protective disguise1 a game  
of fence which aims at the joints of the
 tight-fitting armour4  ,but the        
attempts are often unsuccessful and life
 is more and more crowded with destinies
 that have miscarried1 while more and   

more people wring their hands in        
solitude over what might have been6 ,man
 feels more deeply than ever before that
 life gave him a poor portion1 when his 
love has been nothing but sinking in an 
embrace4 ,an ever greater number know   
that love is absorption into that       
spirit1 in which one's own finds its    
foothold without losing its freedom2 the
 nearness of that heart which stills the
 disquiet in our own2 that attentive ear
 which catches what is unspoken and     
unspeakable2 the clear sight of those   
eyes which see the realisation of our   
best possibilities2 the touch of those  
hands which1 dying1 we would feel closed
 on our own4  ,when two souls have joys 
which the senses share1 and when the    
senses have delights which the souls    
ennoble1 then the result is neither     
desire nor friendship4 ,both have been  
absorbed in a new feeling1 not to be    
compared with either taken by itself1   
just as the air is incomparable with its
 component elements4 ,nitrogen is not   

air1 nor is oxygen2 sensuousness is not 
love1 nor is sympathy4 ,in combination  
they are the air of life and love4 ,if  
either of the component elements is in  
the wrong proportion to the other1 then 
love--like air--becomes too heavy or too
 rarefied4 ,but as the proportions      
between oxygen and nitrogen may within a
 wide limit vary without disadvantage1  
so also may the components of love4     
,affinity of soul is doubtless the most 
enduring element in love1 but not       
therefore the only valuable one2 the    
love that fills life with intoxication  
is separated from even the most lofty   
friendship by an ocean as deep as that  
which divides the ,india of legend from 
utilitarian ,america--a lifetime in     
which will not equal a single day in the
 other6  ,great love arises only when   
desire of a being of the other sex      
coalesces with the longing for a soul of
 one's own kind4 ,it is like fire1 the  
hotter it is1 the purer2 and differs    
from the ardour of desire as the white  

heat of a smelting-furnace differs from 
the ruddy1 smoking flames of a torch    
carried along the streets4   ,the       
constantly increased importance of      
sympathy in the life of the soul finds  
expression1 however1 at the present time
 within the feminine world in an        
over-estimation of friendship1 both     
between one woman and another and in    
relation to love4 ,a passionate worship 
between persons of the same age--or of  
an elder by a younger member of the same
 sex--is among women as among men the   
customary and beautiful morning glow of 
love1 which always pales after sunrise4 
,an entirely personal1 great friendship 
is1 on the other hand1 as rare as a     
great love1 and equally rare among women
 as among men4 ,those who expect to find
 the complement of their being in       
friendship have therefore no greater    
prospect of attaining the essential in  
this sphere1 and moreover they run the  
risk of missing it in the sphere of     
love1 through shutting themselves off   

from or impoverishing themselves of     
love's emotions4 ,the women of older    
times also cultivated friendship4 ,but  
they did not content themselves with it 
in the place of love4 ,and if women were
 once seriously to do this1 then winter 
would have come upon the world4 ,the way
 of evolution is to demand of love all  
that friendship affords--and infinitely 
more6 ,but the rich spiritual           
intercourse between female              
fellow-workers and fellow-students1 as  
also between comrades of different      
sexes1 is now preparing the third       
historical stage of development1 that of
 individual sympathy4 ,it is true that  
great love has been individually        
sympathetic in all ages4 ,what is new is
 that an ever greater number of spirits 
are guided by the same need2 that the   
possibility of great love has become    
apparent to many1 not only to a chosen  
few4 ,just as we have been able to gauge
 the revival of love by the diminution  
of marriages of convenience1 by the     

recognition of young people's liberty of
 choice1 and by the popular condemnation
 of marriages for money1 so can we now  
measure the strength of the new revival 
by other1 equally significant phenomena2
 those1 namely1 called 8the new         
immorality40 ,it has been said with     
truth that love as it now is--the great 
psychological reality with which one has
 to reckon--in its present complicated1 
manifold1 and refined condition1 is the 
result of all the progress of human     
activity3 of the victory of intelligence
 and sentiment over crude force1 of the 
transformation in the relations between 
man and woman which new economic1       
religious1 and ethical ideas have       
brought about2 of the growing desire for
 inward and outward beauty1 of the will 
to ennoble the race1 and other causes4  
,but among these we have not named the  
most important1 that in which many now  
see a sign of degeneration1 but which is
 really one of development1 the cause on
 which rests the hope of the final      

abolition of erotic dualism3 the        
conciliation of the excessive opposition
 of sex4  ,so long as man and woman are 
so divided in their erotic needs as is  
at present often the case1 love will be 
the 8everlasting conflict0 described by 
those poets and thinkers who see only   
the immediate present1 without faith in 
the development of love or mankind's    
education in loving2 for in the midst of
 the age of evolutionism men neither    
think nor feel according to its         
doctrines4 ,to him1 however1 who does so
 feel1 nothing is more certain than that
 8the everlasting conflict0 will one day
 end in the conclusion of peace4  ,the  
sceptics just referred to smile         
ambiguously at the mention of friendship
 between women1 as at that of the       
refinement and craving for sympathy in  
woman's love4 ,it is not until a        
mistress or a wife1 misunderstood in the
 depths of her being1 leaves him1 that  
such a man discovers that the being he  
believed himself to be making entirely  

happy1 has not even had her senses      
satisfied--since the soul received      
nothing from the senses and gave them   
nothing4  ,those men--for the rest often
 men of fine culture--of whom this is   
true1 are generally verging on middle   
age4 ,among men comparatively young1 on 
the other hand1 the erotic longing is   
often as refined and craves as much for 
sympathy1 as with women1 although it is 
still rare for the man to possess that  
balance between soul and senses which   
his equal in the other sex has attained4
 ,that women now venture to acknowledge 
that they possess erotic senses1 while  
men are beginning to discover erotically
 that they have souls2 that woman       
demands feelings in a man and he ideas  
in her--this is the great and happy sign
 of the times4 ,sensitive young men of  
the present day suffer perhaps as much  
as their sisters when loved only for    
their sex1 not personally and on account
 of their personality4 ,they for their  
part love just that womanly             

individuality for which they provide    
freedom of movement1 instead of--as     
their own fathers did--trying to        
assimilate it to their own4  ,on the    
highest plane--as on the lowest--the    
similarities between man's love and     
woman's are already greater than the    
dissimilarities2 and there may be more  
danger to love in the growing likeness  
between the sexes than in continued     
unlikeness4 ,man becomes a human        
being--and woman likewise--at the cost  
of his secondary sexual characters4     
,there are already some who think that  
the close of psychical development will 
present the same phenomenon as the      
beginning of physical development1      
namely1 that the embryo at a certain    
stage is neither male nor female but    
includes both possibilities6  ,the      
romanticists1 ,f4 ,schlegel in          
particular1 lay stress upon the         
distinction that1 while the ancients put
 greatness of heart1 nobility of mind1  
and strength of soul above the purely   

sexual qualities1 the moderns have made 
woman one-sidedly feminine and man      
one-sidedly masculine1 and assert that  
this extreme view on both sides must be 
got rid of in order to arrive at        
morality1 beauty1 and harmony in sexual 
relations2 a view which was also that of
 ,schleiermacher4 ,and if we will see a 
deeper meaning in the tale of           
,aristophanes of the cloven human being1
 it will be the same that an apocryphal 
tradition ascribes to ,jesus1 in the    
saying that 8the kingdom of ,god is at  
hand when the two again become one40    
,that ,plato already emphasises the     
sufferings imposed on both halves of the
 being by the 8cleavage10 is evidence of
 the commencement of development of     
love2 for this development has          
progressed through the increasing       
opposition of the sexes1 with the       
passion and the pain it has caused4 ,now
 at last the moment has arrived when the
 divided sections again converge towards
 a higher unity4  ,in reality1 this     

desirable conciliation of sexual        
opposition is proceeding with such      
rapidity that there might be a fear of  
its becoming a danger to love in a near 
future1 if the psychical opposition of  
sex were not always dependent finally on
 the physical1 and if the modern man and
 woman were not becoming simultaneously 
more and more individualised4  ,and it  
is in this circumstance that the future 
possibilities of great love lie4        
,individualisation is already so        
powerful that a thoughtful person is    
ever more inclined to check himself when
 the abstract expressions 8man0 and     
8woman0 escape his lips4 ,for already   
men and women respectively differ among 
themselves almost as much as the two    
sexes from each other4 ,and as a        
compensation for the enfeebling through 
conciliation of universal erotic        
attraction1 we have the charm of        
individual contrasts4 ,love's spiritual 
longing--to be resolved together with   
another soul into a higher harmony--will

 not be enfeebled1 but1 on the contrary1
 will be enhanced in proportion as this 
contrast is more personal4  ,a4         
,rodin--who like every great ,frenchman 
understands great love--has glorified it
 in his statue of a pair of lovers1 who 
have through each other become more     
perfect beings than either could have   
been alone4 ,rodin makes the man        
thoroughly masculine1 the woman         
thoroughly feminine1 while each line in 
their two figures shows primitive force 
ennobled into spiritual power1 and love 
as the consummation of the human man and
 the human woman4  ,when life from time 
to time shows us this proud and         
beautiful vision1 then we are in the    
presence of a happiness which is        
overpoweringly great4 ,for as an        
economical housewife shuts out the      
sunlight1 so life often lets fall the   
curtain of death when happiness shines2 
or indeed men kill their own happiness  
through instincts surviving from a lower
 stage4  ,chief of these is that        

instinct which makes the force of       
primitive animality still erotically    
attractive even to the spiritually      
sensitive4 ,men and women with this     
power of elementary passion1 intoxicate 
because they are themselves intoxicated1
 because1 without being checked by any  
consideration or held back by the soul1 
they give themselves up wholly and hotly
 to the moment4 ,it is as superficial a 
psychology to say that ,don ,juan's     
reputation makes him irresistible as    
that conquest of ,cleopatra is tempting 
because it is also conquest over ,csar4 
,no1 the power of these natures lies in 
their undivided1 unscrupulous will to   
use all the resources of their being to 
attain their end4 ,and only that by     
which one's whole being is held at the  
moment has the power of holding others4 
,thus the question is answered          
,comment fais-tu les grands amours1     
,petite ligne de la bouche8  ,soulful   
people1 especially women1 have hitherto 
only loved partially4 ,but when         

sensuousness--in alliance with the      
mission of the race--regains its ancient
 dignity1 then the power of giving      
erotic rapture will not be the monopoly 
of him who is inhuman in his love4 ,the 
wise virgins' deadly sin against love is
 that they disdained to learn of the    
foolish ones the secret of fascination2 
that they would know none of the        
thousand things that bind a man's senses
 or lay hold on his soul2 that they     
regarded the power to please as         
equivalent to the will to betray4 ,when 
all women who can love are also able to 
make goodness fascinating and           
completeness of personality             
intoxicating1 then ,imogen will conquer 
,cleopatra4  ,as yet the charming ones  
are not always good1 the good not always
 charming1 and the majority neither good
 nor charming4 ,during this transition  
between an old and a new womanliness it 
is natural that she should be strongest 
who unites in herself    ve1 ,joconde1  
et ,delila4  ,from observation of love's

 realisation in marriage--as it is still
 realised in the majority of            
cases--young women have been more and   
more possessed by a disinclination to   
wed4 ,they wish for the love of their   
dreams or none at all4 ,a lower claim1 a
 poorer gift of love has for them no    
value which can be compared with their  
free personal life4 ,to the man who only
 seeks her lips but does not listen to  
the words from them1 who longs for her  
embrace but smiles or frowns when she   
reveals the nature of her soul1 such a  
woman has nothing to give4 ,her love is 
now filled with the whole nourishing    
force of her human nature1 replete with 
the whole sap of her woman's nature1 and
 she desires that the sacrament she thus
 dispenses shall be received with       
devotion4  ,she will no longer be       
captured like a fortress or hunted like 
a quarry2 nor will she like a placid    
lake await the stream that seeks its way
 to her embrace4 ,a stream herself1 she 
will go her own way to meet the other   

stream4   ,we live in a period of       
spiritual reformation of immense        
importance in the history of the world4 
,every human being who himself has soul 
is being more and more penetrated by the
 sense of the mysterious effects of     
elective affinities2 of sympathetic and 
antipathetic influences2 of subconscious
 powers1 above all in the erotic sphere4
 ,sensations of the erotically dmonic   
are not new4 ,but they were formerly    
condemned to as great an extent as they 
are now recognised and indeed sometimes 
assisted4 ,it is this exquisite         
sensitiveness1 these vibrating nerves1  
these changing moods1 this irritability 
of sensation that the woman--like the   
man--of the present day has acquired as 
her superiority1 her gain through       
culture1 her right of precedence before 
any other generation4 ,but this new     
wealth involves innumerable new         
conflicts4 ,the senses go their own way 
and are attracted where the soul is     
estranged1 or repelled although the     

heart is filled with tenderness4 ,until 
the physiology and psychology of        
loathing are understood1 we shall not   
have gone far towards the solution of   
the erotic problem4 ,every day--and     
night--these innumerable influences1    
conscious or unconscious1 are at work   
transforming the feelings of married    
people and lovers4 ,and although our    
time is becoming increasingly conscious 
of this1 it does not yet understand     
either how to counteract the dangerous  
or encourage the favourable influence of
 the important trifles of married life4 
,only the foremost of women with a      
genius for love have arrived at that    
degree of sensitiveness which makes it  
impossible for them to give or receive  
anything in love without the feeling    
which one of ,charlotte ,bront's women  
expresses in the words3 ,you fit me into
 the finest fibre of my being4  ,every  
developed modern woman wishes to be     
loved not en mle but en artiste4 ,only a
 man whom she feels to possess an       

artist's joy in her1 and who shows this 
joy in discreet and delicate contact    
with her soul as with her body1 can     
retain the love of the modern woman4    
,she will belong only to a man who longs
 for her always1 even when he holds her 
in his arms4 ,and when such a woman     
exclaims3 8,you desire me1 but you      
cannot caress1 you cannot listen 4440   
then that man is doomed4  ,modern       
woman's love differs from that of older 
times by1 amongst other things1 the     
insatiability of its demand for         
completeness and perfection in itself1  
and for corresponding completeness and  
perfection in the feeling of the man4   
,our soul is doubtless often deeper1 but
 occasionally also shallower1 than our  
conscious existence and will4 ,therefore
 it may happen that the new love in all 
its force exists in a woman who is      
unconscious of her own erotic greatness1
 while1 on the other hand1 another1 who 
desires it with all her will1 perhaps   
may lack the depth of feeling1 the      

instinctive sureness of choice4  ,the   
women of the present day learn          
everything and arrive at much1 even at  
the finest ideas of love4 ,but1 full of 
insight as they are into the ars amandi1
 have modern women indeed learned how   
with all their soul1 all their strength1
 and all their mind to love8 ,their     
mothers and grandmothers--on a much     
lower plane of conscious erotic         
idealism--knew of only one object3 that 
of making their husbands happy4 ,this   
then meant that the wife ought to submit
 to everything and ask for nothing2 to  
serve her husband's ends untiringly1    
even when she did not understand them1  
and to receive with gratitude any crumbs
 of his personality that might fall to  
her from the table to which his friends 
were bidden to feast4 ,but what watchful
 tenderness1 what dignified desire to   
please1 what fair gladness could not the
 finest of these spiritually ignored    
women develop6  ,the new man lives in a 
dream of the new woman1 and she1 in a   

dream of the new man4 ,but when they    
actually find one another it frequently 
results that two highly developed brains
 together analyse love1 or that two     
worn-out nervous systems fight out a    
disintegrating battle over love4 ,the   
whole thing usually ends in each of them
 seeking peace with some surviving      
incarnation of the old ,adam and the    
eternal ,eve4 ,but not with a clear     
conscience2 for they are continually    
aware that they were intended for the   
new experience1 although their powers of
 loving were small while their ideas of 
love were great4  ,not until the spring 
rain of the new ideas has fallen        
sufficiently to penetrate the roots and 
rise as sap in the tree of life1 will a 
greater happiness grow from the new     
love1 which is not to be blamed because 
men have dreamed it greater than they   
themselves are at present4              
,individualism has made love deeper and 
at the same time increased its          
difficulties4 ,it has called forth an   

enhanced consciousness of our own       
nature1 our own moods2 it has created   
new spiritual conditions and--as already
 pointed out--set in vibration          
innumerable formerly latent feelings of 
pleasure and aversion4 ,but our personal
 irritable sensitiveness has not yet    
been developed to the point of a        
corresponding delicacy of feeling for   
the equally sensitive spiritual life of 
others4 ,the capacity for giving and    
sacrificing has not grown at an equal   
pace with that of accepting and         
demanding4 ,of love's double            
heart-beat--the finding one's self1 and 
the forgetting one's self in            
another--the first is now considerably  
more advanced than the second4 ,not     
until those women who are absorbed in   
self-analysis combine their own personal
 store of life's riches1 their          
individual diversity1 their unique      
spirituality with the sunny1 healthy    
peace1 the self-sacrificing devotion of 
older times1 will their new development 

render them more powerful than the women
 who preceded them4 ,it is a healthy    
sign that men and women exchange        
experiences and ideas on these subjects 
with a frankness that was never known   
before2 that they are much less affected
 before marriage1 as women indeed have  
ceased to be so after marriage4 ,there  
was a heroic kind of affectation1 of    
which ,mrs4 ,carlyle was the typical    
example1 but in itself it was borrowed  
from man's ethical development4         
,nevertheless one would often wish that 
the young wives of the present day      
possessed more of the old-fashioned gift
 of conceding the desires of the beloved
 with a happy smile1 instead of         
insisting on their own4 ,the modern     
woman will not feign anything for the   
sake of occasional peace or             
understanding4 ,and she is right--when  
anything of real importance in the      
domain of ideas or will is at stake2 she
 is doubly right in holding that all the
 lies and ruses which married           

8happiness0 enforced on the wives of an 
older time were degrading to both       
parties2 that what was thus gained was  
no real gain4 ,nothing is more true than
 that the souls which are parted by a   
lack of perfect frankness never belonged
 to one another2 that complete mutual   
confidence is the true sign of union4   
,nothing could be wiser than the modern 
woman's desire to see life with her own 
eyes1 not--as was the case with the     
women who went before her--only with    
those of a husband4 ,but has she also   
retained the power of seeing everything 
with the thought of what the loved one's
 eyes will find in it8   ,upon the      
answer to these questions of conscience 
will depend the success of the new woman
 in guiding the development of love in  
the direction of her will4 ,for only by 
herself loving better will she gradually
 humanise man's passion and liberate it 
from the blind force of the blood1 which
 makes of the capercailzie's play or the
 rivalry of stags a spectacle beautiful 

in its animality1 but1 on the other     
hand1 renders man's love bestial4 ,those
 who think that the healthy strength of 
nature will be thereby enfeebled are as 
foolish as those who try to prove that  
the artistic instinct in the woodcock's 
note is healthier and stronger than that
 which created ,beethoven's symphonies4 
,but it is not sufficient that woman    
should take the lead and appoint the    
goal4 ,she must herself be developed for
 the task1 and that not only in the     
direction just mentioned4 ,her soul is  
as yet no sure guide to her senses1 nor 
her senses to her soul4 ,so much the    
less can she then be a guide to man's   
soul or senses1 which moreover she      
frequently fails to understand and      
therefore unhesitatingly condemns--for  
the sins to which she herself has not   
unfrequently seduced him6  ,the new     
woman demands purity of man4 ,but has   
she any suspicion as to how her         
treatment1 on the one hand1 of the      
awkward and uncertain youth1 on the     

other1 of the experienced and confident 
8lady-killer0 type1 acts upon the       
former1 who is perhaps striving after   
erotic purity in the hope of being      
rewarded by the happy smile of a woman1 
but who sees that woman treat him with  
haughty commiseration while1 on the     
other hand1 she regards the leopard's   
spots of his rival with admiration8 ,one
 may ask whether all young women who now
 express their detestation of the       
impurity in man's sexual habits are     
themselves guided only by a soft and    
noble joy in giving pleasure4 ,do they  
never permit themselves the most        
despicable of hypocrisies1 that of love8
  ,so long as 8pure0 women take pleasure
 in the cruel sport of the cat2 so long 
as with the facile changes of mood of   
the serpentine dancer they evade the    
responsibilities of their flirtations2  
so long as they delight in provoking    
jealousy as a homage to themselves1 so  
long will they be helping to brew the   
hell-broth around which men will        

celebrate the witches' sabbath in the   
company of the bat-winged bevies of the 
night4  ,there are more men led astray  
by 8pure0 than by 8impure0 women4  ,and 
not even those women who are pure in the
 true sense of the word are free from   
blame in this4 ,woman--for whom love is 
a life-and-death matter in a much deeper
 sense than for man--experiences on the 
approach of love those tremblings that  
follow a sunrise for which one has lain 
awake and waited4 ,her physico-psychical
 timidity takes on by turns the         
expressions1 incomprehensible to the man
 who loves1 of dumb avoidance1 of abrupt
 change1 of empty girlish giggling1 of  
sullen misunderstanding4 ,and all that  
is contradictory--not that which is     
mysterious--in woman stirs the unrest in
 a man's blood4   ,the modern woman's   
great distress has been the discovery of
 the dissimilarity between her own      
erotic nature and that of man2 or       
rather1 she has refused and still       
refuses to make this discovery and      

thinks that only the custom of          
society--with its wholesome severity    
towards her1 its reckless leniency      
towards him--has brought about the      
difference which exists and which she   
would abolish4 ,but while one group     
proposes to do so by demanding feminine 
chastity of the man1 the other would    
claim masculine freedom for the woman4  
,the book world is now full of works on 
purity1 written by men as well as women1
 of literary tone and otherwise4 ,now it
 is the story of a woman who breaks with
 the man she loves when he confesses his
 past2 now that of a woman who forces   
her lover to marry another because the  
latter has borne him a child2 and so on 
to infinity4 ,finally there is one who  
takes her life from grief over her      
husband's past1 which she thinks will   
ruin their future4 ,literature is the   
roll of the drum which announces the    
approach of the troop--that army of     
strong women who are to educate men to  
chastity by denying them their love4    

,but will it really be the ,amazons who 
will play the leading part in the       
struggle against man's erotic dualism8  
,will not perhaps wisdom be found also  
in this case in the hope of being able  
to conquer the evil with the good1 not  
the evil with the worse1 by allowing a  
man awakened by love to the desire of   
unity to turn again to disunion8  ,would
 not woman accomplish more in the       
renovation of morals if she stayed with 
the man she loves1 so as with her whole 
being to let him learn how a woman can  
suffer and be made happy through a man8 
,the means of salvation for men         
suffering under erotic dualism may well 
be an increase of tenderly chaste1      
delicately feeling1 and kindly wise     
wives4 ,even such a mother1 sister1 or  
friend is a strength to a man4 ,but only
 the wife who remains a mistress can be 
sure of victory4  ,it is true that she  
cannot efface her husband's past4 ,but  
she can create together with him a new  
and stronger generation4 ,the man who   

knows what his beloved has suffered     
through his past2 who has seen the wings
 of her courage lose something of their 
power1 her confidence something of its  
smile1 her joy something of its         
playfulness--he will in time teach his  
sons that a man may certainly become    
once more strong and healthy through    
happiness in love1 but that he cannot   
win so beautiful and sure a happiness as
 self-control can prepare2 such queenly 
pride as his victory might have given   
the loved one1 he will never see in her4
 ,but if woman is to help man's struggle
 for purity1 she must for her share take
 another view of what has been degrading
 to man's nature and what has not4  ,a  
woman who marries a widower has to go   
through a pain which will be deep in    
proportion as her love is personal4 ,she
 will then wish to be not only her      
husband's last1 but also his first love2
 she suffers from all the memories they 
have not in common4 ,she would fain have
 sat by his cradle and received his     

first smile2 she longs to have played   
with him as a sister1 to have shared as 
a friend his troubles and his joys4 ,she
 envies all who have been able to see   
him at those stages of his life and in  
those spiritual conditions that she has 
not seen4 ,above all she envies the     
woman who first saw him made happy by   
the love she gave him4  ,but all these  
sufferings do not bring her to regard   
the beloved as morally sunken1 because  
before her he has been the husband of   
another woman4 ,and the same must hold  
good of earlier relations of love4 ,the 
man may have developed1 through a former
 marriage or free connection1 his powers
 of giving a personal love1 or he may1  
in the same way1 have lost them4 ,if no 
baseness is connected with these earlier
 experiences1 if he has not degraded    
himself to voluntary division of his    
erotic nature--and bought love is always
 such a degradation--or to contemptible 
duplicity2 if he has not treated any    
woman as a means1 but received and given

 personality1 then he does not enter    
8impure0 into his marriage1 even if he  
has not evidence of abstinence4  ,at    
present it is unfortunately often the   
case that men enter into marriage with  
deep stains from earlier connections1   
and it is this circumstance that gives  
the demand for purity its general       
applicability4  ,during each new phase  
of the development of love women1       
probably earlier and certainly more     
consciously than men1 have connected the
 demand for unity with the idea of love4
 ,the sense of unity is quite another   
and a far later phenomenon than         
monogamy4 ,the enforced fidelity in     
monogamy1 the voluntary fidelity in     
love1 gave rise in woman first to       
control of desire1 then to the weakening
 of desire through control4 ,thus by    
degrees erotic unity became with many   
women an organic condition1 or1 as is   
significantly said1 a physical          
necessity4 ,not with all1 not even with 
the majority1 but still sufficiently    

frequently to enable us to call the     
unity of soul and senses in love--as    
also a lifelong fidelity in a single    
love--the provision of nature for       
innumerable women1 while with men both  
are still exceptions so rarely to be met
 with that they are often called        
unnatural4 ,but he who concludes from   
this that one has only to demand the    
same of men for the effect to be the    
same1 is attributing the same effect to 
two different causes4 ,for the erotic   
conditions of man and woman are and will
 remain different causes4 ,the purity   
which a man is capable of attaining must
 always1 therefore1 to a certain degree 
be different from a woman's1 but not on 
that account of less worth4 ,he will    
certainly remain more polygamous than   
she1 but this does not involve a        
division of himself in the satisfaction 
of his erotic needs4 ,love possesses1   
nay1 besets1 dominates1 and determines  
woman's whole being in an entirely      
different way from man's4 ,he is more   

strongly possessed at rapidly passing   
moments1 by the erotic emotion1 but at  
the same time he liberates himself more 
quickly and completely4 ,on the other   
hand1 in the degree in which a woman is 
womanly1 is she completely determined by
 love4 ,this gives a unity1             
completeness1 and equilibrium to her    
sensuousness which man lacks4 ,when he  
is warm1 he often believes woman is     
cool2 when he sees her warm1 he thinks  
that she is so in the same way as       
himself4 ,women are undoubtedly to be   
found1 shifting1 like men1 between      
sudden ardour and abrupt chill1 and     
these women are ever the most exciting  
erotically4 ,with the majority of women1
 however1 love is1 for the reasons      
already given1 a constant warmth1 a     
never-quenched fervour4 ,but this makes 
the woman suffer through the man1 who in
 the intervals of his passion is so much
 more tranquil than she1 so little      
capable of her unremitting tenderness4  
,therefore she seldom finds herself     

occupying his thoughts and feelings so  
completely as he occupies hers4  ,a     
woman has aptly said that 8it is        
precisely woman's greater sensuousness  
that makes her less sensuous than man3  
on account of motherhood--and all that  
it implies--she is sensuous1 so to      
speak1 from head to foot and            
chronically1 while man is so only       
acutely and locally40 ,if one transfers 
one's thoughts from erotics to          
motherhood1 the truth of this will at   
once be clear3 the feeling of motherhood
 is the most thoroughly sensuous and    
therefore the most thoroughly soulful of
 emotions2 the same transport of the    
senses in which the mother exclaims that
 she could 8eat0 her child1 expresses   
itself in the affection which would     
prompt her to die for it4 ,but the      
author just quoted goes on to consider  
that even with men the erotic emotions  
could be transposed or released in many 
ways besides the one which to most of   
them still represents the whole         

expression of 8love40 ,what ,rousseau   
revealed to his unbelieving             
contemporaries will perhaps one day     
become true in a psycho-physical sense3 
that a look may fill a lover with       
voluptuousness2 that the great emotions 
are the chief conditions of love's      
happiness2 that the lightest touch of   
the loved one's hand gives greater bliss
 than the possession of the most        
beautiful women without love--feelings  
which all great lovers in all times have
 confirmed1 and as to which even the    
most contrary natures give the same     
testimony4 ,the peasant's love1 which   
knows nothing of caresses1 comes lower  
in the scale of happiness than that of  
the cultivated person1 who finds in love
 all the refined delights of the senses2
 and this again is far below the        
happiness of those who even in the      
encounter of two ideas or two moods can 
experience all the transport of love4   
,the conviction that sensuousness can   
only be controlled through being        

spiritualised is what directs those     
women who are now hoping to convert men1
 not to the duty of monogamy1 but to the
 joy of unity4  ,before woman's will    
could thus become conscious1 her long   
struggle for liberation had to take     
place4 ,marriage had to cease to be a   
trade among the upper classes1 as       
prostitution still is among the hungry  
lower classes4 ,love must have become   
free at least in the sense that a woman 
had no choice but charity from her      
family or forced sale to her husband2   
her personality must have attained      
consideration1 not only for her value as
 a woman and dignity as a human being1  
but also individually4 ,not until--by   
her own labour and activity--she no     
longer exclusively depended on a man's  
courtship for both her livelihood and   
her life's destiny1 did woman's         
salvation come to be1 not 8that the man 
wills0 7,nietzsche71 but that she       
herself can exercise her will4 ,language
 already reflects the change of custom4 

,we seldom hear it asked nowadays of a  
woman3 ,why has she not married8 but it 
is all the more frequently enquired3    
,what has her love-story been1 since she
 has never married8  ,here also the line
 of development is a zigzag4 ,women     
sometimes act as though their whole     
liberation was of no avail4 ,but in     
spite of much that is contradictory1 the
 evolution of love--above all through   
the new woman's claims of love--is to   
him who stands high enough to have a    
full view of the situation1 the most    
certain of realities4  ,evidence of this
 evolution can be found in life as well 
as in literature1 where it now takes    
every kind of form1 from experiences    
translated into genuine poetry down to  
the productions which tempt one to think
 that these people have only loved to   
get 8copy0 for a book4 ,the feminine    
fiction of the present day reminds one  
of a relief on a sacrificial altar in   
the ,roman ,forum1 where the ox1 the    
sheep1 and the pig proceed in file to   

meet the knife4 ,hecatombs of these     
animals--in the likeness of husbands or 
lovers--are now sacrificed to ,eros by  
the new woman4 ,it may not be very long 
before the vow of fidelity is exchanged 
for an oath of silence and the marriage 
contract contains a provision that in   
case of a rupture love-letters are not  
to be used as literature4  ,no doubt it 
will ever remain true that a living book
 on love is never written with other ink
 than blood4 ,but such books are not    
those which resemble a trial in which   
the prosecutor1 witness1 judge1 and     
executioner are united in one person4   
,but whether powerful or weak1 discreet 
or audacious1 noble or ignoble--the new 
woman's books are always instructive to 
those who seek to follow the course of  
love's evolution4   ,the great danger to
 this evolution is that women never take
 sufficient account of sensuousness1 nor
 men of spirituality4 ,and it is        
especially woman who now one-sidedly    
applies her own erotic nature--with its 

warm penetration1 its completeness that 
frees it from temptation--as the ethical
 and erotic standard for that of man    
with its sudden heat1 its dangerous     
incompleteness4  ,it is without doubt a 
feminine exaggeration to say that a     
8pure0 woman only feels the force of her
 sex's need when she loves4 ,but the    
enormous difference between her and man 
is that she cannot obey this need       
without loving4 ,it is doubtless true   
that besides her love a woman may have a
 calling in life4 ,but the profound     
distinction between her and man is at   
present this3 that he more often gives  
of his best as a creator than as a      
lover--while for her the reverse is     
nearly always the case4 ,and while thus 
man is appraised by himself and others  
according to his work1 woman in her     
heart values herself--and wishes to be  
valued--according to her love4 ,not     
until this is fully appreciated and     
working for happiness does she feel her 
own worth4 ,it is no doubt true that    

woman also wishes to be made happy by   
man through her senses4 ,but while this 
longing in her not unfrequently awakes  
long after she already loves a man so   
that she could give her life for him1   
with man the desire to possess a woman  
often awakes before he even loves her   
enough to give his little finger for    
her4 ,that with women love usually      
proceeds from the soul to the senses and
 sometimes does not reach so far2 that  
with man it usually proceeds from the   
senses to the soul and sometimes never  
completes the journey--this is for both 
the most painful of the existing        
distinctions between man and woman4 ,it 
is quite certain that both man and woman
 are humbled by their great love1 and   
that the knowledge of having awakened   
reciprocal love turns even the          
freethinker into a believer in miracles4
 ,but man often conceals his humility   
behind a security which wounds the      
woman2 she1 on the other hand1 hides    
hers in an uncertainty which wounds the 

man4 ,and from this difference of       
instinct arises a new kind of           
complication1 when man also has begun to
 desire an unspoken understanding on the
 part of woman2 when he becomes         
convinced of her love only when she has 
guessed this and loved his reticence    
itself4 ,but against this conscious and 
refined will of the modern man stands   
his hereditary instinct of a conqueror4 
,and no woman is more sure of all the   
older as well as all the newer          
sufferings of love than she who really  
acts according to the words of her      
lover3 that he will accept love only    
from a woman who herself has the courage
 to declare it to him4 ,for1 on the     
other side1 the primitive desire of     
being captured survives in woman4 ,and  
therefore also her strongest instincts  
come into conflict with her newly       
acquired courage in action4  ,for all   
these reasons it is difficult for a     
person of the present day to believe    
himself loved or to know that he is     

loved4  ,and it is this which will      
preserve to love its excitement1 even   
when the animal habits--with pursuit on 
one side and flight on the other--have  
gradually ceased4 ,conflict and the     
intoxication of victory will always form
 a part of the vital stimulation and    
pleasurable emotion of love1--but they  
will be removed to a higher plane4      
,man's forward rush to win a woman who  
perhaps would not otherwise have        
remarked him2 woman's turning aside to  
egg the man on1 or else to defend in    
some measure the independent decision of
 her feelings1 will be transformed by   
the desire of each to wait until the    
other has chosen4 ,the erotic tension   
will then be released in the contest for
 the most refined expressions of        
sympathy1 the most convincing assurances
 of comprehension1 the most rapidly     
vibrating sensitiveness to the other's  
moods1 the fullest communication of     
confidence4 ,victory will mean a        
constantly deeper penetration into the  

other's nature1 an ever richer fulness  
and joy in the communication of one's   
own2 a constantly growing faith as      
regards what is mysterious1 and a like  
gratitude for what is revealed4 ,the    
stimulation will be renewed daily in    
moods the transitions of which are as   
imperceptible as those of the evening   
sky from the reddest gold to the purest 
white2 in the border lines of sympathy  
and antipathy1 now fine as a straw1 now 
broad as a river4 ,it will be renewed   
through the test of innumerable uniting 
and repellent emotions1 as rapidly and  
irrevocably decisive as the fall of a   
star in space1 or of a silver piece in  
the river4  ,and this tension of married
 life will not be relaxed as now by the 
puffed-up arrogance of proprietorship on
 the part of the man or by dull         
complaisance on that of the woman4      
,since all sense of happiness is        
connected with the exertion of force to 
attain an end and with the equilibrium  
that results from its attainment1 it has

 been the misfortune of love that       
courtship has absorbed all the tension1 
and married life the subsequent         
equilibrium4 ,only the sense of         
impending loss--through life or through 
death--has1 as a rule1 evoked a new     
spiritual tension4 ,this1 for reasons   
mentioned above1 has especially         
concerned the husband4 ,wives have often
 suffered long from the self-satisfied  
comfort of the daily life of marriage   
before they have resigned the peace of  
consummation1 the equilibrium without   
movement1 which was their dream of      
happiness4  ,but now women will no      
longer resign1 nor allow themselves to  
be cheated of life4 ,more and more their
 demand for a new love becomes one with 
the demand for a new marriage1 the chief
 value of which will not1 as now1       
consist in 8security and calm40  ,woman 
knows--and man still more--that it is in
 periods of calm1 when all vital        
stimulation is wanting1 that the        
temptation comes to seek it in new      

relations4 ,but at the same time they   
are beginning to see that when one and  
the same feeling affords an unceasing   
excitement--through the desire of       
constantly attaining higher conditions  
of that feeling--then such temptation   
becomes of necessity less and less      
dangerous1 simply because the human soul
 can only with great difficulty transfer
 the spiritual wealth it has accumulated
 in one place4 ,love in its impersonal  
form is movable capital1 easily         
realised4 ,in its personal form1 on the 
other hand1 it is fixed property1 which 
increases in value the more one sinks in
 it1 and which1 owing to its very       
nature1 is difficult to disperse4       
,whenever a woman has captivated a man  
with a lifelong fascination1 the secret 
has been that he has never exhausted    
her2 that she 8has not been one1 but a  
thousand0 7,g4 ,heiberg72 not a more or 
less beautiful variation on the eternal 
theme of the female sex1 but a music in 
which he has found the wealth of        

inexhaustibility1 the enticement of     
impenetrability1 while she has given him
 an incomparable happiness of the       
senses4 ,the more the modern woman      
acquires courage for a love as rich in  
the senses as in the soul1 the more     
complicated and self-inclosed her       
personality becomes1 the more will she  
obtain that power which is now only the 
fortunate advantage of the exceptional4 
,man tells woman that her new way of    
love is opposed not only to man's nature
 but to the welfare of the new          
generation4  ,she answers that great    
love doubtless betrays a childish lack  
of understanding in all departments of  
worldly wisdom1 but that in its own     
sphere--with all its riddles and        
problems--it is godlike wisdom1 the gift
 of divining1 the power of working      
miracles2 that the only thing needful in
 order that love may re-create the race 
is that it shall become an even greater 
vital force1 through mankind investing  
it with more and more of its spiritual  

power4   ,even at the present day       
couples are to be found who are inspired
 by great love4 ,they show an insatiable
 desire for all the riches of life1 so  
as to have the means of being regally   
lavish towards each other4 ,neither     
defrauds the other of so much as a      
dewdrop4 ,the fervour they give one     
another1 the freedom they possess       
through one another1 make the space that
 surrounds them warm and ample4 ,love is
 constantly giving them new impulses1   
new powers and new employment for their 
powers1 whether these are directed      
inwards to home life or outwards to that
 of society4 ,and thus the happiness1   
which for themselves is the source of   
life1 becomes also a tributary stream by
 which the happiness of all is raised4  
,the power of great love to enhance a   
person's value for mankind can only be  
compared with the glow of religious     
faith or the creative joy of genius1 but
 surpasses both in universal            
life-enhancing properties4 ,sorrow may  

sometimes make a person more tender     
towards the sufferings of others1 more  
actively benevolent than happiness with 
its concentration upon self4 ,but sorrow
 never led the soul to those heights and
 depths1 to those inspirations and      
revelations of universal life1 to that  
kneeling gratitude before the mystery of
 life1 to which the piety of great love 
leads it4  ,like faith1 this piety      
sanctifies all things4 ,it gives        
significance to attention bestowed on   
one's self1 since    444 ,if ,i am dear 
to some one else    ,then must ,i be to 
myself more dear4  ,it combines the most
 trifling things of life into an        
intelligent whole4 ,he who is loved and 
loves in this way bears the same stamp  
as the ,christian mystic1 who grows ever
 clearer and yet more rich in mystery2  
ever fuller of life and yet calmer2 ever
 more introspective and yet more        
radiant4  ,there are some who think that
 this state is visionary and unnatural4 
,but the truth--for everyone who has    

beheld it--is that le vrai amour est    
simple comme un bas relief antique4     
,such a relief1 which before all others 
corresponds to the image1 is to be found
 in the ,naples museum4 ,it shows a man 
and a woman1 standing still on either   
side of a tree4 ,an artist of antiquity 
may have already foreseen all the       
significance that a son of our time     
interpreted1 when he placed a youth and 
a maiden beneath the tree of life with a
 cloven apple in their hands3 they      
divided the apple of life and ate it    
together4444  ,for a couple who share it
 thus1 everyday life will scintillate   
with little delights as a wheat-field at
 midsummer with cornflowers2 and the    
high days will be white with joy as a   
spring garden with fruit blossoms4 ,a   
couple who live thus will be able to    
play so that beyond their sport will    
always be the calm of tenderness2 to    
smile so that behind their smiles will  
always lie an easily-aroused            
seriousness4 ,unless death interrupts   

them they will thus build up their life 
together as the ,gothic cathedrals were 
built3 buttress upon buttress1 arch     
above arch1 ornament within ornament1   
until finally the gilding of the topmost
 spire catches the last rays of the     
sunset4   ,thus great love already gives
 to two human beings what only completed
 development can give to mankind as a   
whole3 unity between senses and soul1   
desire and duty1 self-assertion and     
self-devotion1 between the individual   
and the race1 the present moment and the
 future4  ,this condition--in which     
every advantage gained becomes a gift   
and every gift a profit2 in which are   
united a continual emotion and a calm   
peace--is even now that which dreamers  
await as that of the third kingdom4#b   
,,chapter ,,iii  ,,love',s ,,freedom    
,the most delicate test of a person's   
sense of morality is his power of       
interpreting ambiguous signs of the     
times in the ethical sphere2 for only   
the profoundly moral can discover the   

dividing line1 sharp as the edge of a   
sword1 between new morality and old     
immorality4  ,in our time ethical       
obtuseness betrays itself first and     
foremost by the condemnation of those   
young couples who freely unite their    
destinies4 ,the majority does not       
perceive the advance in morality which  
this implies in comparison with the code
 of so many men1 who without            
responsibility--and without apparent    
risk--purchase the repose of their      
senses4  ,those young men who choose    
8free love0 know that bought love may   
destroy their finest instruments of     
mental activity2 that it may result in  
injury to the wife as well as in the    
danger either of degeneracy on the part 
of the children1 or of childishness1 and
 may finally bring about their own      
premature downfall4  ,but they also know
 that these results may not occur and   
that1 on the other hand1 they may suffer
 spiritually by curbing their           
personality and ruining their           

possibilities of single-hearted love4   
,at the same time they despise their    
fathers' less dangerous1 but for that   
reason more unprincipled1 expedient for 
sexual satisfaction1 the seduction of   
women of the people1 women with whom    
they never had any thought of community 
of life4  8,free love10 on the other    
hand1 gives them an enhancement of life 
which they consider that they gain      
without injuring anyone4 ,it answers to 
their idea of love's chastity1 an idea  
which is justly offended by the         
incompleteness of the period of         
engagement with all its losses in the   
freshness and frankness of emotion4     
,when their soul has found another soul1
 when the senses of both have met in a  
common longing1 then they consider that 
they have a right to the full unity of  
love1 although compelled to secrecy1    
since the conditions of society render  
early marriage impossible4 ,they are    
thus freed from a wasteful struggle1    
which would neither give them peace nor 

inner purity and which would be doubly  
hard for them1 since they have attained 
the end--love--for the sake of which    
self-control would have been imposed4   
,when in this connection we speak of    
youth1 we can mean only the young men   
and girls of the upper classes4 ,for    
among the rest of society the free union
 of love has long been the custom4 ,our 
working classes--as those of many       
,european countries--simply use the same
 freedom which the custom of society    
allows to many extra-,european peoples4 
,ethnographical research shows that this
 is no new degraded habit1 but1 on the  
contrary1 a relic of primitive customs4 
,among certain extra-,european          
peoples--for example1 one in north      
,burmah--this custom was accompanied by 
definite guarantees for the possible    
children4 ,young people may without     
hindrance unite freely1 and separate if 
they do not find their feeling deep     
enough for continued life together4 ,in 
the contrary case1 they marry1 and after

 marriage infidelity is as good as      
unknown4 ,if the girl becomes a mother1 
without a marriage following1 the man is
 obliged to secure the child through a  
sum paid to the girl's father1 who is   
then answerable for it4  ,it is from    
similar sexual customs that the majority
 of our ,swedish people derive          
theirs--that people which in royal and  
academic speeches has gained the        
character of being 8the most law-abiding
 and loyal0 in the world4 ,failing a    
deeper love or a sense of               
responsibility1 these customs involve   
the abandonment of the woman1           
infanticide1 and sometimes the          
prostitution of the woman1 when she has 
passed from one man to another2 finally 
the encumbrance of society with the     
children of different fathers to whom   
she has given life1 besides the neglect 
of the children4 ,and the custom        
leads--even in those cases where both   
love and responsibility are present1 but
 where the lovers are too young--to the 

enfeebling of themselves and of the     
children1 and to the great mortality of 
the latter4 ,not only hard labour and   
scanty food1 but also a premature sexual
 life1 contribute to hinder the full    
bodily development of the lower classes 
and to hasten their growing old4  ,but  
by the side of these evil effects there 
are good ones4 ,in most cases1 a young  
couple's prospect of parentage leads    
their relatives to make their marriage  
possible4 ,when this cannot take place  
immediately1 the daughter and her child 
stay with the parents of one of them1 or
 she leaves the child with them1 while  
she on her side1 and the young man on   
his1 work for the future4 ,even when the
 man has not always been disposed for   
marriage1 their common life of work and 
the sense of parentage soon show a      
uniting force4 ,such couples who have   
come together in youth probably have    
better prospects for their life together
 than an upper-class couple1 worn out by
 a long engagement1 in which the bride  

has a full right to her                 
orange-flowers--to say nothing of the   
health contributed by the man of the    
people in comparison with the majority  
of men of the upper class1 who have     
bought their injurious substitute for   
marriage while waiting for the promotion
 which should make marriage possible4   
,one thing at any rate is certain3 that 
matrimonial fidelity among the people is
 as great as freedom before marriage is 
unlimited4 ,that the free love of the   
peasant and working class ends1 as a    
rule1 in marriage1 often depends on the 
fact that public opinion supports this  
as a point of morality4 ,but--in those  
cases where love itself does not bring  
about community of life--the sense of   
parentage and the need of a helpmate are
 as decisive as public opinion2 for even
 among the erotically undeveloped the   
need of cohabitation makes itself felt  
for other purposes than the instinct of 
the race4 ,it is the desire for such    
community of life--with its sharing of  

pleasure and hardship1 sorrow and       
attention--which makes it really        
uniting4 ,where no such desire exists1  
the relationship becomes immoral from   
the point of view of life-enhancement4  
,if this standard of morality be not    
adhered to1 free love among the upper   
class--as among the lower class--will1  
it is true1 contribute to the abolition 
of prostitution1 but not to the         
exaltation of mankind through a greater 
love1 a higher morality4  ,for if1 on   
the one hand1 the sexual customs of the 
lower class allow more right than those 
of the upper class to the direct claims 
of nature1 on the other hand1 the       
customs of the latter still provide the 
same opportunities for the elevation    
into love of the instinct which1 from an
 historical and ethnographical point of 
view1 has everywhere been provided by   
self-control4 ,among those nations with 
which sexual connections begin early1   
morals are1 as a rule1 loose1 and where 
morals are loose1 the emotion of love   

has small importance4 ,the control of   
sensuality develops the deeper feelings 
of love4 ,we need not go to the nations 
of the past1 or to existing             
extra-,european peoples1 but only to the
 town and country labourers of our own  
and other ,european lands1 to see how   
the feelings become lax and feeble1 the 
senses coarse and greedy1 when they have
 acquired the habit of satisfying       
physical hunger before that of the soul 
has awakened4 ,the miserable conditions 
of dwelling among the lower classes are 
enough by themselves to rob sexual life 
of its discretion2 immature age or the  
tie of blood is frequently no hindrance 
to unchastity1 and its                  
consequences--coarseness and lack of    
responsibility towards one another as   
well as towards the offspring--at times 
take hideous forms4 ,the first condition
 therefore for love's freedom is that   
the freedom shall concern love1 the most
 universal sign of which is the desire  
of continued community of life4 ,as this

 sign is1 as a rule1 to be found among  
young people of the educated class who  
now claim love's freedom1 they are thus 
far within their rights1 as also are the
 young people of the lower class when   
they use the same freedom and as a      
result form many excellent connubial    
unions4 ,we could with every reason--and
 with more reason--draw the same        
conclusions with regard to the upper    
class1 if it were not the case that     
among these love has become a so much   
more penetrating force4 ,while the      
majority of the working class--for even 
there a minority with more refined      
erotic feelings is to be found1--in     
addition to the satisfaction of its     
instincts1 contents itself with a       
capable and devoted comrade to bear its 
burden1 the developed man or woman of   
the present day has deeper erotic needs4
 ,it is the satisfaction of these that  
is often missed by a youthful decision  
in life2 for even when youthful love is 
soulful--and nearly all youthful love   

can so be described--it is nevertheless 
in most cases a longing for love rather 
than love1 a craving for experience     
rather than the new life itself4 ,and   
therefore the erotic feelings of early  
youth are founded upon the illusions    
which make a ,romeo lament the harshness
 of ,rosalind a moment before meeting   
,juliet1 and a ,titania to fondle       
,bottom's ass's ears4 ,never in after   
life has the world such a marvellous    
glamour as when the first dream of love 
has swathed all contours in its         
opalescent mists of sunrise1 but--never 
do we so easily go astray4 ,it may      
happen that the lifting of the mists    
will disclose the most beautiful        
landscape4 ,but there are more chances  
that the course one has steered in the  
fog will end in one of many shipwrecks4 
,therefore the 8'teens0 should be the   
age of the erotic prologue1 not of the  
drama4 ,for this reason also1 that no   
one can decide to what degree the       
transient may injure the final relations

 of life2 nor to what degree great love 
may be missed or spoiled1 when          
accidental love has anticipated its     
rights1 even though this happened in the
 full and frank belief that the accident
 was destiny4  ,no part of the art of   
living is more important for youth than 
developing in one's self the knowledge  
of a predestined fellowship which       
permits of waiting4 ,people curse the   
hazards which separate lovers4 ,but it  
is less the hazards which separate than 
those which unite at the wrong time1    
that ought to be cursed4 ,first youth   
seldom loses in love anything but what  
is unimportant2 the reality shows       
itself--when both are free--as what     
cannot be lost4 ,those who belong to    
each other come together in the end2    
those whom chance parts1 never belonged 
to each other4 ,a man may fail of       
happiness by finding out too late what  
is real in himself or others2 not by    
abstaining from action before this      
discovery4 ,therefore youth should wait 

before making decisive plunges into its 
own and others' destinies1 since great  
love may resemble the ,japanese         
divinity1 to pray to whom more than once
 is a crime1 since it answers prayer    
only once4   ,but even when a young     
couple has the profoundest mutual sense 
of the permanence of their feeling1 it  
does not follow that their love ought   
immediately to involve the rights and   
the accompanying responsibilities of a  
later age4 ,for young trees break or    
bend under too heavy a weight of fruit1 
nor does the fruit attain its full value
 on trees that are too young4 ,here     
nature herself is the opponent of       
youthful marriages4 ,let us leave on one
 side the possibility of people being   
unwillingly bound together through the  
consequences of an over-hasty union1 and
 deal only with the certainty that the  
young people in a profound sense        
continue to belong to each other4 ,they 
will nevertheless as surely suffer      
through the possible or probable        

consequence of their action1 the child4 
,their consciousness of not being able  
to bear this consequence will doubtless 
make them try to avoid it4 ,but this is 
an ugly beginning to a life of love4    
,many consider that it also involves    
dangers4 ,for those who have already    
given to the race their tribute of new  
life1 or who ought never thus to give1  
the choice must be free between the two 
dangers4 ,but for the opening of a life 
in common this resource may be equally  
unsafe and unwholesome1 since the racial
 instinct as a whole is left            
unaccomplished4 ,and thus love is robbed
 of a part of its spiritual meaning1 and
 sensuousness of its natural restraint4 
,but even if these consequences do not  
follow1 8failure0 may yet be the most   
fortunate occurrence in these cases--and
 also the most usual4 ,how then does it 
appear in reality8  ,in most cases young
 people have entered into their free    
union because they have seen no         
possibility of an open marriage4 ,they  

are the less able to support a child1 as
 they themselves are supported by       
others1 in so far as they are not       
keeping themselves by running into debt 
or by badly-paid labour4 ,in the latter 
case1 the child means a further         
hindrance to life1 the more so as it    
must involve for the woman a diminution1
 perhaps a total loss1 of her powers of 
work4 ,it is therefore the young        
people's relatives who have to help4    
,and1 when this is possible1 the form it
 takes is that the lovers are obliged to
 marry and receive the help that the    
parents can afford4 ,in the case of the 
poorer classes1 this is comparatively   
slight1 as the newly-married pair       
frequently stay with the parents of one 
of them4 ,but in the upper classes1 on  
the other hand1 they prefer1 with full  
reason1 to form their own home1 and then
 there ensue the inevitable cares of    
child and housekeeping1 however simple  
the latter may be4 ,but these will be a 
hindrance to their studies1 their       

freedom of movement1 and general        
development4 ,they become cage-birds1 at
 best fed by their parents2 bound by    
duties during the years which should    
have been wholly devoted to their       
self-development4  ,thus premature      
marriages1 whether lawful or unlawful in
 form1 may arrest in their growth       
countless excellent forces1 and ruin the
 full possibilities of happiness in     
later years4 ,it is true that the early 
union will have stilled a powerful      
longing in the young people's being4    
,but they soon find out that it has at  
the same time rendered difficult1       
perhaps impossible1 the satisfaction of 
their desire of knowledge1 the taste for
 research1 the creative power1 and      
freedom of action in other1 more or less
 important1 directions2 for example1 in 
the love of travel which is felt by all 
young people of spirit1 and in the love 
of pleasure in a wholesome sense4 ,the  
young mother's beauty probably never    
attains the fulness designed by nature1 

and she is destined to grow old before  
her time4 ,and even when her children   
are not weaklings--as is most frequently
 the case--they do not afford her the   
happiness they might have brought if    
they had been longed for2 if she had not
 had to sacrifice to them her youthful  
joy1 the fulness of her strength and    
beauty1 but1 on the contrary1 had felt  
this enhanced through motherhood4 ,above
 all1 the children do not receive the   
bringing-up which the mother might give 
them at a somewhat maturer age4  ,even  
if a pair of lovers are themselves      
willing to be subject to the hindrances 
imposed in most cases by a premature    
union1 this must be their own affair2   
but for the child there must be loss4   
,in order that the child may enjoy the  
full possibility of favourable          
conditions of life--in birth as well as 
in bringing-up--in northern ,europe the 
age of the woman at marriage should be  
at least twenty1 that of the man about  
twenty-five4 ,this is the period of full

 maturity1 and until this age is reached
 youth itself gains by complete         
abstinence1 in order by its marriage at 
the proper age1 in the words of         
,tacitus1 to 8let the children witness  
to their parents' strength40 ,in the    
opinion of most younger men of science  
it is less and less probable that       
acquired qualities are inherited4       
,others1 again1 who have defended or    
still hold this view1 have maintained   
with more or less force--as a condition 
of the progress of the race--that       
procreation should not take place until 
the activity and surroundings of the    
parents have acquired a definite        
character4 ,acute psychologists who have
 given attention to woman's nature1     
consider that it does not attain its    
full spiritual maturity before about the
 age of thirty1 while she then still    
possesses her youthfulness unimpaired2  
that until then her countenance does not
 acquire its true completeness of       
expression2 that her individuality1     

intellectual powers1 and passion are    
then for the first time fully awake2    
that only these properties can inspire  
deep love1 and that thus woman gains    
everything by a later marriage1 whereas 
the result of early marriages1 where the
 husband has to 8educate0 his wife1 is  
frequently1 as a witty lady has         
remarked1 that he is destined instead to
 educate a wife for someone else4  ,nor 
is it only narrow-viewed preachers of   
morality1 but men of science with the   
broadest outlook in these matters1 who  
declare ever more positively that       
abstinence until the age of maturity is 
in a high degree favourable to the      
physico-psychical strength and          
elasticity of both sexes1 and that such 
favourable effect may sometimes extend  
beyond this age4  ,to this direct gain  
must also be added the indirect one3    
that all self-control for a greater and 
gladdening end--and what end can be     
greater than this one8--gives to the    
will that force and to the personality  

that joy in its strength which will     
later be all-important in every other   
department of life4  ,such an           
advancement of the age of marriage will 
probably not be opposed by many women4  
,young girls have learned by the        
experience of others1 and now there is  
scarcely to be found a woman married    
before the age of twenty who has not    
discovered that it was premature before 
she reaches twenty-five4 ,moreover it is
 seldom the woman's desire that hurries 
on a secret union2 for1 in the absence  
of any admixture of ,southern blood1 it 
is a long time1 many years indeed in    
some cases1 before the senses of the    
,northern woman are consciously         
awakened4  ,but the young girl loves and
 wishes to satisfy the longing from     
which she sees her lover suffer1 the    
more so when she comes to know that the 
demonstrations of affection which have  
satisfied her needs have increased his  
suffering4 ,and therefore she silences  
her own innermost consciousness1 which  

adjures her to wait4  ,this silencing of
 the inner voice not infrequently has   
for its result that the two souls are   
never fully united1 since the senses    
have stood in their way2 or in          
,nietzsche's words3 ,die ,sinnlichkeit  
bereilt oft das ,wachsthum der ,liebe so
 dass die ,wurzeln schwach bleiben und  
leicht auszureissen sind4 ,in every pure
 feeling of morality1 a young woman who 
thus surrenders herself in love stands  
immeasurably above the engaged girl of  
good family who allows the man she says 
she loves to toil alone during the best 
years of his young manhood1 so as at    
last to prepare for her the position    
which her own ideas of life1 or those of
 her family1 demand4 ,but higher than   
either stands the young woman who has   
known how to preserve the freshness of  
love's springtime4 ,and when women's own
 claims of happiness have become more   
refined1 when their insight into nature 
is more profound1 when they thus become 
fit to take the lead in erotic          

development--which in ,scandinavia      
during the last generation has          
unfortunately been in man's hands1--then
 they will also understand this4 ,they  
must prolong the happy time when love is
 unspoken1 unfettered by promises1 full 
of expectation and intuition4 ,and they 
need not on this account give up the    
comradeship in sport1 in walks1 and     
studies1 which is wholesome in itself1  
cheerful and preparatory to happiness1  
but which now leads to premature unions4
 ,women will come to understand when    
they ought to be on their guard1 in     
order that the sufferings of the period 
of waiting may be minimised4 ,they will 
shorten the secret engagement1 and they 
will do away with the public engagement1
 with the dangers both involve of       
attenuation of the feelings1 and with   
the latter's profanation of love's      
privacy4  ,if the youth of the ,north   
does not feel its soul in harmony with  
this mood1 its life will have lost its  
springtime--without receiving in        

exchange a longer summer2 for premature 
warmth has its revenge in life as in    
nature4 ,to experience fully the        
peculiar beauty of each season of life  
is the attribute of a profounder        
comprehension of life's meaning--and    
this truth is not less true because a   
,juliet was only fourteen4 ,what        
,shakespeare has revealed in her is not 
the force of early love1 incomparable   
with any other power2 rather does he    
show the love1 instantaneous1 fatal1    
overcoming all obstacles1 which--equally
 powerful at every age--yet shows its   
force most unmistakably when it drives  
two human beings to death just at the   
time when the yet unlived life they have
 before them makes the thought of death 
most full of horror4 ,only such an      
exception can anticipate in springtime  
the flowering of summer4 ,it is         
therefore not from the whole necessity  
of their nature1 but from attaching too 
much importance to one side of it1 that 
many young people now have the idea that

 love loses its fire and its purity by  
waiting until the organism can bear its 
fruits4 ,nothing is more certain than   
that the chastity of perfect love is    
conditioned towards unity by the will of
 the soul and the senses4 ,but this     
chaste will may be found before or after
 the possibility of its realisation4    
,and love's chastity may then show      
itself as well in waiting for complete  
unity as in altogether renouncing the   
same4  ,it is true that a young man will
 not experience the intoxication of love
 at twenty-five as he experienced it    
some years earlier4 ,but if he feels it 
for the first time at about twenty-five1
 then--according to all the laws of     
physico-psychical sensations of         
pleasure--just at the height of his     
sexual existence1 and after years of    
self-control and labour for happiness1  
he ought to be able to experience a     
richer vital intoxication than he would 
have been capable of in the earlier     
years of his youth4  ,it is             

incontestable that premature erotic     
claims are less the result of the needs 
of the organism than of the influence of
 the imagination upon it4 ,only a new   
healthiness and beauty in the method of 
treating erotic questions will gradually
 refashion the now over-excited         
imagination1 calm erotic curiosity1 and 
strengthen the sense of responsibility  
towards self and towards the new        
generation1 so that premature sexual    
life may lose its attraction for the    
young4   ,all this however concerns only
 immature youth4  ,when1 on the other   
hand1 a pair of lovers have reached the 
age referred to as that of full         
maturity1 and their complete union can  
only further their own life-enhancement 
and that of the race1 then they commit a
 sin against themselves and the race if 
they do not enter into union4  ,but not 
even in such a case is secret love      
desirable1 in which the woman goes in   
constant uneasiness for the possible    
child1 and yet--after the first period  

of happiness--in a growing desire not   
only for it but for all the other       
conditions of life which might give sun 
and fresh air to her feeling1 confined1 
as it were1 in forcing-house or cellar4 
,in most cases it is only a question of 
time how soon this secret happiness will
 languish1 since the risk is almost     
entirely on the woman's side and the man
 is too much in the position of one who 
receives4 ,for human nature is such that
 this makes one hard2 and love is such  
that this makes one weak4 ,if the man is
 not hardened thereby1 it is because he 
is extremely sensitive4 ,and again1 if  
he is so1 then the secret union1 in     
which the woman gives most1 becomes just
 as humiliating to the man as a marriage
 in which the wife keeps him by her     
fortune or her work4 ,the woman1 on her 
side1 will be the more difficult to     
please1 will make higher claims upon the
 love which is to compensate her for the
 home and for the child1 the two        
interests through which she would first 

have felt her powers developed in every 
direction1 or1 in other words1 would    
have gained complete happiness4  ,for a 
woman's best qualities1 even as a       
mistress1 are inseparably bound up with 
the motherhood in her nature4  ,there   
has been and is an infinity of talk     
about the degradation of woman by her   
complete surrender without marriage2    
that the man thus depreciates his loved 
one in his own eyes and himself in hers2
 that he is selfish in proposing a union
 which injures the virtue and modesty of
 love2 that he 8sacrifices0 the woman to
 his desire2 and so on without end4 ,all
 this talk is worthless1 simply because 
a woman who loves feels herself degraded
 neither in her own eyes nor in those of
 the man2 because she has no idea of a  
8sacrifice10 but of giving and          
receiving4 ,for she desires the         
completeness of love with a much        
profounder will than man1 since her     
erotic needs are stronger--although     
calmer--than his4 ,but she is           

frequently--and often for a long        
time--unconscious that her profound     
desire to be made happy at any price    
through love nevertheless refers at     
bottom to the child4 ,the man sees only 
the woman's longing and his happy smile 
not unfrequently tells of an easy       
victory4 ,but he does not know--for a   
long time she does not know             
herself--when her love becomes a        
sacrifice2 when she begins to feel her  
position as a degrading one4 ,the man   
does not see what her smile conceals2 he
 does not understand her when she is    
silent1 and perhaps he does not listen  
when she speaks4 ,he thus believes her  
to be still satisfied1 when she has     
begun to hunger for more4  ,woman's need
 of living and suffering for the race   
gives her love a purer glow1 a higher   
flame1 a profounder will1 a more        
tireless fidelity than man's4 ,the      
unsatisfied longing for motherhood is   
released in an ever warmer1 ever more   
self-sacrificing affection for the loved

 one4 ,man1 on the other hand1 who has  
less and less opportunity of giving1    
thereby comes to love less and less4    
,when the woman discovers this1 she     
begins to remember what she has given4  
,and then strife1 sin1 sorrow1 and their
 wages--death--have entered into what   
was perhaps at the beginning a genuine  
love2 a love which might have had a full
 and fair life1 if it had had the       
unifying and purifying influence of a   
common end1 a great purpose4  ,when love
 possesses nothing of this kind1 its    
power of motion is directed against     
itself4 ,the feelings of both parties   
then become the object of a game like   
that of parfiler1 which was the rage in 
the eighteenth century1 and which       
consisted in drawing the threads out of 
worn-out cloth of gold4 ,the feelings   
are torn up1 ripped open1 tied together2
 tangled1 disentangled1 and wound up4   
,but feelings are roots1 not            
threads--not even gold threads4 ,it is  
in the great1 wholesome realities of    

life that the creative force of love1   
like that of art1 finds the productive  
earth for its growth4 ,torn out of this 
earth1 love1 as surely as art1 is like a
 tree blown down by a spring storm1     
which may indeed put forth leaves this  
spring--though all its roots are exposed
 to the air--but which will not live    
through the summer4  ,clandestine love  
is in this respect like an upper-class  
marriage without children and without   
common pursuits1 although the           
self-sacrificing1 self-supporting1      
clandestine mistress stands far above   
the kept wife1 fashionable and full of  
pretension4  ,thus it is not abstract   
ideas of duty1 but real selfishness1    
which is one with real morality1 that   
will teach youth to understand the      
meaning of ,spinoza's profound thought1 
made still more profound by the doctrine
 of evolution3 that 8the sexual love    
which has its origin in what is external
 and accidental1 may easily be turned to
 hate1 a kind of madness that is        

nourished on discord2 but that love1 on 
the other hand1 is lasting1 which has   
its cause in freedom of soul and in the 
will to bear and bring up children40    
,through the religion of life and its   
countless influences1 through gradual1  
scarcely perceptible transformations1   
will love's freedom more and more come  
to mean freedom for enduring love4  ,the
 spirit of the age1 working through the 
standards of literature and public      
opinion1 transforms with infallible     
certainty thoughts and feelings in the  
direction in which the strongest lead   
them4  ,it now rests with the young to  
be these strong ones4  ,with the growing
 desire for a many-sided enhancement of 
life1 parentage will also become an ever
 more important condition of this       
enhancement4 ,young people will be no   
more willing to depreciate by a         
premature sexual life the value of those
 years which ought to be devoted to     
furthering their individual growth1 than
 they will be to diminish their joy of  

parentage by putting a weak and         
unwelcome child into the world4 ,for    
they will wish to possess all happiness 
fully and frankly4 ,the expected child  
ought to give them beautiful dreams1 not
 tormenting uneasiness2 it must be      
carried in rejoicing1 not in unwilling1 
arms1 and must have received life from  
the fulness of happiness--not from a    
mischance4  ,here as everywhere1 what is
 the most genuine and lasting happiness 
for the individual is also for the moral
 enhancement the race4  ,when two lovers
 have this desire and have reached that 
maturity1 when the will has a right to  
realisation1 and is in full agreement   
with the health and beauty of           
themselves1 of the new generation1 and  
of society1 it is right that they should
 come together1 even though it may not  
be possible for their pure desire of    
common life and common work to take the 
form of marriage4  ,for him who has ears
 to hear1 these figures will speak3 they
 show that the average age of unlawful  

unions is the right age appointed by    
nature for marriage4 ,thus the          
statistics of ,sweden for #aijj show    
that #fcdj 8illegitimate0 children were 
born of mothers between #bj and #be     
years old1 while those born of mothers  
under #bj were #bjbh1 and of mothers    
between #be and #cj1 #cheg4 ,another    
eloquent fact is that1 even before the  
extension of compulsory military        
service1 the highest figures of         
emigration1 for men as well as women1   
occur among the unmarried within a year 
or two on either side of twenty4  ,by   
unlawful unions1 the race is often      
defrauded of the children's fitness for 
life1 which is ruined by the            
unfavourable conditions in which the    
children are brought up2 and by         
emigration the best blood of the country
 is drained away4 ,and even if the      
latter is occasioned by a variety of    
causes1 no thoughtful person could omit 
to reckon among them the difficulty of  
marrying at the right time4 ,another    

equally eloquent circumstance fully     
supported by statistical evidence is    
this3 that prostitution increases in    
direct proportion as the general social 
conditions and the economical situation 
are unfavourable to marriage1 and that  
it decreases as marriage is facilitated4
 ,and the majority of prostitutes--as of
 unmarried mothers--are of the right age
 for marriage4  ,the youth of the upper 
classes ought not1 however1 in their    
struggle against actual conditions1 to  
descend to the irresponsibility of the  
lower classes4 ,educated young people   
must set an example to the rest1 not    
only by entering into their matrimonial 
alliances at the right time1 but also in
 a way that is unimpeachable as regards 
the claims of the race and of society4  
,the young have a perfect right--like   
their contemporaries among the          
people--to assume the responsibility of 
founding a home1 which may be denied to 
them1 before the child is expected4 ,but
 they have only a right to this kind of 

defiance if they are willing1 as soon as
 they are able1 themselves to provide   
for the new creatures who will one day  
replace them in the race4 ,but above all
 things1 educated young people must also
 take part in the social reform         
which--speaking broadly--will be the    
only solution of the marriage question4 
,instead of defending 8free love10 which
 is a much-abused term capable of many  
interpretations1 we ought to strive for 
the freedom of love2 for while the      
former has come to imply freedom for any
 sort of love1 the latter must only mean
 freedom for a feeling which is worthy  
the name of love4  ,this feeling1 it may
 be hoped1 will gradually win for itself
 the same freedom in life as it already 
possesses in poetry4 ,the flowering1 as 
well as the budding of love will then be
 a secret between the lovers1 and only  
its fruit will be a matter between them 
and society4 ,as always1 poetry has     
pointed out the way to development4 ,a  
great poet has seldom sung of           

lawfully-wedded happiness1 but often of 
free and secret love2 and in this       
respect too the time is coming when     
there will no longer be one standard of 
morality for poetry and another for     
life4 ,even the poet of ,sakuntala calls
 that love the most beautiful which     
gives itself freely in the 8,gandoarva  
marriage10 sanctified only by the       
fulness of emotion4 ,but even then the  
danger was recognised of    444 unknown 
heart closing against unknown heart4    
,even then it was uneasiness about the  
fate of the child which coupled         
responsibility to society with love's   
freedom4  ,the new moral consciousness  
is thus an old thing4 ,but it must      
nevertheless be called new1 since it is 
only beginning to be wide-spread4 ,it is
 becoming plain to more and more people 
that a man or woman--whether married or 
free--does wrong to the nobility of self
 by giving himself or herself to one who
 is at heart a stranger2 it is more and 
more becoming intuitively felt that it  

is the sense of home in another soul    
which gives devotion its sanctity4  ,the
 suitor who--dressed for the            
occasion--went first to the father to   
declare his feelings for the daughter is
 already such an old-fashioned type that
 it is past ridicule4 ,the brilliant    
wedding festival will soon come to be   
regarded as ridiculous1 then unbecoming1
 and finally immoral4 ,and--like other  
survivals of the time when marriage was 
the affair of the family--it has already
 begun to disappear1 in the same degree 
as love has developed4 ,lovers are less 
and less inclined to tolerate a spying  
upon their finest feelings2 they are    
increasingly anxious to rescue these    
from the prying fingers of society1 of  
family1 and of friends4 ,more and more  
is love venerated as part of nature's   
mysticism1 whose course no outsider can 
determine1 whose sensitive              
manifestations and uncertain            
possibilities no one may disturb1 a     
mysticism within whose sphere a fixed   

timetable would be out of place4  ,how  
can ,love1 one of the great lords of    
life1 take its freedom from the hands of
 society any more than ,death1 the      
other1 can do so8 8,love and ,death1    
which meet like the two sides of a      
mountain-ridge1 whose highest points are
 ever where they come together0 7,g4    
,rodenbach72 ,love and ,death1          
which--one with the wings of the dawn1  
the other with those of the night       
sky--overshadow the portals between     
earthly life and the two great          
darknesses which enclose it--only these 
two powers are comparable in majesty4   
,but while there is only one death1     
there are many sorts of love4 ,death    
never plays4 ,when all love becomes     
equally serious1 it will also possess   
death's right to choose its own time4   
,in the springtime of love1 parents can 
be of significance to their children    
only when they feel reverence for the   
marvel which is accomplished in their   
presence4 ,but it seldom happens that   

parents have previously been so         
sensitive that their children then treat
 them as perfect friends4 ,the period of
 youth is commonly full of strife1 which
 is brought about partly by the parents'
 desire of remodelling their children   
according to their own ideas--against   
which children are only now venturing to
 defend themselves1--partly by the      
children's desire to assert their own   
ideals1 which are always different from 
those of the parents1 for otherwise 8the
 new generation would own no title to   
exist0 7,g4 ,brandes74 ,parents might   
save for themselves and for their       
children endless suffering1 if they     
understood from the beginning that      
children are significant exclusively as 
new personalities1 with new gods and new
 aims2 with the right to protect their  
own nature1 with the duty of finding out
 new paths1 without forfeiting the right
 of being respected by their parents in 
the same degree as the latter on their  
side retain the right of being venerated

 by their children--for the best of what
 they are or have been1 what they will  
or have willed4 ,the only right that    
parents ought never to renounce in      
dealing with their grown-up children is 
that of giving to them the benefit of   
their own experience4 ,but in so doing  
they must remember what a poor loving   
heart forgets easiest of all3 that not  
even their own most bitter experience   
will be able to save their children from
 making sad discoveries for themselves4 
,they will probably avoid their parents'
 mistakes1 but only to make others of   
their own6 ,the only real power a father
 or mother possesses over the child's   
fate--but indeed this is an immense     
one--is to fill the home with his or her
 strong and beautiful personality2 with 
love and joy1 with work and culture2 and
 thus to make the atmosphere so rich and
 so pure that the children may calmly   
delay their choice and have a high      
standard to choose by4  ,but if parents 
see that in spite of this their children

 are tempted to confuse accident with   
destiny1 then they are called upon to   
show an almost godlike wisdom in order  
to divert the danger4 ,in most cases1   
parents consciously or unconsciously    
play into the hands of the accidental1  
while they raise obstacles against what 
is predestined4 ,their warnings are not 
directed against what is silent and has 
nothing to give2 no1 they advance mean  
and paltry reasons which the young      
oppose with all that is best in their   
nature4 ,thus they silence their own    
uneasy intuitions1 which their parents  
might have induced them to follow if    
they themselves had had a clearer       
perception of what was essential4  ,even
 in homes where there is most affection1
 the children1 in their stormy period of
 springtime1 are as riddles which their 
parents often try in vain to solve4 ,a  
young soul never suffers so much as     
during the solution of its own riddle4  
,but only such a father or mother as has
 succeeded in becoming renewed and      

rejuvenated through his or her children 
will be able to help them in the        
solution4 ,otherwise the result will    
only be that the parents on their side  
will bring stones to the wall which the 
children on theirs are building ever    
higher4  ,even parents who have not     
grown into crabbed working-machines2 who
 do not use their authority because they
 have the means of power1 but only      
because they possess spiritual          
superiority2 who in their home let their
 children have not only freedom for     
gladness but also the joy of freedom1   
will nevertheless many a time fall short
 in the endeavour to render their       
superiority serviceable to the children1
 or by their broad-mindedness to        
liberate them from the one-sidedness of 
youth4 ,and in that case they must give 
up the struggle2 for it will not improve
 the difficulties of the present1 but   
only destroy future chances of          
understanding4  ,in the three greatest  
decisions to be taken in life--those of 

the fundamental view of life1 of one's  
life work1 and of love--each soul must  
be its own counsel4 ,in these matters1  
parents must restrict their authority to
 saving their children from vital       
dangers2 but they must also be able to  
discover such dangers1 and to           
differentiate profound from superficial 
needs1 the high-road from the by-road4  
,if their parents are not capable of    
this1 then the children must perform    
their duty to themselves and to life1   
by--sooner or later--going their own    
way4  ,if1 like a young couple in a     
similar case1 the children can 8smile   
and be silent10 while showing their     
seriousness in their actions1 then they 
will probably be capable of educating   
their parents4 ,in that case1 it will   
frequently be apparent that the heart of
 a father or mother was stronger1 their 
soul greater than either child or       
parents had believed before the test was
 made4 ,if1 on the other hand1 it should
 prove that the faults and prejudices of

 the parents were the sole cause of the 
conflict1 then these faults and         
prejudices are not entitled to any more 
respect because they are those of a     
father or mother4  ,but even if it      
should be the case that the parents have
 no souls capable of profound feeling1  
but only hearts which can bleed--it is  
nevertheless the duty of the child      
towards itself1 and towards past and    
future generations1 to give to its own  
nature the highest possible perfection  
through love4 ,parents are only a link  
in the infinite chain of the race3 it is
 the blood of hundreds of thousands that
 the parents have transmitted to their  
children1 who now in their turn are to  
pass it on4 ,children have higher duties
 towards all these dead and unborn      
beings than they have towards the single
 couple who became their father and     
mother4 ,it behooves the young to let   
all these dead ones live again as fully 
as possible through the development of  
their own being and in the blood of     

their children4 ,a human being may owe a
 greater debt of gratitude for his own  
nature to his grandmother's heart or to 
his grandfather's imagination than to   
his own narrow-hearted mother or        
unintelligent father4 ,so far is it from
 being an invariable duty to bring joy  
to the parents1 that it may be one's    
duty to bring them sorrow--in order to  
bring joy to one's successors4 ,it is a 
good thing to honour one's father and   
mother2 but the commandment which ,moses
 forgot is more important still3 to     
honour one's son and daughter even      
before they are born4  ,when the sense  
of the dead and of the unborn becomes a 
conscious motive of human action1       
through being a force in human emotion1 
then the claim of the parents to decide 
their children's life--as well as the   
claim of the latter to decide that of   
their parents--will gradually fall to   
pieces before the majesty of the past   
and of the future4   ,it results from   
the foregoing that any doctrine of      

morality is of little worth which does  
not involve the need of providing the   
means of marriage for healthy persons   
between the ages of twenty and thirty2 a
 possibility which was possessed without
 exception by the ,germanic ancestors   
whose example of abstinence is now      
appealed to4  ,so long as increasingly  
difficult examinations1 the scale of pay
 in government departments1 the division
 of profits in business1 and the general
 rate of living1 stand in the way of    
young people's chances of marriage1     
things will remain as they are1 in spite
 of an increasing minority of men who1  
for their own personality's sake or for 
that of their love1 maintain abstinence 
until marriage or remain celibate4  ,the
 abolition of this sacrifice to the     
state of society and civilisation is a  
matter of sufficient importance to the  
individual1 but of infinitely greater   
importance to society1 whose forces are 
now being wasted by the effects of      
immorality and checked by those of      

morality3 society1 whose strength       
depends to such a great degree upon     
young and healthy parents for the new   
generation4  ,even under actual         
conditions1 the chances of marriage for 
young people might be increased by a    
judicious realisation of the 8own home0 
idea in country districts2 by a         
shortening of the university course2 by 
the raising of salaries in the lower    
ratings 7they appear at present to be   
calculated upon the satisfaction of     
sexual needs through prostitution72 by  
the granting of pensions at an earlier  
age1 so that the higher rates of pay may
 be reached in middle age--when the     
burden of educating children is         
heaviest2--and by increased exemption   
from taxation for men and women who have
 to provide for a family4  ,in addition1
 a thorough change in social pretensions
 and habits of life is necessary1 above 
all in the large towns1 where building  
societies for the erection of small     
flats with common kitchen1 offices for  

providing domestic help1 paid by the    
hour1 and co-operative societies for the
 cheaper supply of the necessaries of   
life1 might considerably assist young   
people in establishing their homes4 ,it 
is1 however1 not only this1 but also    
communal employment that must be        
promoted1 if men of about twenty-five   
are to be ready to enter upon their     
various occupations and--after          
thirty-five years in the service of the 
,state--to be entitled to their         
pensions1 but at the same time under the
 obligation to retire1 except in the    
rare cases where special talent renders 
a person indispensable in some leading  
position4 ,the experience a man has     
gained1 and the strength that is left to
 him1 would find full employment in     
other social affairs or in personal     
interests4  ,it is not against immoral  
literature1 but against the ,treasury1  
the ,budget ,committee and against      
private employers of labour that moral  
reformers should draw up their          

resolutions4 ,so long as a business man 
is able to make two or three millions a 
year net profit while of those employed 
in his office scarcely two or three are 
so paid that they can think of marriage 
before the age of thirty2 so long as the
 head of a government department can    
reply1 to the application of a class of 
officials for an increase of salary in  
order to facilitate marriage1 by a      
gracious promise of more frequent leave 
to go to town2 or an employer refuse a  
female employee's demand for a raise of 
salary with a gallant reference to the  
ease with which-- with her advantages of
 appearance--she might increase her     
income2 so long will the marriage       
question remain unsolved4   ,all        
preaching of morality to youth which    
does not at the same time condemn the   
state of society that favours           
immorality1 but makes the realisation of
 youthful love an impossibility1 is more
 than stupidity1 it is a crime4  ,so    
long as the present low rates of pay and

 uncertain conditions of employment     
continue1 the blood of men will continue
 more and more to be corrupted1 and that
 of women to be impoverished1 while     
waiting for the marriage which might    
have given to society excellent children
 born of healthy and happy parents4 ,so 
long as societies thus fatuously        
sacrifice their highest values will     
every other kind of social reform be    
nothing but a work of ,penelope1 of     
which the night will undo what the day  
has done4     ,,chapter ,,iv  ,,love',s 
,,selection   ,in the foregoing chapter 
it was insisted that love's freedom in  
the procreation of new life must have a 
downward limit1 in that this freedom can
 only be allowed to those who have      
attained the age of sexual maturity4    
,but it ought also to have an upward    
limit1 since a great difference in age  
between father and mother--like the     
advanced age of one of them--offers     
unfavourable conditions for the health1 
strength1 and upbringing of the         

children4 ,and as1 for reasons given in 
the last chapter1 the lawful age of     
marriage for both sexes must be put at  
twenty-one1 a difference in age of      
twenty-five years should be the highest 
the law ought to allow in one or the    
other case4  ,no one who sees the       
meaning of life in its advance towards  
higher forms would dispute nowadays the 
obvious duty of not transmitting serious
 diseases the hereditariness of which is
 already ascertained by science4 ,but as
 this has only been ascertained in a few
 cases1 legal hindrances as regards the 
many doubtful cases would be not only   
a--perhaps meaningless--interference    
with the life of the individual1 but    
also an unfavourable circumstance for   
continued research in the most important
 branch of biology4  ,what ought to be  
insisted upon even now is that each     
party before marriage should possess    
full knowledge of its possible dangers1 
but that the choice should thereupon be 
left to their own sense of              

responsibility4 ,no one--at least not   
yet--can ask the individual to sacrifice
 his happiness for contested            
possibilities2 but in the interests of  
the individual1 as of that of the race1 
we can1 on the other hand1 demand that  
no one shall make his choice in love in 
ignorance4 ,and the more the sense of   
racial community approaches its         
renaissance under the influence of      
evolutionism1 the more natural will all 
safeguards appear with which that choice
 may be surrounded to the advantage of  
posterity4 ,even now it is considered   
quite natural that a medical examination
 should precede life insurance4 ,in the 
future it may be equally obvious that   
before marriage the woman should        
ascertain from a female doctor and the  
man from a male doctor whether they are 
capable of fulfilling their duty to the 
race4 ,and it is not only a question of 
insuring the new lives1 but also of     
assuring the couple themselves that they
 have no organic defects which in some  

instances might make marriage           
impossible1 which in others are easily  
avoidable1 but ignorance regarding which
 would in each case entail unnecessary  
suffering4  ,in most cases it is the    
anxiety of one's self contracting or    
transmitting diseases to the other party
 and to the children that the physician 
has to confirm or dispel4 ,it is beyond 
all question that healthy selfishness1  
which desires to preserve its own       
individuality1 as well as the growing   
appreciation of a worthy offspring1 will
 then hinder many an unsuitable         
marriage4 ,in other cases love might    
triumph over these considerations for   
its own part1 the married couple        
abstaining1 however1 from parentage4 ,in
 those cases1 again1 where the law would
 definitely forbid marriage1 this would 
doubtless be no hindrance to diseased   
people having offspring outside wedlock4
 ,but the same is true1 of course1 of   
all legal enactments3 the best people do
 not require them1 the worst do not obey

 them1 but through them the ideas of    
justice of the majority are cultivated4 
,only those who are ignorant of the laws
 of psychological transformation doubt  
the possibility of the simultaneous     
enhancement of the feeling of love and  
the racial sense4 ,century after century
 the emotion of love has been growing1  
while at the same time men have         
nevertheless sacrificed it to religious 
prejudices1 superficial ideas of duty1  
tyrannical parental authority1 and empty
 forms4 ,now1 when the sacrifice is     
called for on behalf of the highest of  
possible gains--the conquest of disease 
by health1 the ennobling of the human   
body itself--now1 of all times1 it is   
asserted that mankind would be incapable
 of this sacrifice--because in the      
course of time the power of love has    
increased4  ,on the contrary1 it is     
through the greatness of their feeling  
for each other that two married people  
can bear the loss of children1          
when--knowing that neither of them thus 

deprives the race of a material         
asset--they enter upon their union with 
the resolve not to become parents4      
,through the same greatness in their    
love1 the party on whose side the danger
 lies may gain strength to sacrifice    
individual happiness in order that the  
other may gain a happiness more         
significant to himself and to the race  
with some one else4 ,such sacrifices    
occur even now more frequently than is  
supposed4  ,but above all it is the     
extension of the instinct of love       
through the racial sense which will     
secure the ennobling of the race without
 sacrificing individual happiness4  ,the
 point of view of racial ennobling found
 expression even in the ,mosaic marriage
 law4 ,in ancient ,greece also this     
ennobling was a conscious factor4 ,but  
,christianity's insistence on the       
importance of the individual and of     
humanity weakened the feeling of the    
individual for the race1 as did likewise
 the doctrine of souls supplied to the  

bodies from heaven and returning        
thither4 ,it was only through the       
enhancement of man's spiritual force1 by
 the mortification of his sinful body1  
that ,christianity raised the quality of
 the race4 ,the doctrine of hereditary  
sin was its only--half-rational and     
half-irrational--insistence on our      
connection with our ancestors4 ,since   
,christianity regarded the human species
 as once for all determined by          
,god--though bungled by                 
,adam--restoration1 not new creation1   
was1 as already stated1 its fundamental 
idea4 ,in the very conditions of the    
renewal of life ,christianity saw the   
root and origin of sin in the world4    
,this way of viewing things must be     
entirely overcome2 and fortunately the  
church has of necessity lost--and will  
continue to lose--in every conflict with
 love4 ,but in this way the advance     
takes place by a turning-aside from the 
direct line of development3 the         
enhancement of the race4 ,at the present

 time many symptoms show that love and  
the racial sense are beginning to       
approach one another4  ,whenever        
abstract1 logical thought confronts real
 life with a problem that admits of only
 two solutions1 the latter asserts its  
proud determination not to allow itself 
to be confined within definitions or    
ruled by deductions4 ,life is movement1 
movement implies variability1           
transformation1 in other words1         
development in an upward or downward    
direction4 ,never will the upward curve 
assume a more pronounced elevation than 
when the desire of procreation has      
reached the point at which it is        
directed by the selection of personal   
love1 this selection again being        
directed by a clear-sighted instinct    
tending to the ennobling of the race4   
,that the choice of personal love at    
present appears often either to lack or 
to oppose this instinct1 is no proof    
that it will always lack or oppose it4  
,love's selection has already in certain

 cases--such as those of near           
blood-relations1 different races1 and   
certain diseases--become an instinct1   
since law and custom have influenced    
selection sufficiently long for this to 
have influenced feeling and instinct4   
,at the present time brother and        
sister--since they are aware of their   
relationship--seldom have to suppress a 
mutual erotic feeling1 as such a thing  
does not arise4 ,no prohibition1 but    
only all the impulses of her blood1     
hinder the ,american woman from marrying
 a negro or a ,chinese4 ,the woman who  
is known to have epilepsy is excluded   
from marriage less by the law1 in this  
case easily circumvented1 than by the   
fact that no man wants her as his wife4 
,on the other hand1 it is known that    
under conditions favourable to the      
cultivation of the beauty and strength  
of the human body1 this has in a great  
degree influenced the erotic selection  
of either sex--so far as they otherwise 
possessed freedom of choice4 ,the law of

 inheritance1 which makes it easy for   
the degenerate to contract marriage1 and
 women's need of maintenance have1 on   
the other hand1 falsified the instinct  
of the latter in this direction4 ,the   
prevailing customs and ideas of morality
 have as a rule deprived future mothers 
of their full freedom of choice and thus
 to a great extent neutralised the      
importance of womanly love's selection  
for the spiritual and bodily improvement
 of the race4 ,to this must be added    
that the ,christian doctrine of         
fraternity1 the eighteenth-century      
doctrine of equality1 the transference  
of economical power to the third        
estate--in a word1 the whole            
democratisation of society--have broken 
down the laws and customs which         
prevented the mixing of blood between   
different classes and races4 ,this has  
certainly favoured the selection of     
personal love1 but at the same time1 to 
a greater extent than formerly1 it has  
favoured a selection governed by        

pecuniary considerations4 ,in the       
marriages which were formerly a matter  
of family arrangement1 many other       
advantages1 besides those of money1 were
 taken into consideration4 ,but in this 
case also1 as in that of the marriage of
 near relations1 it was less and less a 
clear-sighted solicitude to preserve    
noble blood1 more and more an empty     
pride of birth1 a narrow race-prejudice1
 that raised obstacles to marriage4 ,it 
was thus necessary for love's selection 
to conquer these obstructions1 which in 
addition1 even from the point of view of
 racial enhancement1 were often of      
doubtful value4 ,but all the more must  
we deplore the influence of money in    
determining matrimonial selection1 above
 all when this influence makes itself   
felt at the cost of the inclination     
which love shows1 in spite of           
everything1 of making its choice by     
preference among equals2 an inclination 
which--besides other easily explicable  
causes-- may also imply an instinct     

developed in the course of generations1 
tending to the preservation of the best 
peculiarities in a class or a race4     
,since ,christianity and the            
civilisation influenced by it modestly  
veiled the natural mission of love and  
obscured it by transcendentalism1       
mankind began to be ashamed even of     
self-examination or self-confession in  
this relation4 ,we ought again to pay   
attention to family history1 though not 
to such as used to be recorded in old   
family ,bibles1 with the dates of birth1
 marriage1 and death1 but such a history
 as should include the circumstances    
which determined birth and death4 ,we   
must resume the casting of horoscopes1  
but not so much according to the signs  
in the heavens--although perhaps these  
will regain something of their former   
importance--as according to those on    
earth2 and not only from the signs at   
birth but from those long previous to   
it4 ,just as alchemy became chemistry   
and astrology led to astronomy1 it is   

possible that such a reading of signs   
might prepare the way for what we may   
call--while waiting for a word of more  
extended meaning than ,galton's eugenics
 or ,haeckel's ontogony--erotoplastics3 
the doctrine of love as a consciously   
formative art1 instead of a blind       
instinct of procreation4 ,it would be of
 infinitely greater significance for    
humanity if the majority of the women1  
who now translate their experiences into
 half-candid and wholly inartistic      
fiction1 were to write down for the     
benefit of science entirely true family 
chronicles and perfectly frank          
confessions4  ,it is certain even now   
that the customs and ways of thought1   
the artistic and emotional tendencies1  
which make up the atmosphere of love1   
unconsciously operate upon its selection
 to the advantage of the race4 ,this    
also involves the possibility of such   
influence becoming conscious1 when once 
it is clearly seen in what direction it 
ought to go1 which are the spiritual and

 bodily properties that it is desired to
 eradicate or to enhance1 and by what   
means the properties of the new         
generation may depend upon the choice of
 parents4 ,but above all1 racial        
considerations will operate indirectly  
in the same direction1 so that love will
 be less and less likely to arise under 
conditions unfavourable to the race4    
,man is not inwardly a logical creature3
 les entrailles ne raisonnent pas1 elles
 ne sont pas faites pour a 7,george     
,sand74 ,but by degrees our nature      
becomes unconsciously transformed       
through reciprocal influences3 the body 
together with the soul1 the soul        
together with the body2 the desires     
through the thoughts1 the thoughts      
through the desires4 ,it is true that   
love's selection will always remain a   
mystery--from this among many other     
causes1 equally or more important4 ,but 
the individual and universal qualities  
which in the main act as an attraction  
will gradually be more clearly          

perceived1 more sought after by both    
sexes1 and will have more weight in     
determining their choice4  ,we have     
already seen that a displacement of     
motives1 a division of motive power1 has
 during a certain period altered the    
character of love4 ,thus1 as pointed out
 above1 the influence of the spirit of  
the age was able during the age of      
chivalry1 and again during the          
eighteenth century1 to separate love    
both from marriage and from the mission 
of the race4 ,by the same psychic       
process a new spirit of the age--full of
 the aspirations of evolution and       
determined by the religion of life--may 
restore this connection and make it     
closer than ever before4 ,then will     
mankind look for a new ,blake to glorify
 the feeling of devotion which fills    
hearts and souls at the coinciding      
selection of personal love and of the   
racial sense1 a coincidence which alone 
gives the certainty that    ,i am for   
you1 and you are for me1   ,not only for

 our own sake1 but for others' sakes1   
,envelop'd in you deep greater heroes   
and bards1   ,they refuse to awake at   
the touch of any man but me4#c          
,religion1 poetry1 art1 and social      
custom have collaborated to elevate the 
racial feeling into love4 ,they ought   
now to collaborate again to make the    
racial feeling conscious in love4 ,the  
altars that the ancients raised to the  
divinities of procreation must be       
rebuilt4 ,not for men and women to      
assemble around them in frenzied orgies1
 in the red glow of sunset1 but in the  
golden light of the morning and the joy 
of creative day4  ,family feeling1      
ancestor-worship1 pride of pure blood   
will regain1 in a new sense1 their      
decisive power over emotions and        
actions4  ,thus will love's freedom be  
limited--but not through idealistic     
philosophy's abstract conceptions of    
citizenship and duty1 nor yet through   
the hard-and-fast breeding rules of a   
,spartan evolutionism4  ,freedom for    

love's selection1 under conditions      
favourable to the race2 limitation of   
the freedom1 not of love1 but of        
procreation1 when the conditions are    
unfavourable to the race--this is the   
line of life4  ,love1 like every other  
emotion1 has its ebb and flow4 ,thus1   
even in the greatest souls1 it is not   
always at the same height4 ,but the     
greater the soul that the wave of erotic
 emotion inundates1 the more surely does
 this wave quiver at its highest with   
the longing of eternity4 ,the child is  
the only true answer to this longing4   
,this does not mean that lovers in the  
moments of rapture divide their         
consciousness between the present and   
the future1 between their own bliss and 
the possible child4 ,the life of the    
soul does not work so awkwardly as this4
 ,but the conscious conditions of the   
soul are determined by emotions--reduced
 for the moment to unconsciousness2 and 
motives1 which are forgotten in the hour
 of fulfilment1 have not therefore been 

less decisive4 ,the athlete in the      
moment of victory does not remember the 
training which preceded his race1 but it
 was nevertheless that which decided the
 fate of that moment4 ,the artist in the
 hour of creation does not remember the 
toil of his student years1 but that     
nevertheless determines the perfection  
of his creation4 ,the will to ennoble   
the race need not be conscious in a pair
 of lovers1 who in each other forget    
time and existence1 but without the     
emotions1 which1 consciously or         
unconsciously1 have been influenced by  
that will1 they would not be united in  
an ecstasy of the soul and the senses4  
,young men are becoming increasingly    
conscious that the thought of the child 
influenced them in their choice of love2
 women are increasingly aware that never
 was their longing for a child stronger 
than in the embrace of the man to whom  
they have been attracted by a great     
love4 ,more and more often do mothers   
search the features and souls of their  

children for evidence of their love4    
,more and more often does one hear the  
unmarried woman confess the hungry      
longing for motherhood1 which a few     
decades ago she concealed as a shame4   
,every awakened soul perceives that the 
consciousness of the time comprehends   
the mission of the race with a new      
intensity1 although centuries must pass 
before it can be proved what influence  
love's free selection has had upon the  
production of beings above the present  
standard of humanity4  ,even from       
believers in the religion of life       
warnings are still heard against the    
love which is a matter of personal      
choice1 which excludes all else1 and    
which dissolves all former ties4        
,evolutionists thus admit that this     
emotion certainly produces in the       
individual the highest possible         
development of force1 the fullest       
richness of life1 and that this         
indirectly and in many ways is to the   
good of the whole4 ,but at the same time

 they assert that love itself often     
consumes these enhanced powers2 that it 
ought therefore only to occupy a brief  
period of human life and should not be  
allowed any decisive importance in      
shaping the course of life1 since this  
would be to the detriment of the new    
generation4 ,their special objection to 
love is1 that just as monastic life and 
the celibacy of the clergy during the   
,middle ,ages and down to the present   
day have deprived the race of excellent 
qualities--since the most gifted often  
choose the calm of the cloister or the  
call of the priesthood--so now many of  
the best men and women are kept from    
marriage by the dream or by the loss of 
a great love's happiness4  ,finally1    
from the point of view of evolutionary  
ethics1 not only the desire of great    
love1 excluding all else1 but monogamy  
itself has been attacked4 ,this purely  
scientific line of thought has at       
present no conscious part in the        
utterances of what is called the 8new   

immorality10 all the less as the        
scientific reasoning lays stress upon   
the point that if mankind is to abandon 
monogamy1 which has possessed such      
enormous advantages1 then this must be  
done with a conscious purpose1 to       
further the development of the whole    
race1 not the passions of individuals4  
,but if this evolutionistic reasoning be
 conceded1 then it will result in a     
transformation of society's view of     
love's freedom of choice1 both in the   
direction of extension and of           
limitation4 ,much of what is now called 
the 8new immorality0 may then appear as 
the unconscious self-protection of the  
race against a degeneration forced upon 
it by the customs and arrangements of   
society4   ,against the future claims of
 evolutionism1 however1 the conviction  
asserts itself that personal love1 the  
great creation of culture1 will not     
disappear2 and thereby the danger of    
polygamy is removed4 ,it must therefore 
continue to be love's selection which   

will occasion the ethical 8adulteries0  
just alluded to1 but it will be a love  
determined by the point of view of the  
ennobling of the race4 ,at present the  
claims of evolution in this respect have
 scarcely begun to be perceived1 still  
less have they succeeded in exercising a
 transforming influence on moral        
opinion1 which will perhaps one day     
apply in this connection ,plato's       
saying3 that what is useful is fit1 and 
what is hurtful is shameful4 ,where good
 reasons exist for not outwardly        
dissolving the marriage1 the right may  
perhaps be admitted which even now a man
 or woman has here and there            
appropriated3 that of becoming a father 
by another woman1 or a mother by another
 man1 since they themselves have a      
passionate longing for a child and are  
eminently suited for parentage1 but have
 been deprived of its joys because the  
wife or husband has been wanting in     
these possibilities4  ,even now people  
begin to perceive the psychological     

justification of the oft-repeated       
experience that a man--sometimes also a 
woman--can at the same time and in a    
different way love more than one1 since 
the great love1 the love which is one   
and indivisible and pervades their whole
 being for ever1 has not been given to  
them4 ,even now such conflicts are      
solved in a new way--there are examples 
of it known throughout ,europe--not as  
,luther solved it for ,philip of ,hesse1
 who kept the wife that had just borne  
him a ninth child1 while secretly       
wedding a new one1 but as ,goethe first 
intended to bring about the solution in 
,stella3 that the wife1 without any open
 rupture1 should step aside2 that the   
devotion1 the tenderness of memories1   
which united her and her husband1 should
 still render possible their meeting now
 and then as friends1 in a common care  
for their children1 although the husband
 had contracted a new matrimonial       
relation to another woman4  ,from the   
children's point of view such a solution

 may come to be looked upon in the      
future as more desirable--and more      
worthy of respect--than it seems now4   
,the new sexual morality--where the     
light1 as in ,correggio's ,night1 will  
radiate from the child--may1 however1   
continue to uphold single love as the   
ideal for the highest happiness and     
development both of the lovers and of   
the children4 ,it has already been      
contended that this is the direction in 
which the evolution of love is moving4  
,but we must likewise admit--and always 
for the well-being of the race as well  
as of the individual--that love may take
 lower as well as higher forms without  
our being obliged to regard the former  
as immoral4 ,when the point of view of  
the ennobling of the race has penetrated
 the ethical ideas of mankind1 the      
following may be described as immoral1  
with a force at present unsuspected3    
,all parentage without love2  ,all      
irresponsible parentage2  ,all parentage
 of immature or degenerate persons2     

,all voluntary sterility of married     
people fitted for the mission of the    
race2 and finally  ,all such            
manifestations of sexual life as involve
 violence or seduction1 and entail      
unwillingness or incapacity to fulfil   
the mission of the race4  ,but1 on the  
other hand1 society will admit1 with a  
freedom wholly different from that now  
existing1 the union of people1 not only 
in their best years1 but also in their  
best feelings2 it will perceive the     
present hindrances to be an injustice   
which falls not only upon the           
individuals but upon society            
itself--since connubial unhappiness not 
only interferes with the highest        
development of many people's powers for 
the good of all1 but it also deprives   
society of the children to whom life    
might have been given by a new          
happiness4  ,it is through its view of  
the social importance of love's         
selection that the new morality will be 
a transforming force4  ,that a pioneer  

of reform who puts his ideas into       
practice may be a dangerous example is  
certain4 ,it is possible to be fully    
convinced of the future of1 for         
instance1 the art of flying1 without    
therefore denying the dangers of        
experiment or encouraging people to jump
 off church-towers with nothing but a   
pair of goose-wings on their shoulders4 
,no thorough reshaping of emotions and  
customs takes place according to dogmas 
and programmes2 this one least of all4  
,but no other motive power exists which 
will finally induce all--the small and  
the great1 the weak and the strong-- to 
follow the line of development1 except  
the increased freedom of choice of      
personal love1 with a correspondingly   
increased certainty as regards the      
influence of that choice upon the       
welfare of the race4 ,for unless love   
continued to be the condition of        
morality1 the cause of selection1 the   
new humanity would gradually lose       
advantages already gained4 ,neither the 

8breeding institute0 nor 8freedom of    
pairing0 is capable of enhancing the    
spiritual and bodily resources of       
mankind in a universal1 permanent1 and  
organic way4 ,love alone can do this4   
,it is true that it has yet to be proved
 that love--other conditions being      
equal--produces the best children4 ,but 
this will one day be proved4  ,this     
knowledge is for the present only       
intuition4 ,but so are all truths in the
 beginning4 ,moreover1 possibilities of 
indirect proof are not wanting even now4
 ,first and foremost this1 that love has
 not its origin in human life1 and is   
not a product of civilisation1 but shows
 itself already in the animal world4    
,among animals it is capable of         
resulting in death from sorrow at the   
loss of a mate1 as also in other        
emotional phenomena of human life4 ,it  
may even lead to monogamy1 although with
 animals as with human beings monogamy  
is neither a necessary result of love   
nor an indispensable condition of       

development4 ,for many of the higher    
species of animals are polygamous1 while
 others1 below them in the scale1 are   
monogamous4 ,if love did not involve any
 great advantage1 it might doubtless    
have arisen1 but would not have         
persisted1 in the face of the hindrances
 which its personal selection appears to
 put in the way of the maintenance of   
the race4 ,mankind has thus already     
brought the emotion of love from its    
primitive animal stem and grafted it    
upon the tree of civilisation4 ,it has  
gradually been ennobled and exalted into
 one of the highest powers of human     
life4 ,and how would this growing       
importance of love be possible1 if it   
enhanced only the happiness of the      
individual1 and not also the life of the
 race8  ,the evolution of human love has
 shown itself partly in an increasingly 
definite individualisation in selection1
 partly in a more complete admission and
 enhancement of individual qualities4   
,in other words3 personal               

characteristics have tended more and    
more to inspire love1 and love has more 
and more developed personal             
characteristics4 ,this again--as already
 admitted--has resulted in more and more
 individuals failing to perform their   
duty to the race1 either because their  
feeling1 although reciprocated1 could   
not lead to marriage1 or because the    
feeling in some respect or other has    
been disappointed4 ,this passionate     
selection of a single one among the many
 by whom--from an objective point of    
view--the duty to the race might equally
 well have been performed1 has thus in a
 sense become anti-social4  ,but such   
lives1 wasted as they are from the      
immediate point of view of the ennobling
 of the race1 have yet been able to     
serve the same end indirectly4 ,many of 
these persons1 childless in an ordinary 
sense1 have left immortal offspring4    
,others have shed upon the battle-field1
 in winning victories for humanity1 the 
blood which they never saw flowing in   

the fine network of veins on a child's  
temples4 ,by the greatness of their own 
ideals they have enlarged the hearts of 
their fellow-men2 and their courage has 
not had to sink before the possibility  
of their own failure to realise their   
ideals being cast in their teeth4 ,they 
have bought their prophetic power at the
 highest possible price3 that of never  
having had a happiness to lose2 and they
 bear without bitterness the poverty    
which has made them richer in faith4    
,that many lives--and worthy lives--are 
wasted through love is only one         
manifestation of life's impenetrable    
tendency to universal prodigality4 ,it  
is one with the great necessity1 whose  
hand smites and wounds us so long as we 
curse it1 but caresses and supports as  
soon as we bless it4  ,we must not look 
at the victims--even if we ourselves are
 among them--if we would see the meaning
 of life in life itself4 ,we must fix   
our eyes upwards4 ,and then it is       
certain--since love continually and in  

spite of all is extending its           
power--that individual love1 with all   
its victims and all its mistakes1       
nevertheless in the long run assists the
 elevation of the race4   ,the great    
,western prophet of pessimism argued    
that love was nothing but a task imposed
 in this fashion upon the individual by 
der ,genius der ,gattung2 that only     
contradictions attract one another and  
that the offspring inherits the         
complementary qualities that each has   
sought in the other4 ,these             
contradictions--through the hostility of
 which the parents afterwards make each 
other unhappy--coalesce and neutralise  
each other in the child1 so that the    
latter1 at the expense of its parents1  
becomes a well-equipped1 rich1 or       
harmonious personality4 ,carried to an  
extreme1 this saying of ,schopenhauer's1
 like many other such pregnant thoughts1
 becomes an absurdity4 ,but every one   
who has observed love must have         
found--long before he knows1 or without 

ever knowing1 that this experience is   
exalted into pessimism--that all        
powerful love arises between opposed    
natures4 ,the harmony that results from 
similarity is monotonous1 poor1 and     
moreover dangerous to the development of
 the individual1 as well as that of the 
race4 ,but what is contrary is certainly
 not always conflicting1 although it may
 prove so if the contrariness extends to
 views of life and its purpose1 its     
value and conduct4 ,conflicting natures 
are--in spite of ,schopenhauer--not     
unfrequently equally unfavourable for   
the child's disposition and for its     
bringing-up1 and the will of the race   
often fails of its purpose through their
 very compulsion to unite in a love     
which is soon turned to hatred4 ,again1 
contrary natures often become           
conflicting1 owing to their turning the 
wrong side of their qualities to each   
other after marriage1 while in the early
 period of love they had shown each     
other the right side of these qualities4

 ,that such a marriage is unhappy is no 
evidence against love's selection1 but a
 great one for mankind's lack of culture
 for marriage4 ,that every sympathetic  
dissimilarity between persons has a     
limit1 the overstepping of which leads  
further and further towards antipathetic
 dissimilarities1 is a psychological    
lesson which is deeply inculcated by    
marriage4  ,the more1 however1 the art  
of living is developed1 the more will   
human beings be able to minimise their  
own loss of happiness through this      
selection of love to the advantage of   
the race2 for married people will come  
more and more to delight in and preserve
 each other's differences2 to restrain  
the antipathetic contradictions in      
themselves2 to make more conscious use  
of the sympathetic dissimilarities in   
the other for the completion of their   
own one-sidedness2 to cease from the    
endeavour1 so hostile to happiness1 of  
reforming the other according to their  
own nature4 ,even now1 moreover1 the    

need of sympathy in love is so awakened1
 so sensitive1 that the blind passion   
aroused by external contradictions is   
less and less able to overmaster it4    
,the need of sympathy is now quickly    
warned when it encounters the           
irreconcilable contradictions which show
 that each is on a different plane of   
existence2 that each belongs to a       
different psychological period or       
continent or race4 ,this perception even
 now checks the development of love in  
many cases1 where the contradiction     
really is a conflicting incompatibility1
 and not the elective affinity          
determined by nature into which enter   
both primary dissimilarities and        
secondary similarities4 ,the latter     
results in the lovers' contradictions   
forming a rich harmony1 both in their   
own life together and in the            
personalities of their children4 ,when  
this attraction of contradictions has   
once missed its mark1 one still often   
sees that it is one and the same type   

that a person will love a second or     
third time1 or even oftener1 with a     
persistence of selection which makes it 
true in a way that the object of love   
has all the time been the same woman or 
man4  ,the relentless force of nature's 
uniting will shows itself not only in   
the way love brings together            
contradictions in marriage1 but also in 
the rupture of marriage4 ,a good wife1  
married to a good husband1 loving and   
loved1 is thus seized by a passion1     
incomprehensible to herself1 for another
 man4 ,without reflection she gives     
herself up to her passion1 to return    
again to the husband she has not ceased 
to love1 but who never inspired in her  
the overmastering emotion whose         
purpose--according to the will of nature
 and of the woman herself--ought to have
 been a child4 ,the same will of nature 
manifests itself in a number of         
phenomena1 incomprehensible to others4  
,an intellectual man or woman is seized 
by a passion for a person far inferior4 

,how often has not a 8good-looking      
fellow0 vanquished the most high-souled 
man in the affections of such a woman2  
how often have not thoughtless beauty   
and empty gaiety won from a superior man
 what the personality of an exceptional 
woman could not secure6 ,the whole      
secret was nature's will to             
counterbalance cerebral and nervous     
genius by healthy1 sensuous strength1 to
 the advantage of the race4 ,as sexual  
love has its origin in the fact that the
 sexual characters1 which biologically  
are favourable to the race1 are the most
 attractive1 this general attraction    
constantly operates side by side with   
the individual2 and it operates most    
strongly precisely in that kind of love 
which is rightly called 8blind passion10
 the kind which thus brings together to 
their misfortune conflicting            
contradictions4  ,but there is no reason
 to doubt that love's selection in this 
case will be able to retain its         
instinctive sureness1 although love is  

continually widening its instincts of   
psychical sympathy also4 ,the           
consequence of this is that the number  
of contradictions which may attract will
 become less1 but on the other hand the 
fewer possibilities will be more finely 
adapted2 that the selection among       
contradictions will thus become more and
 more difficult but at the same time    
more and more valuable4 ,love's         
selection now not infrequently has for  
its result that1 of two contradictions1 
irresistibly united by the affinity of  
souls1 one or both does not offer the   
best physical conditions for children4  
,but to make up for this the selection  
may turn out excellently for the        
enhancement of a particular disposition1
 the formation of a harmonious          
temperament1 or the fostering of a great
 spiritual quality4 ,it is not only by  
avoirdupois and yard-measure that the   
advance of the race must be tested4     
,such a race-enhancing selection may1   
for example1 take place through the     

tendency of young women of the present  
day to feel or retain love less and less
 for a man who is erotically divided1   
while1 on the other hand1 the men who   
have preserved unity in their love have 
more and more prospect of being         
attractive to women4 ,thus1 generation  
after generation1 erotic unity may      
become more and more natural with men1  
as in the same way it has become so with
 women4 ,man's desire for woman's purity
 has determined his choice1 and this    
choice has then through heredity further
 advanced the feelings of the next      
generation1 until these have become the 
strongest in his erotic instincts4 ,the 
clearest consciousness of the injustice 
of the different moral demands on man   
and woman2 the most 8liberal0 view of   
woman's right to the same freedom as    
man1 are in this case unable to vanquish
 his instincts4 ,when a man learns that 
the woman he loves has given herself to 
another before him1 or that he shares   
her with another1 his feeling often     

becomes diseased at its root3 the will  
of sole possession that has grown up in 
him through the love-selection of       
thousands of years1 and has now been    
further heightened by the desire for    
unity of individual love4  ,these       
indications may be enough to show the   
superficiality of the conclusions about 
love's selection which are confined     
exclusively to physical improvement1    
although naturally this also is of great
 value4 ,but that a pair of lovers can  
have a feeble-bodied child ought in     
itself to be no more used as evidence   
against love's selection than would be  
the physically excellent children of an 
unhappy couple4  ,even if the erotic    
attraction of dissimilarities is thus   
the strongest proof of the probability  
of love's influence from the point of   
view of the enhancement of the race1 it 
is nevertheless far from being the only 
one4 ,another is the astonishing excess 
of first-born or only children among    
distinguished personalities in different

 departments4 ,a third is the proverbial
 ability of so-called 8love-children40  
,a fourth1 the result1 often favourable 
to the disposition of the children1 of  
marriages between people of different   
nationalities4 ,in the first two cases  
we may suppose that the parents'        
happiness in love--or at least their    
sensual passion--was at the height of   
its freshness and strength at the       
conception of the child4 ,in the case of
 8love-children0 it is not unfrequently 
a healthy woman of the people who with  
genuine devotion encounters the sensual 
desire of a man intellectually her      
superior4 ,in the last case1 again1 it  
is usually a powerful love which has    
conquered the obstructions raised by    
patriotism and traditions against the   
attraction by means of which the        
national contradictions are to be       
blended in the child into a happy unity4
  ,observation in this connection is    
misled by innumerable side influences1  
counteractions1 and contradictions as   

yet unsolved4 ,so long as any wreck of  
humanity is allowed by 8the right of    
love0 to reproduce the species1 the     
lines of conclusion in this subject will
 continue to intersect one another in   
all directions4 ,not until cases arise  
where the conditions are comparable in  
every other respect1 shall we begin to  
approach an objective demonstration in  
the question of children's decreasing   
physico-psychical vitality when they are
 born in unwillingness or indifference1 
and1 on the other hand1 of their        
increasing vitality when they are born  
in love4 ,and it is not in the tender   
years of childhood1 but when they have  
lived their life1 that the question can 
first be finally answered4  ,that the   
development of children's inherited     
dispositions1 their childhood's         
happiness1 and the future tenor of their
 life are determined to a great extent  
by their being brought up in a home     
bright with happiness1 by parents who   
co-operate in sympathetic understanding1

 this need not be dwelt upon4 ,everyone 
knows how children from such homes have 
received the gift of a faith in life and
 a feeling of security1 a courage and a 
joy in life which no subsequent         
sufferings can wholly destroy4 ,they    
have laid up enough warmth of sunshine  
to prevent their being frozen through   
even in the most severe winter4 ,those1 
on the other hand1 who began with       
winter1 sometimes freeze even under the 
summer sun4   ,it is no more true with  
regard to love's selection than in any  
other respect that passion is opposed to
 duty otherwise than in the intermediary
 stage of development4 ,in the state of 
innocence there is no division1 since no
 other duty exists but blindly to follow
 instinct4 ,when development is         
completed and 8the second innocence0    
attained1 duty will be abolished1 since 
it will have become one with instinct4  
,it will then be seen that they were    
wrong who now think that--while ,god    
walked in ,paradise and founded         

marriage--the devil went about in the   
wilderness and instituted love4 ,dualism
 will be vanquished by monism when the  
circular course of development has      
brought the starting-point near to the  
goal2 when the natural instinct of the  
race meets the will to ennoble the race1
 born of culture2 when the golden ring  
from either side encircles the gem with 
the sacred sign of life3 the child4 ,but
 the treasure which is now regarded as  
the most precious1 monogamy1 is perhaps 
destined not to be encircled by the     
golden ring until after many new spiral 
turns4 ,it will be so when love's       
selection has finally made every man and
 woman well fitted to reproduce the     
race4 ,not till then can the desired    
ideal--one man for one woman1 one woman 
for one man--universally include the    
best vital conditions1 for the          
individual and for the race4 ,and when  
we have come so far1 the will of erotic 
choice may also be so delicately and    
firmly entwined with every fibre of the 

personality's physico-psychical         
material1 that a man will only be able  
to find1 win1 and keep a single woman1 a
 woman a single man4 ,then it may be    
that many human beings will experience  
through love's selection what is even   
now the fortune of a few3 the highest   
enhancement of their individual         
personality1 their highest form of life 
as members of the race1 and their       
highest perception of eternal life4     
,,chapter ,v  ,,the ,,right ,,of        
,,motherhood   ,everyone knows that the 
methods of production of modern society 
tend more and more to limit woman's     
domestic work to directing consumption1 
whereas at earlier stages she used also 
to produce a great part of the          
commodities consumed in the home4       
,everyone can see too that the most     
profoundly influential cause of the     
woman's movement has thus not been the  
assertion of woman's political-juridical
 rights as a human being1 but first and 
foremost the question of how she is to  

find employment for her powers of work  
which are no longer required in the     
home1 and be enabled to find that       
self-maintenance outside the home which 
the altered conditions of production    
have rendered necessary4  ,through the  
ever-increasing connection between the  
different parts of society1 woman's work
 has had profound influence in other    
quarters than those of the labour       
market4 ,competition between the sexes  
has produced--as regards manual         
labour--for men and women those lower   
conditions of labour which are the usual
 result of an overcrowding of the labour
 market1 namely1 low wages1 long hours1 
and uncertainty of employment4 ,the     
possibility of marriage has become      
dependent on the bread-winning labour of
 both husband and wife4 ,those married  
women who are partly maintained by their
 husbands1 have by their supplementary  
earnings reduced the wages of the       
self-supporting unmarried ones1 and when
 these in their turn are married1 they  

lack the desire and capacity to look    
after the home and waste through        
negligence more than they earn in the   
factory4 ,the consequence of the outside
 employment of wives--as of             
children--has furthermore been          
sterility1 a high infant mortality1 and 
the degeneration of the surviving       
children1 both physically and           
psychically2 a debased domestic life    
with its consequences3 discomfort1      
drunkenness1 and crime4  ,among the     
middle classes1 again1 the competition  
between the sexes has directly reduced  
man's chances of marriage1 and          
indirectly diminished the desire of both
 sexes to contract matrimony4  ,the     
apparently inevitable law that          
one-sidedness alone gives strength has  
made the champions of woman's rights    
left-handed in their treatment of all   
social questions connected with their   
8cause40 ,they have pressed forward     
woman's right to work1 while overlooking
 both the conditions and the effects of 

her work4 ,women1 actuated by the       
combined motive power of the spirit of  
the age and of necessity1 have looked   
for employment of any kind and at       
however low a wage4 ,among the middle   
classes1 the result has been that many  
girls1 who were in no need of supporting
 themselves entirely by work1 have      
depressed the conditions of labour for  
those women who needed it4 ,thus the    
latter are held down to a minimum which 
is dangerous alike to health and to     
morality4 ,girls living at home1 on the 
other hand1 have been able to satisfy   
their increased demands1 and this has   
made it still more difficult for a man  
to offer them acceptable conditions in  
marriage4  ,it has already been pointed 
out that the self-maintenance of women  
has had and still has a profound        
influence on love in marriage4 ,the     
,swedish poet ,almquist indicated this  
when he wrote that only the woman who   
8in glad activity can provide all that  
is necessary for her living0 makes it   

possible for the man to whom she gives  
herself 8to say rightly to himself1 ,i  
am loved40  ,but no one can calculate in
 advance how a new social force is going
 to work in every respect2 how even     
souls are changed with altered needs1 so
 that new demands and forces arise4 ,the
 erotic problem of the youth of the     
present day is one of the most          
illuminating pieces of evidence of this 
impossibility4  ,woman's competition    
with man in the field of labour has1 in 
fact1 occasioned a profound ill-feeling 
between the sexes4 ,women feel          
themselves--rightly or                  
wrongly--cheapened and underestimated1  
and men1 on the other hand1 consider    
themselves thrust aside1 when woman's   
lower demands of wages decide the       
competition in her favour4 ,but this is 
still the external side of the matter4  
,it is the new woman--the transformed   
type of soul--that man objects to4 ,the 
mannish emancipated ladies will soon1   
however1 have died out4 ,we can         

therefore pass them by and consider only
 the young women who have preserved or  
tried to preserve their possibilities of
 erotic attraction4  ,these have1       
however1 lost the calm1 the equilibrium1
 the receptivity1 which formerly made of
 woman a beautiful1 easily-comprehended 
piece of nature1 like nature in her     
unconditional yielding4 ,when a man came
 to the woman he loved with his worries1
 his fatigue1 his disappointments1 he   
washed himself clean as in a cool wave1 
found peace as in a silent forest4      
,nowadays she meets him with her        
worries1 her disquiet1 her fatigues1 her
 disappointments4 ,her picture has been 
refused1 her book is misunderstood1 her 
work is abused1 her examination has to  
be prepared for 444 always hers6 ,all   
this makes the man think her disturbed1 
unapproachable1 and apt to              
misunderstand4 ,even if she retains her 
affectionate attention for him1 she has 
lost her elasticity4 ,she does not      
choose the conditions of her work2 she  

is obliged to overwork herself if she   
wishes to keep her work4 ,but love--as  
has been aptly said--requires peace1    
love will dream2 it cannot live upon    
remnants of our time and our            
personality4 ,and thus the value of     
love--like all other personal           
values--sinks under modern conditions of
 work1 which drain the vital forces and 
make people forget even the meaning of  
the idea of living4 ,thus the people of 
the present day are excluded from love3 
not merely from the possibility of      
realising it in marriage1 but also from 
the possibility of fully experiencing   
it4  ,nor have these over-tired young   
women a chance of preserving their charm
 in outward appearance and manner4 ,this
 is only done nowadays in a conscious   
style by ladies of the highest          
society--and by those of the            
demi-monde--who perform no other duty to
 the community than the more elegant    
than worthy one of illustrating the     
parable of the lilies of the field4 ,but

 even now few women can afford--and     
fewer still feel that they have the     
right to or the leisure for--this       
worship of their own intoxicating and   
self-intoxicating loveliness4 ,more and 
more have to take part in a life of     
work2 while1 moreover1 women are        
becoming less attracted by the ideal of 
perfection of form1 and more by that of 
formation of personality4 ,but this     
movement involves uncertainty of form1  
until new forms have been created2 and  
man loves in woman precisely that       
sureness1 lightness1 and repose in her  
own sense of power which are generally  
wanting in the tentative young woman of 
the present day4 ,a new kind of young   
women is1 however1 already to be met    
with1 who will neither work nor charm   
exclusively1 and who are solving the    
problem of being at the same time active
 and beautiful4  ,thus the deepest      
conflict of all lies herein1 that young 
men feel young women to be independent  
of the love they offer2 they feel       

themselves weighed and--found wanting4  
,woman's capacity for making a living   
has thus undoubtedly resulted1 as       
,almquist hoped1 in giving man a greater
 chance of believing himself loved1 but 
at the same time--a smaller chance of   
being so4  ,we see two groups of the    
daughters of our time1 as new           
manifestations of woman's primitive     
double nature4  ,for one group the child
 is not the immediate end of love1 and  
still less can the child sanctify all   
the means for its attainment4 ,if such a
 woman has to choose between giving and 
inspiring a love as great as that of her
 dreams1 without motherhood1 and        
becoming a mother through a lesser love1
 then she will choose the former without
 hesitation4 ,and if she becomes a      
mother1 without having attained the full
 height of her being in love1 she feels 
it as a degradation2 for neither child  
nor marriage nor love are enough for    
her1 only great love satisfies her4     
,this is the most important step in     

advance that woman has taken since from 
the emotional sphere of the female      
animal she approached that of the human 
woman4 ,and--however great may be the   
sufferings that this attitude of the    
soul may involve for the individual--no 
one who sees sufficiently deeply can    
hesitate as to the certainty of this    
being the true line of life4  ,this1 on 
the other hand1 will not coincide with  
the path of those women who are now     
demanding liberty for motherhood1 not   
only without wedlock but also without   
love4  ,those who hoped that woman's    
independence through work would assure  
man's knowledge of being loved1 did not 
reckon for woman's dependence on man in 
and for the tenor of her life4 ,this    
dependence1 created by nature and not by
 society1 still drives many otherwise   
independent women into marriage without 
love2 and it drives other women1 who    
wish to preserve their independence by  
not contracting marriage1 to the desire 
of attaining a mother's happiness       

without it4 ,the new woman's will to    
live through herself1 with herself1 for 
herself1 reaches its limit when she     
begins to regard man merely as a means  
to the child4 ,woman could scarcely take
 a more complete revenge for having     
herself been treated for thousands of   
years as a means4  ,we must hope1       
however1 that woman's lust for vengeance
 will not long retain this form4        
,woman's degradation to a means has     
retarded man's and her own development4 
,but a similar degradation of man would 
have the same effect1 and the children  
might suffer just as much through       
woman's misuse of man as through his of 
her4  ,the child must be an end in      
itself4 ,it requires love as its origin2
 it requires in its mother love's       
understanding of the qualities it has   
inherited from its father1 not a        
surprised coldness or resentment of the 
unsuspected or unwelcome elements in its
 nature4 ,the woman who has never loved 
her child's father will infallibly      

injure that child in some way--if in no 
other1 then by her way of loving it4    
,the child needs the joy of brothers and
 sisters1 and not even the tenderest    
motherly love can take the place of     
this2 and finally the child needs the   
father as the father the child4 ,that   
children1 both in and out of wedlock1   
often lose their father or brother or   
sister through death or life1 belongs to
 the inevitable1 in most cases at any   
rate4 ,but that a woman with full       
knowledge and purpose should deprive her
 child of the right of gaining life     
through love1 that she should exclude it
 in advance from the possibility of a   
father's affection1 is a piece of       
selfishness which must avenge itself4   
,the right of motherhood without        
marriage must not be equivalent to the  
right of motherhood without love4 ,it is
 equally degrading to surrender one's   
self without love in a free relationship
 as in marriage4 ,in both cases one can 
steal one's child and thereby lose the  

right of one day proudly assuring it    
that it has enjoyed the best conditions 
for its entry into life4 ,love--it must 
be constantly repeated--desires the     
future1 not the moment2 it desires      
union1 not only at the formation of a   
new being1 but in order that two persons
 through each other may care for a new  
and greater being than either of        
themselves4 ,a woman may be mistaken in 
this love1 as she may be in her         
suitability for marriage4 ,but this she 
cannot know in advance4 ,she experiences
 these things first in loving4 ,if she  
has misplaced her devotion1 then it will
 not save her to conceal the mistake in 
a marriage4 ,but to receive her child   
from a man with whom she knows in       
advance that she never intends to live1 
this is having an illegitimate child in 
the deepest sense of the word4 ,but this
 is nevertheless the way in which a     
number of women now think that 8the     
madonna of the future0 is to win a      
mother's happiness4   ,work is always a 

development of force1 and the more it   
exercises our individual powers1 the    
greater happiness will it give4 ,no part
 of the old catechism is more valuable  
than that which is omitted in the new1  
on the blessings of labour4 ,the path of
 every cherished and reasonable work    
might be marked by milestones1 on which 
the good old words should be carved3    
here 8health10 there 8welfare02 here    
8comfort and consolation in adversity10 
and there 8preventing lapses into       
sin10--above all1 that of doubting the  
value of life4  ,but the man to whom    
work has given all this has all the more
 reason to curse the work of women1 who 
are able neither to choose their labour 
according to their talents nor to       
proportion their hours of work according
 to their strength4 ,greater and greater
 are the multitudes who move forward    
upon the road of toil1 where the        
milestones bear the inscriptions3       
ill-health1 uncertainty for the morrow  
as for the future1 joylessness1 lethargy

 of the soul1 and the sins that thrive  
in the shadow1 above all that of        
blaspheming life as meaningless4  ,for  
others again work has come to mean in   
our time drunkenness1 vice1 and         
superstition4 ,it has made men and women
 unscrupulous1 empty1 hard1 restless4   
,it has made them destroy for others the
 remaining treasures of life--sorrow1   
love1 the home1 nature1 beauty1 books1  
peace--peace above all1 since it is the 
condition of the full realisation of    
suffering as of joy4 ,the grand words   
about the liberty and the joy of labour 
mean in reality slavery and trouble over
 labour1 the only trouble our time fully
 experiences4  ,with thoughtless hymns  
of praise to this massacring labour1    
society allows one holy springtime after
 another to wither without having       
blossomed--whereas thousands of years   
ago the cities of antiquity sent their  
8holy springs0 to open up new districts 
and build new dwellings for men4  ,just 
as true as that the losses of the       

individual mean the poverty of all1 when
 these losses involve a diminution of   
health and power2 just as certain as    
that nothing becomes better without the 
desire to improve it1 so is it a healthy
 sign of the times that starvation wages
 for conscientious drudgery no longer   
fill young women with heartfelt         
gratitude4 ,they know1 these young      
women1 that their own nature also can be
 outraged2 that there are other         
suppressed forces in woman's being      
besides only the desire of knowledge and
 the thirst for activity1 and that      
neither the right to work nor that of   
citizenship can compensate for trampled 
possibilities of happiness4  ,far from  
its being the duty of any thoughtful    
person to lull to rest this despondency 
of the young1 we should render the best 
service to them and to life by taking   
from them everyday contentment and the  
calm of resignation2 for only the       
suffering which is kept awake1 the      
longing which remains alive1 can become 

forces in the revolt against that order 
of society which has added meaningless  
pangs1 hostile to life1 to those that   
the laws of life and life's development 
still necessarily involve in the        
relations of sex4   ,all confined       
forces1 which do not find employment1   
may degenerate2 and our time1 with its  
repression of the erotic forces1 can    
show even among women such signs of     
degeneration4  ,it is therefore a       
necessary self-assertion when those who 
are excluded from love seek to preserve 
their health and enrich their life with 
the sources of joy which are at the     
disposal of every living person4 ,even  
he who is chained to an uninteresting   
work can find some moments to feel his  
way along some path which leads to a    
glimpse of the infinite space of        
science4 ,almost every kind of work may 
bring with it an increase of individual 
capacity1 and therewith also of joy at  
feeling one's value as a workman and    
one's dignity as a personality enhanced4

 ,there is no day which may not bring   
with it a glimpse of delight in beauty4 
,finally there is no hour--except the   
heaviest hours of sorrow--in which a    
human being cannot feel the strength and
 greatness of his own soul2 its         
independence of all external fortunes2  
its power of seeking itself1 finding    
itself1 enhancing itself through all and
 in spite of all4 ,the words which      
,victor ,hugo put to a young woman in   
sorrow3    ,n'avez-vous pas votre me8   
are addressed to all who have been badly
 treated by life4  ,and whatever belief 
or unbelief a person may profess1 it is 
in the last resort this consciousness of
 his own soul's worth which saves him   
when no other help is to be found--and  
there is no other help4  ,in this sense 
it is doubtless true that the human     
being1 woman as well as man1 is an end  
in herself2 that she has fulfilled her  
task if she has not suffered injury to  
her soul1 even if she has gained nothing
 else from life2 if she has increased   

the power of her soul1 discovered her   
own individuality and realised it2 for  
this alone is saving one's soul4 ,in    
this sense it is true that the 8mission0
 of woman as of man cannot be the sexual
 mission1 which does not depend upon our
 own will alone2 nor1 therefore1 can he 
who has not fulfilled this be said to   
have lived in vain4 ,in this sense also 
there is at bottom a certain agreement  
between the feeling of                  
self-glorification just described and   
that of those who think that neither    
woman's nor man's highest destiny can be
 love1 but only the life of an eternal  
being above all earthly and social      
considerations2 that the highest reality
 of every human being is within himself1
 and that his highest happiness can be  
only to grow in holiness and godliness4 
,but for the shaping of life the        
difference is immeasurable4 ,here we are
 confronted once more by the dualist and
 monist views of life1 the belief in the
 soul as supersensuous1 and the belief  

in the soul as dwelling in the senses2  
the belief that the soul can attain its 
highest development and happiness       
independently of--instead of by means   
of--its earthly conditions4  ,according 
to the latter view man and woman are    
determined by their sexual life even in 
the greatest emotions of their soul4    
,sexual emotions pulsate in the age of  
puberty's dreams of heroic deeds and    
martyrdom2 they are the warm            
undercurrent in the religious needs     
which awaken at that time4 ,every woman 
who has afterwards performed a brilliant
 achievement of love1 who has become a  
great ,christian character--like ,st4   
,bridget of ,sweden1 like ,st4          
,catherine of ,siena1 or like ,st4      
,teresa--has had the fire of great love 
in her soul2 her blood has been on fire 
with the longing to serve the race with 
body and soul4 ,and therefore also her  
charity had warmth in it1 while the     
victims of so much other benevolence    
freeze like shorn sheep4  ,a woman's    

essential ego must be brought out by    
love before she can do anything great   
for others or for herself4 ,she whose   
existence has been erotically blank     
seldom finds the way to what is human in
 a great sense1 while1 on the other     
hand1 she to whom life has denied the   
opportunity of manifesting her erotic   
being in the usual sense1 transforms it 
into an ,eros that embraces all life1   
the ,eros of whom ,plato had the        
intuition when he made ,diotima proclaim
 him3 a touch of infinite delicacy2 for 
may it not possibly be only woman       
who--since her whole nature is          
erotic--can thus satisfy her            
love-longing from the whole of          
existence8  ,but this sense of oneness  
with the universe--which the            
theosophist1 the mystic1 the pantheist1 
and the evolutionist express each in his
 own way1 but which they all feel       
alike--is1 above all1 the gift of a     
great happiness in love4 ,it is this way
 of loving of which it is especially    

true to say1 that only he who loves     
knows ,god1 the great word for unity in 
the all1 in which we live and move and  
have our being4 ,not because ,god       
created mankind to increase and inhabit 
the earth1 but because they were        
fruitful and filled the earth with      
beings and with work1 did they give the 
,creator's name to life and worshipped  
in the likeness of gods their own       
creative power1 on account of which they
 also dreamed that they were eternal4   
,because fruitfulness1 the power of     
production in all its forms1 is the     
divine part of man1 it is impossible for
 anyone without it to attain 8holiness  
and communion with ,god0 in the meaning 
of the religion of life1 or1 in other   
words1 full humanity4 ,even in its      
limited form1 that of creating a family1
 it is the unerring means of extending  
the ego beyond its own limits1 the      
simplest condition for humanisation4 ,it
 can transform the egoist into a        
generous man1 merely by giving him      

something to live for4 ,for this reason 
love has taken the place of religion    
with innumerable people1 because it has 
the same power of making them good and  
great1 but a hundredfold greater power  
of making them happy4 ,therefore all    
great and beautiful resignation--flowing
 with sweetness and benevolence--is like
 a vineyard1 made upon the slope of a   
crater4  ,but therefore also it is true 
of all who have quenched the warmth of  
fruitfulness in themselves1 that they   
have committed the one unpardonable sin1
 that against the holy spirit of life4  
,these women have received their        
condemnation in ,lessing's fable of     
,hera1 who sent ,iris to earth to seek  
out three virtuous1 perfectly chaste    
maidens1 unsoiled by any dreams of love4
 ,and ,iris certainly found them1 but   
did not bring them back to ,olympus2 for
 ,hades had already made ,hermes fetch  
them for the infernal regions--there to 
replace the superannuated ,furies4      
,because the means of life must never   

eclipse the meaning of life--which is to
 live with one's whole being1 and thus  
to be able to impart an ever greater    
fulness of life--it is immoral to live  
solely either for sanctity or for work1 
fatherland or humanity1 or even love1   
for man is to live by all these4 ,his   
exclusion from one of these means of    
full humanity can never be compensated  
by his participation in any of the      
others1 just as little as one of his    
senses can be replaced by another1 even 
though the latter be perfected under the
 necessity of serving in the place of   
the lost one4 ,and the resignation which
 prematurely contents itself with part  
of the rights of its human nature       
instead of aspiring to the whole1 such  
resignation is a falling to sleep in the
 snow4 ,it is undeniably a calmer state 
than that of keeping one's soul on the  
stretch for new experiences2 for in that
 case one must also be prepared for new 
wounds2 and he who keeps his suffering  
awake can be sure of more pain than he  

who puts it to sleep with an opiate4    
,but no criterion is meaner than that of
 suffering or not suffering4 ,the       
question is only what a man suffers     
from1 and what he becomes--for himself  
and others--or does not become as the   
result of his pain4  ,life holds in one 
hand the golden crown of happiness1 in  
the other the iron crown of suffering4  
,to her favoured ones she hands them    
both4 ,but only he is an outcast whose  
temples have felt the weight of neither4
   ,a woman of feeling once said that1  
although love was acknowledged by the   
majority as life's greatest treasure1   
mankind has not yet been able to prepare
 a place for love in life4 ,outside of  
marriage it is called sin2 within it--as
 marriage now is--love can seldom live1 
and if it arises for another than the   
partner in marriage1 then for the sake  
of the children it must be sacrificed4  
,it is this observation which made the  
new women all the more decided to       
prepare a place for love outside        

matrimony4  ,women--and men too--have   
begun to examine the ideas of morality  
in which the small and the great values 
are mixed together like the cards in a  
shuffled pack4 ,as far as woman is      
concerned1 all morality has become      
synonymous with sexual morality2 all    
sexual morality synonymous with the     
absence of sensuality and the existence 
of a marriage certificate4 ,in speech   
and in poetry woman's mission as 8wife  
and mother0 is glorified1 but at the    
same time the mission is not considered 
honourable until it is attained1 but1 on
 the contrary1 dishonourable so long as 
it is sought after with the healthy     
strength which is the condition of its  
complete fulfilment4 ,a woman may be    
proud and strong1 good and active1      
courageous and generous1 honourable and 
trustworthy1 faithful and loyal--in a   
word1 she may possess all the virtues   
prized by man--and yet be called immoral
 if she gives a new life to the race4   
,on the other hand1 a woman1            

irreproachable from the point of view of
 sexual morality1 may be as cowardly1   
slanderous1 and untruthful as she can be
 without being denied the respect of    
society4  ,this confusion of thought is 
to such an extent one with the feelings1
 that it may take centuries for new     
ideas of justice to work a change4  ,in 
spite of all1 however1 it remains a     
truth that a woman's morality in other  
respects is more profoundly connected   
with her sexual morality than is the    
case with a man4 ,nature herself        
established this connection1 when she   
made love and the child more closely    
bound up with woman's existence than    
with man's4 ,it must always be a matter 
of paramount importance to a woman's    
whole personality to abandon herself to 
the possibility of creating a new life2 
and therefore a woman's attitude1 not   
with regard to marriage1 but certainly  
with regard to motherhood1 will be      
decisive evidence of her moral          
development in other respects and of her

 spiritual culture4  ,the same sexual   
freedom for woman as for man is to every
 profoundly womanly woman a demand      
contrary to nature4 ,but this does not  
mean either that man ought to continue  
to misuse his freedom or that woman must
 continue to confine hers within        
8lawful0 bounds2 nor yet does it mean   
that women ought to go on lying to      
themselves1 to men1 and to each other   
concerning their nature as sexual       
beings4 ,it is true that many women     
exist who have no feeling of this kind1 
and that other married women deny the   
claims of the senses--because they have 
had them satisfied before they became   
conscious4 ,but when the development of 
love has introduced a purer and         
healthier view1 neither women nor men   
will consider it a merit or superiority 
in a woman to develop in herself the    
character of 8the third sex40 ,then     
everyone will acknowledge that human    
life1 to be in the fullest sense healthy
 and rich1 must imply fulfilment of the 

sexual destiny1 and that even if a      
restriction of the vital forces in this 
respect does not entail physical        
suffering1 then it must involve profound
 psychical injury resulting in          
diminished powers4 ,nor will one then   
wilfully blink at the fact that--among  
many strong1 well-balanced1 active      
unmarried women--others are to be found 
who are equally worthy of respect1      
although they cannot attain harmony     
without motherhood4 ,and the cause is   
not want of self-discipline or          
seriousness in work1 but simply the fact
 already stated3 that sexual life in a  
woman--when it has become strong and    
healthy--dominates her in a far more    
intimate way than it does a man4 ,she   
seldom suffers acutely1 often           
unconsciously or half-consciously1 from 
restriction in this direction2 but to   
make up for this she suffers in a far   
more radical way1 which slowly exhausts 
her vital forces2 and many cases of     
madness1 hysteria1 etc41 are due to this

 cause4  ,every victim of this kind     
makes life the poorer2 for it is often  
the warmest feminine natures1 the       
richest in goodness and in soul1 the    
most fruitful in every sense1 that go   
under in this way4 ,and in them the race
 loses not only directly1 but also      
indirectly1 in their children that were 
never born4  ,for the present it can be 
only by an altered criterion of morality
 that these losses can be avoided1 at   
least so long as there is not one man   
for every woman4 ,for we can look only  
for a very slow operation of the        
measures which may restore the balance  
that nature seems to intend by an actual
 excess in the birth-rate of boys over  
girls2 measures1 that is1 for the better
 protection of the lives of male        
children and men4 ,a proposal which was 
put forward a few years ago in one of   
the leading civilised countries         
undoubtedly deserves consideration as an
 incidental remedy2 namely1 to arrange  
an organised and well-supervised        

emigration of capable women from the    
countries where they are in excess to   
others where the reverse is the case2   
for while their proficiency in work     
would make these women independent of   
marriage1 they would thus be afforded   
increased possibilities of marrying1 as 
would the surplus men--at present1 in   
the countries referred to1 left to the  
alternatives of celibacy or             
prostitution4  ,in the main it is1      
however1 only the awakening of the      
consciousness of society that can       
provide a remedy4 ,but until youth      
itself awakens the conscience of the    
time with the tocsin of action1 that    
remedy is likely to be long in coming4  
,in one respect young working men and   
women might take their destiny in their 
own hands1 namely1 in the purely        
external point of providing themselves  
with the opportunities they lack--which 
in the case of young people of the      
student class now form the foundation of
 many a life's happiness--opportunities 

of getting to know each other under     
pleasant and worthy conditions of       
comradeship4  ,in those cases again     
where a woman's destiny from one cause  
or another has rendered the realisation 
of love impossible1 she ought--like the 
wife in a childless marriage--oftener   
than at present to enrich her life and  
partly satisfy her motherly feeling by  
choosing one among the destitute        
children1 who are unfortunately still to
 be found in abundance1 to provide for  
and love4 ,such grafts upon one's own   
stem often give splendid fruit4 ,the    
lonely woman thereby avoids falling a   
victim to that hardness and bitterness1 
which are not necessary consequences of 
a checked sexual life1 but are all the  
more so of a frozen life of the heart4  
,in those cases where a woman suffers a 
lasting and unendurable clogging of her 
life through the want of motherhood1 she
 must choose the lesser evil1 that of   
becoming a mother even without love1 in 
or out of wedlock4 ,necessity is its own

 law--and he who steals to save his life
 ought to go free4 ,but she must not be 
made an example for others who are not  
placed in the same necessity4  ,the     
solution of the right of motherhood1    
therefore1 ought not to be the          
encouragement of the majority of        
unmarried women to provide themselves   
with children without love2 not even the
 encouragement of the majority to obtain
 them through love when they know in    
advance that a continued community of   
life with the child's father is         
impossible4  ,but1 on the other hand1   
the unmarried woman1 from her own point 
of view as well as from that of the     
race1 has a right to motherhood1 when   
she possesses so rich a human soul1 so  
great a mother's heart1 and so manly a  
courage that she can bear an exceptional
 lot4 ,she has all the riches of her own
 and her lover's nature to leave through
 the child as a heritage to the race2   
she has the whole development of her    
personality1 her mental and bodily vital

 force1 her independence won through    
labour1 to give to the child's          
bringing-up4 ,in her occupation she has 
had use only for a part of her being3   
she desires to manifest it fully and    
wholly1 before she resigns the gift of  
life4 ,she therefore becomes a mother   
with the full approval of her           
conscience4  ,all this1 however1 seldom 
applies to a woman before she has       
reached or exceeded the limit of la     
seconda primavera2 not till then will   
she feel fully sure of her longing and  
her courage1 nor will she have reason to
 know that life has no higher destiny   
for her4 ,and even she must not be taken
 as an example of a final solution of   
the problem4 ,but in times like ours1   
when the hindrances to life in this     
direction have become unendurable1 bold 
experiments are justified--when they are
 successful4  ,in order that such an    
experiment shall succeed1 the woman must
 be not merely as pure as snow1 she must
 be as pure as fire in her certainty of 

giving her own life a bright enhancement
 and a new treasure to the race in the  
child of her love4  ,if she is          
this--then indeed there is a gulf1 deep 
as the centre of the earth1 fixed       
between this unmarried woman1 who       
presents her child to the race1 and the 
unmarried woman1 who 8has a child40     
,beyond all doubt the first-named would 
have considered it the ideal of         
happiness to be able to bring up her    
child together with its father4 ,the    
circumstances which prevent her may be  
many4 ,the man's liberty1 for instance1 
may be limited by earlier duties or     
feelings1 which bind him1 against his   
will or not4 ,the conditions of life or 
of work of one of them may prevent a    
complete union4 ,so may the experience  
that the personality of one of them is  
fettered through marriage4 ,or again1   
love itself was not what it had promised
 to be1 and the woman was proud enough  
not to consider herself fallen and in   
need of being rehabilitated by a        

marriage which1 on the contrary1 would  
under these circumstances be a fall4    
,finally1 there are exceptional cases1  
where a superior woman--for it is often 
the best who are seized by the powerful 
desire of a child--feels that she cannot
 combine her motherhood with the claims 
of love and of intellectual production2 
that she can suffice for only two       
duties1 and therefore accepts from love 
the child but renounces marriage4  ,but 
there are also destinies entirely       
contrary to these1 where a woman for her
 own part wished to have a child but    
renounces it for the man's sake4  ,in   
most cases this is because she surrounds
 his work with such affection that1 when
 it is asked of her1 she sacrifices to  
it her mother's happiness in the spirit 
of ,helose4 ,and the more love is       
perfected1 the more does woman thus     
learn to love her husband's work as her 
child1 while he1 on the other hand1     
loves her work as his own4  ,but it may 
also be for other reasons that a woman  

desires a man to keep his complete      
freedom2 it may be1 for instance1 that  
he is the younger1 or that she knows she
 cannot give him a child4 ,such unions  
are not unusual in ,europe1 unions by   
which two people long make their own    
lives and the lives of those about them 
richer4 ,in such a case the woman       
transforms her motherliness into        
affection for the man4 ,she gives the   
best of her powers of production for his
 use1 so that he grows while she stops  
short4 ,but she thereby enjoys the bliss
 of a mother with a child at her breast2
 as the mother feeds herself for the    
child1 so does such a mistress seek the 
finest intellectual nourishment that she
 may afterwards impart it3 she feels    
that she steals what she enjoys alone4  
,perhaps the legend of the pelican1     
which nourished its young with its own  
blood1 would be a better symbol for     
these women1 who must be prepared sooner
 or later to see the man choose the     
young bride who in every respect will   

answer to his longing4 ,cases like      
these1 if any1 verify ,nietzsche's words
 that 8great love desires more than a   
return10 and that 8it will create40     
,here1 if ever1 woman's nature reveals  
that its great genius is for love2 that 
the higher a woman attains1 the more    
certainly will her own honour1 her own  
triumphs1 her own future weigh lightly  
as a feather against the joy of being   
able to develop in all its fulness her  
great talent1 that of loving4 ,and when 
does she love more highly than in       
lavishing the whole superfluity of her  
developed feminine nature on the        
perfecting of her lover--for another    
woman8  ,what every woman needs1 in our 
time more than in any other1 has been   
expressed by ,ricarda ,huch in these    
words3 ,courage for one's self1 sympathy
 for others4  ,courage for one's own    
destiny2 courage to bear it or break    
under it4 ,but also courage to wait for1
 to choose one's destiny4 ,sympathy with
 the many who have lacked one part or   

another of the new courage3 boldness or 
vigilance or patience4   ,both these    
courses which woman's new courage has   
found out--the man and work without the 
child1 or the child and work without the
 man--may doubtless be called justified 
forms of life1 when they show themselves
 life-enhancing4 ,but they cannot be the
 line of life for the majority4 ,this   
line follows the direction of the old   
,indian proverb3 that the man is half a 
human being1 and the woman half2 only   
the father and mother with their child  
can become a whole4 ,and even if women  
have the right1 so far as life is       
thereby enhanced1 to satisfy their      
erotic longing1 they ought never to     
forget that they never attain their full
 humanity until through love they have  
given their husband a child and their   
child a father4   ,we have not spoken   
here of the young women who are         
unmarried wives of men1 while waiting   
till the latter are able to provide a   
home for the child and a full domestic  

life4 ,these women may1 it is true1     
experience the grief of having trusted  
too much to their own or another's      
heart4 ,but they have been pure in their
 will and their will has been directed  
towards the future domestic life1 not   
towards 8adventures10 whose only value  
for them has been that they rapidly     
succeeded each other4  ,the young women 
alluded to must1 therefore1 be carefully
 distinguished from those who have      
become the hetair of the present day4   
,these neo-,greek women are finely      
cultured1 richly endowed1 choice and    
pure types of the cerebral and          
polygamous woman4 ,love for them is an  
element of enjoyment--somewhat higher   
than that of the cigarette with which   
their dainty fingers toy1 or of the     
alcohol which warms their pale          
cheeks--but decidedly lower than the joy
 of colour or the intoxication of       
poetry4  ,they share with man the joy of
 work1 the desire of creation1 delight  
in beauty1 ideas1 and freedom in love4  

,nothing would be more unwelcome to them
 than possible consequences of their    
8love10 which passes from one relation  
to another1 with a growing sense of     
emptiness1 fatigue1 and prostration4    
,unfruitfulness in every respect1 that  
is their lot and their condemnation2 for
 life has no use for the solitary       
unfruitful4 ,sometimes indeed they are  
not even capable of continuing to       
live--only to prove again and again that
 their soul cannot love1 cannot create1 
cannot suffer1 and has no other will but
 to free itself from the tree of life   
like a damaged bud1 a spoilt fruit4     
,the right to an exceptional destiny    
belongs only to one whose happiness it  
provides for2 in other words1 one whom  
it places in such an agreement between  
the needs of his own life and the       
surrounding conditions that the powers  
of the individual thus attain their     
highest possible development4 ,and as   
this is seldom the case when the        
individual creates for himself a        

position which places him in conflict   
with society1 no thoughtful person can  
thus refer to an exceptional destiny the
 majority of young women now oppressed  
by compulsory labour1 who wish to       
improve their lot4 ,the most immediate  
possibility to begin with is to improve 
the character and conditions of their   
labour4  ,women must be more eager to   
discover or invent for themselves       
departments of work which will give them
 the opportunity of expressing something
 of their feminine nature1 their human  
personality4 ,it is one of the          
gladdening signs of the times that this 
is beginning to be done4 ,thus1 for     
instance1 in ,denmark a distinguished   
lady mathematician--determined by       
precisely the reasons given above--has  
abandoned her science and become the    
first female inspector of factories in  
,scandinavia4 ,thus in ,germany a lady  
chemist1 for the same reasons1 has      
chosen the same career4 ,a lady lawyer  
in the same country is devoting herself 

entirely to the protection of children2 
another--in ,france--to the profession  
of advocate for the assistance of poor  
women4 ,but there are still to be found 
far too many women whose fortunate      
situation has given them free choice in 
their work and who1 nevertheless1 have  
sought the profession which offers them 
the surest income or the largest        
pension1 not the most liberal use of    
their personal powers4  ,but even the   
possibility of the choice belongs to    
exceptional ability or exceptional      
circumstances4 ,the majority of women1  
who must work or wish to work1 have     
difficulty in finding a calling which   
really gives them a backbone1 not merely
 a stick to hold them up4 ,to render    
possible a greater organic connection   
between woman and her work1 nothing is  
more necessary than a business and      
professional agency or exchange1 to     
which reports would be sent from        
different places as to local needs of   
practical or ideal work1 and then1 in   

connection therewith1 a new kind of     
mortgage bank1 but one in which the     
mortgages would be upon young women's   
courage1 industry1 and invention2 a     
bank1 in fact1 which would advance on   
easy terms of repayment the loans which 
would be necessary to enable these at   
present unutilised assets to be invested
 in the wealth of the nation4 ,the sum  
of happiness of unmarried women would   
rise if their creative instinct were    
thus at least directed into a strong and
 healthy activity1 by means of which    
they could in some measure satisfy their
 need of having something to care for1  
of evoking around them comfort and      
beauty4  ,no fund would be more worthy  
of the subscriptions of enlightened     
patrons than such a one as this4  ,it is
 important1 again1 that all those women 
who are forced to continue working for  
wages should enter into the social      
question at least as much as is         
necessary to make them understand the   
duty of solidarity and the need of      

organisation if they would obtain the   
higher wages1 the shorter hours1 the    
summer holiday1 and the better          
conditions in other respects which they 
must win in order to preserve in some   
degree their spiritual and bodily powers
 and with them that measure of joy in   
life which everyone may thus possess4   
,the first condition for this is that   
girls who live with their parents should
 cease to take work at other rates of   
pay than those which the wholly         
self-supporting can live on2 and that   
women in general should cease to think  
themselves meritorious merely because   
they work--without troubling about the  
harm their underpaid labour may do to   
the whole community4  ,but it is not    
only the will to elevate their own      
lives1 but above all a more lively      
feeling for social organisation as a    
whole that these working women need4    
,their personal demands for education1  
rest1 beauty1 love1 motherhood1 must be 
placed in connection with those of      

everyone else1 so that they may begin to
 claim also for others what they desire 
for themselves4 ,instead of making their
 own existence poorer by unfortunate    
experiments1 they ought to fill the     
souls of other women with their dreams  
of a more beautiful life4 ,and to be    
able to do this they must be constantly 
active and on the watch1 giving and     
taking on every hand4  ,thus innumerable
 little streams swell the flood of      
wills1 which shall one day remove the   
old landmarks between the power to wish 
and the compulsion to renounce4 ,thus   
shall the woman deprived of love be able
 to forget her own little lot in the    
destiny of the many1 and in spite of the
 limitations of her own life to feel    
that she lives by feeling the beat of   
humanity's heart in her own4            
,,chapter ,,vi  ,,exemption ,,from      
,,motherhood   ,to him whose thoughts go
 beyond the surface of life to its      
depths1 the demand for the right of     
motherhood is a sign of health1 an      

evidence of the existence in a nation of
 the strong1 sound woman's will to      
people the earth1 without which the     
nation shall no longer live upon earth4 
,even if certain manifestations of this 
will fall short of the life-enhancing   
purpose1 in itself the will is only     
worthy of respect4  ,it is1 however1    
significant of the confusion of ideas on
 this subject that the evidence of      
health inspires terror in the guardians 
of morality1 while they regard with     
calmness that tendency of the age which 
is charged with the materials of        
tragedy1 alike for the individual and   
for the nation--namely1 the desire of   
exemption from motherhood4              
,christianity1 with its extension of the
 idea of personality and corresponding  
lack of consideration for the race1 in  
opposition to the world of antiquity1   
made marriage the affair of the         
individual4 ,the development of love has
 carried on the liberation that         
,christianity began4 ,as stated in the  

first chapter1 the champions of         
,christianity constantly admit the right
 both to remain unmarried and to limit  
the birth of children1 if both are only 
the result of abstinence4  ,to the      
evolutionist1 on the other hand1 only   
the cause1 not the manner1 is the       
deciding point4 ,danger to the possible 
children or to the mother herself2 the  
fear of pecuniary or personal           
insufficiency for the bringing-up of the
 children2 the desire of using all one's
 powers and resources for an important  
life-work2 a ,malthusian point of view  
in the question of population--these and
 other motives are regarded by the      
evolutionist as good reasons for        
limiting or altogether abstaining from  
parentage4 ,and in this respect the     
individual is allowed freedom of choice 
also as regards the method which best   
agrees with the opinion of science on   
hygiene1 and with his own on morality   
and fitness4  ,as soon as it is         
recognised that the individual is also  

an end in himself1 with the right and   
duty of satisfying in the first place   
his own demands according to his nature1
 then it must remain the private affair 
of the individual whether he will either
 leave altogether unfulfilled his       
mission as a member of the race1 or     
whether he will limit its fulfilment4   
,but as the individual cannot attain his
 highest life-enhancement or fulfil his 
own purpose otherwise than in connection
 with the race1 he acquires duties also 
towards it1 and not least as a sexual   
being4 ,if life has given the individual
 a lot which renders moral parentage    
possible1 and conditions which are      
favourable to new lives1 then the only  
moral limitation of the number of       
children is one which--in and by means  
of the individual's own life-enhancement
 and that of the children--is to the    
advantage of the whole community4  ,but 
when only petty and selfish             
reasons--such as considerations of the  
children's inheritance1 personal        

good-living and voluptuousness1 beauty  
and comfort--determine fathers and      
mothers to keep the number of their     
children below the average required to  
secure the due increase of population1  
then their conduct is anti-social4 ,a   
person1 on the other hand1 who is       
content with few or no children1 because
 he or she has a work to perform1 may be
 able to compensate society by the      
production of another class of value4   
,to these now moral1 now immoral1       
motives for having few children or none 
at all1 must be added woman's desire to 
devote her purely human qualities to    
other tasks4 ,this1 however1 does not   
refer to those wives who are obliged to 
establish their married life upon their 
own bread-winning labour as well as     
their husband's2 a necessity which for  
the present hinders them from motherhood
 although they are continually dreaming 
of the future child4 ,it is here a      
question only of women's personal       
self-assertion4  ,women are no longer   

content to manage their husbands'       
incomes1 but wish to earn their own2    
they will not use their husband as a    
middleman between themselves and        
society1 but will themselves look after 
their interests2 they will not confine  
their gifts to the home but will also   
put them in public circulation4 ,and in 
all these respects they are right4 ,but 
when1 in order thus to be able to 8live 
their life10 they wish to be 8freed from
 the burden of the child10 one begins to
 doubt4 ,for until automatic nurses have
 been invented1 or male volunteers have 
offered themselves1 the burden must fall
 upon other women1 who--whether         
themselves mothers or not--are thus     
obliged to bear a double one4 ,real     
liberation for women is thus impossible2
 the only thing possible is a new       
division of the burdens4  ,those already
 8freed0 declare that1 by making money1 
studying1 writing1 taking part in       
politics1 they feel themselves leading a
 higher existence with greater emotions 

than the nursery could have afforded    
them4 ,they look down upon the 8passive0
 function of bearing children--and      
rightly1 when it remains only           
passive--without perceiving that it     
embodies as nothing else does the       
possibility of putting their whole      
personality in activity4 ,every human   
being has the right to choose his own   
happiness--or unhappiness4  ,but what   
these women have no right to1 is to be  
considered equally worthy of the respect
 of society with those who find their   
highest emotions through their children1
 the beings who not only form the finest
 subject for human art1 but are at the  
same time the only work by which the    
immortality of its creator is assured4  
,another thing that these women who are 
afraid of children cannot expect is1    
that their experience should be         
considered equally valuable with that of
 women who--after they have fulfilled   
their immediate duties as               
mothers--employ for the public benefit  

the development they have gained in     
their private capacity4   ,there is no  
secret and infallible guide to natural  
instinct1 any more than there is to the 
tendency of civilisation4 ,both may lead
 the individual as well as the race     
astray with regard to the goal which    
both1 consciously or unconsciously1 are 
seeking3 higher forms of life4 ,in      
motherliness1 humanity has attained what
 is at present its most perfect form of 
life within the race taken as a whole4  
,motherhood is a natural balance between
 the happiness of the individual and of 
the whole1 between self-assertion and   
self-devotion1 between sensuousness and 
soulfulness4 ,a great love1 a power of  
creation amounting to genius1 may in    
solitary instances attain the same      
unity4 ,but the immense advantage of the
 mother is that1 with her child in her  
arms1--without being conscious of a     
struggle and without belonging to the   
favoured exceptions1--she possesses that
 unity between happiness and duty which 

mankind as a whole will attain in other 
departments only after endless toil and 
trouble4 ,but if this personal          
self-assertion1 this personal joy in    
woman's consciousness be gradually      
released from its connection with the   
child1 then this unity will be broken   
up4  ,an incidental displacement of it  
was necessary2 for the liberation of    
woman--like every other movement of the 
kind--involved precisely the disturbance
 of that equilibrium which had been     
produced by the pressure of superior    
force and by hereditary inertness1 an   
artificial equilibrium1 which could be  
maintained only by pressure on one side 
and inertness on the other4 ,it was     
necessary that daughters should rise up 
against their fathers' ideals of wives2 
sisters against the brothers' share of  
inheritance1 which had increased so     
greatly to their cost2 mothers against  
the view of their duties which kept them
 within the sphere of female animals4   
,they must carry through that           

emancipation which has already made it  
possible for them to use their          
brains--not only their hearts--in       
fulfilling their eternal mission3 that  
of fostering and preserving new lives4  
,already the educated--nay1 even the    
uneducated--mother of the present day   
makes use in her care of children of    
double the brain power but of only half 
the muscular force that her grandmother 
employed4 ,she knows better how to      
differentiate between the essential and 
the unessential2 she can by             
circumspection obviate much toil and    
trouble4 ,and when all mothers receive  
the practical and theoretical training  
in nursing children and the sick1 which 
must be their form of universal service 
corresponding to the military service of
 men1 then the problem will be even more
 simplified in the direction of the     
impersonal and more and more extended in
 the direction of the personal4 ,the    
mother must use her intelligence and her
 imagination1 her artistic sense and her

 feeling for nature1 her instincts in   
physiology and psychology1 in order to  
provide the child with the conditions   
under which it may develop itself in the
 best and freest way2 but1 on the other 
hand1 she must beware of--remoulding the
 child4 ,she will in this way gain much 
time which at present is wasted in      
unnecessary attentions and harmful      
education4  ,but avoidance of the       
personal charge is impossible to the    
mother without incurring the dishonour  
of a fugitive4  ,there are a number of  
women who think that the feeling of     
motherhood can exist independently of a 
mother's care and responsibility for the
 child1 and that the latter may         
therefore be taken charge of by the     
community and still retain the treasure 
of motherly and fatherly affection4     
,these women can never have reflected   
that1 with human beings as with animals1
 parental affection is formed by care   
and self-sacrifice2 that it rises with  
these2 that the less demand is made upon

 it1 the poorer it becomes4 ,when a     
father for a time takes the place of the
 mother1 he becomes as tender as she2   
when a sick child exhausts its mother's 
strength1 it is nearest her heart2 and  
as the child grows up1 her affection    
becomes less spontaneously intimate1    
although instead it may increase through
 personal intercourse4 ,state care of   
young children would mean a withering of
 the intimacy of parental affection4    
,the tenderness evoked by the child's   
bodily presence shows1 better than any  
other feeling1 the unity of soul and    
senses4 ,without the sensuous presence1 
the psychical impression loses its      
power1 as does the bodily impression    
without the psychical4 ,the instinct of 
motherhood1 like all others1 has been   
formed through constancy of external    
conditions4 ,it is acquired through     
definite sensations and associations of 
ideas4 ,when certain of these emotions1 
at first conscious1 became unconscious1 
and were then performed by lower        

nerve-centres1 the higher nerve-centres1
 which had formerly been occupied1 were 
set at liberty for higher uses4 ,but if 
the sensations and associations of      
ideas1 which originally formed the      
instinct1 are weakened1 then the        
instinct loses its automatic sureness4  
,what worked easily1 8of its own        
accord10 as popular speech rightly has  
it1 becomes once more laborious4 ,with  
the displacement of the instinct1       
corresponding dislocations result1      
though with extreme slowness1 in the    
organ with which it is connected4 ,thus 
nursing was perhaps an acquired faculty1
 which became 8natural40 ,it has now    
become so difficult that among the upper
 classes the majority1 even with the    
best will1 can scarcely perform this    
function for a couple of months1 or     
perhaps not at all4 ,science is already 
enquiring into the possibility of the   
disappearance of the mammary glands and 
with them of the peculiar character of  
woman's breast4  ,it is often only the  

future that can decide what is progress 
and what degeneration4 ,but certainly   
nothing can be more unscientific than to
 dismiss all anxiety about the future   
with the dogma3 that the will to live in
 offspring is so strong that only the   
degenerate do not possess it1 and that  
with a healthy woman nothing can injure 
the motherly instinct4  ,to a thinker of
 the evolutionist school1 everything is 
subject to possible transformation1 and 
nowhere is there anything at work which 
can 8make no difference40 ,there is not 
a brain1 not a nervous system which can 
evade even the involuntary impressions  
of the street4 ,these sink into the     
subconscious soul and thence may arise  
again after many years4 ,not one person 
is the same--or will ever be the        
same1--when1 for instance1 he comes away
 from a lecture1 as he was when he went 
to it4 ,some psychic waves have always  
been set in motion and this motion is   
continued to infinity4 ,if this is even 
true of a notice on a shop-front1 or of 

a momentary feeling of anger or joy1 how
 much more then must it be so of the    
impressions which dominate our days and 
years4 ,our conceptions are forged from 
the true or false metal of our moods and
 become in turn the implements by which 
the bronze or gold of moods is wrought4 
,all sanctity1 all self-culture rest    
upon man's power of diverting certain   
thoughts1 suppressing certain           
conceptions1 turning aside certain      
impulses of the will2 of introducing    
other thoughts1 intensifying other      
conceptions1 encouraging other impulses2
 in other words1 partly utilising and   
partly rejecting certain states of mind4
 ,in this way1 bad habits arise from one
 class of moods1 good habits from       
another4 ,when these have acquired      
sufficient strength1 new modes of       
action1 new plans of life gradually     
become 8natural02 new instincts are     
formed1 in which willingness and        
reluctance often stand in an opposite   
relation to that they occupied at the   

commencement of the process4            
,sensuousness and soul are thus both the
 creations of development1 and it is the
 voluptuousness of many thousands of    
years that stirs in the mother when she 
feels her child's lips at her breast2 it
 is the tenderness of as many ages which
 bends in the shape of every new mother 
over her child's cot4  ,however powerful
 these emotions of the senses and of the
 soul may have become1 there is always  
the possibility--for the reasons just   
given--that the mighty stream of        
tenderness may dry up1 if its supply be 
cut off1 and that thus humanity may lose
 its most indispensable motive power in 
the development of civilisation4  ,our  
destiny is shaped1 not only by what we  
have experienced1 but also by what we   
have turned aside to avoid experiencing4
  ,our conscious ego is made up of our  
states of mind1 the images1 feelings1   
and thoughts which through our earlier  
life have become our inner property2 and
 which by certain processes are         

connected with each other and with our  
present ego4 ,the less these images1    
feelings1 and thoughts in a woman's past
 life have been determined by the sense 
of motherhood--intuitive or actual1--the
 less valuable will be the 8ego0 she has
 to assert1 or the destiny she shapes   
for herself4 ,and the woman whom no     
higher reason keeps from motherhood is a
 parasite upon the parent stem4 ,the    
majority of these women have not even a 
deeper meaning in their claim to 8live  
their own life40 ,they fritter          
themselves away in many directions and  
do not get much profit by the           
process--since it is only great feelings
 which give great rewards4  ,these      
women1 who thus without more ado        
renounce motherhood1 have they ever held
 a child1 not in their bosom1 but even  
in their arms8 ,have they ever felt the 
thrill of tenderness such a soft-limbed 
creature1 made1 as it seems1 of a       
flower's soft surfaces and fair tints1  
inspires8 ,have they ever fallen in     

worship before the great and marvellous 
world that we thoughtlessly call 8a     
little child's soul08  ,if they have    
not1 then we can understand these poor  
women1 who do not perceive their        
poverty1 wishing to make the rich as    
poor as themselves--whereas all the poor
 should be made rich4  ,if this         
8liberation0 of woman's personality     
succeeds1 it may go with her as with the
 princess in the story1 who found       
herself in the rain outside the kingdom 
she had given up for a toy4  ,in a      
modern poem a woman1 when offered as a  
consolation the thought that            
childlessness will spare her many       
sufferings1 exclaims3    ,spared6 ,to be
 spared what ,i was born to have3    ,i 
am a woman and this my flesh    ,demands
 its nature's pangs1 its rightful       
throes1    ,and ,i implore with         
vehemence these pains6    7,,stephen    
,,phillips47  ,when this ceases to be   
the desire and the choice of woman1 then
 the prophecies of pessimistic thinkers 

of the voluntary extinction of the human
 race will be in a fair way to be       
realised4 ,but in that case women would 
not possess the nobility which a logical
 reading of the world's processes       
implies3 they would only operate like a 
wheel unconsciously rolling towards the 
abyss4   ,to every thoughtful person1 it
 is becoming increasingly evident that  
the human race is approaching the       
parting of the ways for its future      
destiny4 ,either--speaking              
generally--the old division of labour1  
founded in nature1 must continue3 that  
by which the majority of women not only 
bear but also bring up the new          
generation within the home2 that        
men--directly in marriage or indirectly 
through a ,state provision for          
motherhood--should work for women's     
support during the years they are       
performing this service to society2 and 
that women1 during their mental and     
bodily development1 should aim1 in their
 choice of work and their habits of     

life1 at preserving their fitness for   
their possible mission as mothers4  ,or1
 on the other hand1 woman must be       
brought up for relentless competition   
with man in all the departments of      
production--thus necessarily losing more
 and more the power and the desire to   
provide the race with new human         
material--and the ,state must undertake 
the breeding as well as the rearing of  
children1 in order to liberate her from 
the cares which at present most hinder  
her freedom of movement4  ,any          
compromise can only relate to the       
extent1 not to the kind1 of the division
 of labour2 for no hygiene1 however     
intelligent1 no altered conditions of   
society with shorter hours of labour and
 better pay1 no new system of study with
 moderate brainwork can abolish the law 
of nature3 that woman's function as a   
mother1 directly and indirectly1 creates
 a need of caution1 which at times      
interferes with her daily work if she   
obeys the need2 while if1 on the other  

hand1 she disregards it1 it revenges    
itself on her and on the new generation4
 ,nor could any improvements in the care
 of children and domestic arrangements  
prevent what always remains above these 
things--if the home is to be more than a
 place for eating and sleeping--from    
taking up time and thought1 powers and  
feelings4 ,if1 therefore1 we are to     
retain the old division of labour1 under
 which the race has hitherto progressed1
 then woman must be won back to the     
home4  ,but this involves more than a   
thorough transformation of the present  
conditions of production2 for we are    
here face to face with the profoundest  
movement of the time1 woman's desire of 
freedom as a human being and as a       
personality1 and in this we are         
confronted with the greatest tragic     
conflict the world's history has        
hitherto witnessed4 ,for if it is tragic
 enough for an individual or a nation   
relentlessly to seek out its innermost  
ego and to follow it even to            

destruction--how tragic will it not be1 
when the same applies to half of        
humanity8 ,such a tragedy is profound   
even when it occurs in the struggle     
between what are usually called the     
8good0 and 8evil0 powers in man--a form 
of speech which followers of the        
religion of ,life have given up1 since  
they know that so-called crime may also 
increase human nature and human worth2  
that what is profoundly human may appear
 as evil and yet be healthy and         
beautiful1 since it involves the        
enhancement of life4 ,but infinitely    
greater will be the tragedy when the    
conflict arises between powers          
unquestionably good--those in the       
highest sense life-enhancing--and not   
even between secondary powers of this   
order1 but between the very highest1 the
 fundamental powers themselves1 the     
profoundest conditions of being4  ,that 
is how woman's tragic problem now       
stands1 if we leave out of consideration
 the egoists just alluded to and turn   

our eyes to the majority3 woman's nature
 against man's nature1 exercise of power
 in order to satisfy the claims of the  
member of the race or those of the      
personality4 ,if ,shakespeare came back 
to earth1 he would now make ,hamlet a   
woman1 for whom the question 8to be or  
not to be0 would be full of a double    
pathos3 the eternal terror of the human 
race and the new terror of the female   
sex before its own riddle2 the bearer of
 the most refined spiritual             
consciousness of the time1 and          
therefore--while forced by circumstances
 to make a decision--a victim of        
hesitancy1 doubt1 and fortuity4 ,as true
 as that all life is a development of   
force1 so is it that happiness is an    
ever more complete use of one's powers1 
ever richer in promise for the future1  
in the direction of their greatest      
aptitude4 ,but when these aptitudes lead
 in two contrary directions1 then the   
soul is in the same position as the     
wanderers in the legend of ,theseus1    

whom the 8pine-benders0 bound to the    
tops of two trees4  ,the struggle that  
woman is now carrying on is more        
far-reaching than any other2 and if no  
diversion occurs1 it will finally       
surpass in fanaticism any war of        
religion or race4  ,the woman's movement
 circles round the periphery of the     
question without finding any radius to  
its centre1 which is the limitation of  
human existence to time and space2 the  
limitation of the soul in the power of  
simultaneously giving itself up to      
different spheres of thought and        
feeling1 and the limitation of the body 
in the capacity for bearing a constantly
 increased burden4  ,the heaviest cause 
of degeneration at the present time--the
 necessity for millions of women of     
earning their bread under miserable     
conditions1 and the risk that they may  
lose1 some the possibility1 some the    
wish1 for motherhood--may disappear1 and
 nevertheless the chief problem will    
remain unsolved for any woman who has   

attained individually-human development4
  ,in however high degree a woman may be
 bodily and mentally competent1 this can
 never prevent the time her outdoor work
 occupies being a deduction from the    
time she can bestow on her home1 since  
she cannot simultaneously be in two     
places2 she cannot have her thoughts and
 feelings simultaneously centred upon   
and absorbed by her work and her home4  
,and all that is personal in her home   
life1 all that cannot be left to        
another1 will thus necessarily interfere
 with her individual freedom of         
movement1 in an inward as well as an    
outward sense4  ,if the child and the   
husband mean anything at all in a       
woman's life1 she cannot allow another  
to have the affection1 the care1 and the
 anxiety about them3 she must give her  
own soul to this4  ,but then1 on the    
other hand1 it will interfere with her  
book1 her picture1 her lecture1 her     
research1 just as infallibly as would   
the trouble of in her own person nursing

 and taking care of the child-- a       
trouble which she is really able to     
renounce1 though with a great loss of   
happiness and of insight into the       
child's character4  ,in a word1 the most
 momentous conflict is not between      
health and sickness1 development or     
degeneration1 but between the two       
equally strong1 healthy1 and beautiful  
forms of life3 the life of the soul or  
the life of the family4  ,many women1   
who see the necessity of deciding for   
one or the other1 choose the former and 
thus avoid or limit their motherhood1   
since they believe themselves to have   
another1 richer contribution to make to 
civilisation4 ,but would not the race   
have gained more by the talents of which
 these gifted women might have been the 
mothers8  ,we may pity for their own    
sake the barren women of the aristocracy
 or plutocracy1 who from pure           
selfishness have refused to become      
mothers4 ,but they do an involuntary    
service to the race1 in that fewer      

degenerate children are born4           
,full-blooded women1 in a mental or     
bodily sense1 are1 on the other hand1   
the most valuable from the standpoint of
 generation4 ,when these are content    
with one child or none1 because they    
wish to devote themselves to their      
individual pursuits1 then it is their   
work1 not the race1 which receives the  
richness of their blood1 the fire of    
their creative joy1 the sap of their    
thought1 and the beauty of their        
feelings4  ,but it may be--according to 
a very moderate calculation--that there 
are annually produced by the women of   
the world a hundred thousand novels and 
works of art1 which might better have   
been boys and girls6  ,it is nearly     
always the best women who are confronted
 by the tragic necessity of choosing one
 sphere or the other1 or of dividing    
themselves in an unsatisfied way between
 the two2 for1 the more they increase   
their demands upon themselves1 the more 
surely do they feel this partition as a 

half-measure4  ,partly by economical    
necessity1 however1 partly by the spirit
 of the age1 the choice is more and more
 often determined in favour of work1    
when the two alternatives are evenly    
balanced in a woman's own feelings2 for 
the emancipation of women has laid the  
stress of feeling upon independence1    
social work1 creation4 ,this has raised 
these considerations in the mind of     
woman to the same extent as it has      
depreciated those of home life4 ,want of
 psychological insight makes the        
champions of women's rights candid when 
they declare that they have never       
depreciated the tasks of the home1 but  
on the contrary have tried to educate   
woman for them4 ,schools of housekeeping
 deserve all recognition1 but as regards
 creating greater enthusiasm for        
domestic duties they have not hitherto  
been signally successful4 ,it is because
 their enthusiasm has been directed to  
every manifestation of woman's desire to
 work in man's former sphere1 that the  

calling of wife and mother has now lost 
in attraction4  ,viewed historically1   
the work of emancipation must be        
advanced by this one-sided enthusiasm4  
,but now it is a question whether woman1
 in a new way1 will be capable of being 
inspired by devotion to her purely      
womanly sphere of activity8  ,for       
nothing short of this would in the main 
be the solution of the question4 ,a     
return to the old ideal of womanliness  
would be as unthinkable as it would be  
unfortunate4 ,a continued struggle to   
get rid of the ancient division of      
labour between the sexes is             
thinkable--and equally unfortunate4     
,that woman should apply her new will to
 her ancient mission would be the most  
fortunate solution4 ,but--is this even  
thinkable8  ,the answer is              
unconditionally in the negative as      
regards exceptional natures1 such as    
now1 in their increased vitality and    
capacity for suffering1 beat their heads
 against the limitation of life which   

prevents their giving themselves wholly 
either to love1 or to the joy of        
motherhood1 or to the mission of        
civilisation4  ,here we are faced by the
 fundamental cause of the modern woman's
 nervosity4 ,she lives year in and year 
out above her powers4  ,she still       
retains the old consciousness that a    
mother ought to be unselfishly absorbed 
in her mission2 that she ought to repose
 in it with a profound calm2 that she   
ought therefore to allow the inner      
voices1 which urge her to follow her    
instinct of personal development1 to    
remain unheard4 ,added to this1 she has 
the new consciousness that the          
bringing-up of a child demands the same 
undivided attention as the production of
 a work2 that the child is just as      
sensitive as the work to a divided mind1
 a wandering attention4 ,she wishes1 as 
an authoress has aptly said1 8that she  
could be at the same time the mother of 
past ages3 the patiently bearing        
caryatid1 who was always in her place1  

with the bowl ready for the child's     
thirsty lips2 and the mother of the     
present day3 ever on the move1 seeking  
out all new paths1 quenching her thirst 
at all the springs of life40 ,she       
becomes more and more unique1 by being  
ever more firmly and delicately         
individualised1 and in the process her  
desire increases to live her own life in
 every direction4 ,but at the same time 
her feeling of community with the race  
increases1 and therewith her            
consciousness of responsibility as      
mother and human being becomes more and 
more aroused4 ,the more 8egocentric0 she
 has become1 the less does she remain a 
family-egoist4 ,the demands of her      
personality become ever more definite1  
ever wider but at the same time more    
fastidious in their choice1 ever more   
difficult to satisfy4 ,her growing sense
 of personal dignity imposes on her an  
ever stronger self-control--while her   
whole being is quivering with an ever   
more delicate sensitiveness4  ,and upon 

this new woman1 who is already the      
embodiment of unrest1 thirst for life1  
and suffering1 the hungry1 violent      
spirit of the present day flings itself 
like a cat seizing a bird4 ,a hundred   
times a day such a woman is forced to   
subordinate the claims of personality to
 those of society2 a hundred times the  
will of her personality has to elude her
 feeling of responsibility4 ,perfected  
methods of work may spare her hands and 
her footsteps1 but they cannot prevent  
her eyes from watching with increasing  
disquiet the balance wherein affection1 
sympathy1 and responsibility are weighed
 against her most intimate longing1 her 
creative joy1 her thirst for solitude1  
and her self-development4 ,and as first 
one side of the balance rises and then  
the other1 it will always seem to her   
that the heavier one contains a piece of
 living flesh cut from her heart2 while 
the side which is--for the              
moment--lighter has nothing but dead1   
though perhaps golden1 weights4  ,the   

brain-woman's time-tables know nothing  
of collisions4 ,her train-schedule is   
clear3 nursing institute and            
kindergarten1 school and dormitory for  
the children1 whose number is fixed     
according to the requirements of        
society4 ,the meals are served          
automatically from a common kitchen2 the
 housekeeping is done by adding up the  
cash-book4 ,in a costume designed for   
work or athletics1 she goes to her      
study4 ,when the work is done1 there is 
five minutes' conversation on the       
telephone with each of the children2 two
 hours' exercise in the open air4 ,in   
the afternoon1 ten minutes' conversation
 on the telephone with her husband1     
thirty-five minutes' pause for reception
 of ideas2 the evening is given up to   
meetings of a utilitarian or social     
nature4 ,on ,sundays1 the husband and   
children are invited1 when three hours  
are set apart for the elimination of    
their defects1 the rest of the time for 
profitable amusement4 ,such a woman     

never has a thought of the children     
while at work2 never wants to snatch ten
 minutes' extra chat with her husband1  
never has promptings at night4 ,she     
wakes refreshed after the hygienic      
number of hours' sleep2 everything goes 
like clockwork--better indeed1 for the  
woman of the future is never behind or  
ahead of time4 ,but love's selection    
will probably not tend towards any great
 increase of this type1 whose present   
representatives seem physically and     
psychically so little affected by       
motherhood1 that for their part one is  
inclined to believe in the stork6 ,and  
with the other poor1 weak1 and 8sensual0
 creatures the blood will no doubt      
continue to be 8a strange sap10 which   
makes the head hot with anguish when it 
ought to be cool for thought2 which     
forces the heart to beat with longing1  
when it ought to be still for deciding2 
which makes the nerves quiver with      
anxiety1 when they ought to be tense for
 creation4  ,and it is the consciousness

 of this which in her innermost heart   
makes the new woman shy of the love for 
which she longs4 ,a little emotion she  
will not give2 the great one would      
swallow up all the forces of her soul1  
and what would then become of the       
revelation of her personality1 of the   
word she alone among all beings has     
within her1 the word for the            
pronouncement of which she was born8    
,mona ,lisa's mysterious                
smile--interpreted by ,barrs as une     
clairvoyance sans tristesse--expresses1 
as someone has said1 the feminine       
individualism of the ,renaissance4 ,it  
is certain1 on the other hand1 that the 
feminine individualism of the present   
day has a clairvoyance that is sorrowful
 even to death4  ,never has the earth   
seen a more complicated and             
contradictory being than this woman1    
melancholy and wistful1 cold and        
sensitive1 thirsting for life and tired 
of life at the same time4 ,the blood    
dances otherwise in her veins1 sings    

another song in her ears1 than it has in
 those of any other woman since time    
began4 ,she sees through her husband and
 is a stranger to him2 his desire seems 
brutal to her finely-shaded and         
contradictory moods3 she is not won1    
even when she allows herself to be      
embraced4 ,she fears the child1 since   
she knows she cannot fulfil its simple  
demands4 ,when fate attempts to tune    
these fragile beings to their full      
pitch1 they break like harp-strings     
under a rough touch4 ,they are only able
 to live partially--but thus they do not
 find life worth living4  ,even if such 
a woman chooses this partial life and   
gives herself entirely to work1 she will
 nevertheless be still disturbed1 in the
 domain of personal self-assertion1 by  
the woman's nature she has in the main  
suppressed2 for she will often be       
confronted by the choice of not         
succeeding at all or of succeeding by   
the means of man1 the means she abhorred
 in him before she herself discovered   

that it is the struggle for existence   
which gives the bird of prey its beak   
and claws4  ,she is forced to lament in 
the choice between relentlessly seeking 
her own or failing2 between the         
necessity of being hammer or anvil1 of  
dividing herself in order to give1 or   
collecting herself in order to create4  
,until woman took up a position in the  
world of public competition1 she did not
 suffer from this necessity4 ,it was    
thus that--in a literal as well as a    
spiritual sense--she could afford to    
develop affection1 sympathy1 goodness4  
,it is therefore a melancholy truth that
 woman's nature1 as it has become when  
removed from the struggle for existence1
 is profoundly opposed to the condition 
which in the present economical and     
psychological circumstances brings      
success in this struggle1 the condition1
 namely1 of forcing one's way over      
others4  ,this conflict often begins in 
a field where woman cannot renounce her 
relation to motherhood--that is1 where  

she herself is the daughter4 ,even in   
this character she has a choice to make1
 pain to inflict and to suffer4  ,when  
we thus see the woman of the present day
 placed between insoluble conflicts on  
every side--or agonising1 if solved--we 
are no longer tempted to agree with the 
poet's dictum that woman's name is      
weakness4 ,for in every fibre we feel   
that her name is pain4   ,those men who1
 from the observation that woman's      
professional and brain work seems to    
stand in inverse proportion to her      
fecundity1 have drawn the conclusion    
that woman must 8return to nature10     
leave her brain unemployed and          
exclusively bear children1 are easily   
refuted4 ,there is no satisfactory      
evidence that mental work in itself need
 injure woman's capacity for easy and   
happy motherhood4 ,in the animal world1 
as among savages1 the females easily    
bear motherhood together with other     
great burdens4 ,in civilised            
communities1 on the other hand1 it is   

partly through a lower class1 whose     
bodies are overworked1 partly through an
 upper class1 who overwork their        
brains--or else do not work at          
all1--that the physical difficulties of 
motherhood have arisen4 ,that the       
world's greatest female geniuses have   
had few children or none1 is in full    
analogy with the great male             
geniuses--while these men as a rule have
 had gifted and distinguished mothers1  
an experience which alone is sufficient 
proof that woman's 8weak-mindedness0 may
 not be the most favourable state of    
mind for the enhancement of the race4   
,no conclusive evidence can be adduced  
against the statement that1 when        
brainwork is moderate and combined with 
proper care of the health1 it may have  
good effects also in women4 ,the same is
 true of bodily labour4 ,but as both are
 carried on at present1 the woman1 no   
more than the man1 has been able to keep
 within the limit of her powers4        
,therefore at present woman's studies   

and bread-winning labour involve dangers
 which have been increased under the    
spur of the dogma of equality1 which has
 driven woman on to show that she could 
bear everything that man bears--that is 
to say1 more than man or woman can      
endure4  ,but when once studies and     
labour have been somewhat organised1    
they do not in themselves involve       
anything that will make the unmarried   
woman any less fit to be a mother of the
 race2 on the contrary1 they are certain
 to involve much that will make her more
 valuable4 ,it is thus not for the      
unmarried woman that the conflict is    
presented in the form of a choice       
between renouncing--even in the         
uncertain possibility of motherhood--the
 development or use of one's purely     
human powers4 ,and when perfect candour 
as regards the sexual life has become   
the custom between the sexes even from  
childhood1 it will also be possible for 
women1 during work1 study1 or exercise1 
to have those considerations for health 

which modesty has hitherto led them to  
neglect4 ,in this way1 but not through  
the employment itself1 many a woman has 
lost her chances of motherhood4  ,thus  
the conflict does not commence until    
marriage2 and for the exceptionally     
gifted1 as we have already said1 it may 
be tragic4 ,for the majority it will not
 become so unless the wife is obliged to
 earn her living outside the home and at
 the same time wishes fully to perform  
her duties as mother1 or when she wishes
 to attend to her personal business but 
is prevented by a large family from so  
doing4  ,the question is thus for the   
majority3 either the abandonment of the 
work which produces a living1 or the    
limitation of the number of children4   
,the first alternative will be dealt    
with later4 ,as for the second1 it is   
here that the main conflict takes place4
  ,it is from the point of view of the  
ennobling of the race1 as well as from  
that of the nation1 that men implore    
women to 8return to nature0#d2 it is    

from that of civilisation that women now
 refuse nature their allegiance4        
,nothing--even from the national point  
of view--is more justified than woman's 
unwillingness to produce children by the
 dozen or score4 ,the former consumption
 of wives1 for a man between fifty and  
sixty1 was seldom less than three wives 
in succession and as a rule half the    
children of each of them4 ,limitation of
 the number of children--apart from     
other sociological points of view--has  
above all the advantage1 that many      
children of poor quality return a low   
interest upon the capital of            
working-powers and other expenses that  
their birth and bringing-up cost1 while 
a smaller number of fully efficient     
children return a high rate of interest 
in the shape of increased               
working-powers1 as is sufficiently shown
 by the prosperity of ,france4  ,but    
when we turn to the question1 up to what
 point the limitation may be unattended 
with danger either to the nation or to  

the individual1 then opinion is so      
sharply divided that to any unprejudiced
 examination it must seem premature at  
present to lay down the line of         
development of the woman's question as  
coinciding with the limitation of the   
number of children4 ,even if it be      
finally agreed that a nation's welfare  
demands of the women who ought and can  
be mothers1 the birth and upbringing of 
but three or four children1 it is not   
decided that the enhancement of the race
 is thereby sufficiently provided for4  
,besides which1 the new woman does not  
want three or four children1 but only   
one or at most two4  ,besides the       
danger1 in this case incontestable1 from
 the point of view of the nation1 and   
the possible danger from that of the    
race1 there is here a great danger for  
the children themselves4 ,their         
childhood's happiness demands a circle  
of brothers and sisters and the         
difference in age between the children  
should preferably not be more than two  

years4 ,not only their happiness but    
their development is aided by this4 ,the
 position of an only child1 or of only  
son or daughter1 usually results in     
childhood in great selfishness1 while in
 later years1 on the other hand1 it     
produces frequently a heavy burden of   
duty1 and thus1 in both cases1 brings   
danger to harmonious development4  ,one 
or two children have a poorer1 and also 
a more dangerous1 childhood than those  
who among a number of brothers and      
sisters learn the value of mutual       
consideration1 of shared joys and       
troubles4 ,thus1 without any risk of    
loss of individuality1 awkwardness is   
polished and sensitiveness strengthened1
 which otherwise in later life would    
cause great losses of power4 ,for a     
circle of school-fellows can only       
imperfectly take the place of the       
nursery's first education in social     
humanity4  ,besides which it may easily 
happen that parents lose an only child1 
or the only son or daughter4  ,thus     

perhaps from the point of view of the   
nation1 always from that of the         
children1 and most frequently from that 
of the parents1 the normal condition for
 the majority of healthy1 well-to-do    
married people must be1 that the number 
of children shall not fall short of     
three or four4  ,but in this case a     
mother must reckon that her children    
will occupy about ten years of her life1
 if she will herself give them the      
nursing and care which will make them   
fully efficient4 ,and during these      
years--if her contribution in either    
direction is to have its full value--she
 must neither divide her powers by      
working for a living nor by constant    
public activity4 ,during these years1   
she may continue her own general        
development2 she may take occasional    
part in social work2 now and then she   
may have time for mental production4    
,but any continuous and exhausting work 
outside the home will1 at least         
indirectly1 diminish her own vital force

 and that of her children4  ,thus the   
majority of women will never avoid a    
conflict1 lasting for years1 between the
 renewal of the race and their own      
outward self-assertion1 in whatever     
direction the latter may go2 just as    
little as they can avoid the conflict of
 the double burden1 now laid with       
increasing frequency upon women3 that of
 bread-winning and the increase of the  
race4  ,when to all this is added the   
need1 for both husband and wife1 of     
mutual converse1 and finally the cares  
of housekeeping1 then every thoughtful  
person must see that woman--and with her
 society--is confronted by a problem in 
the form of 8either--or10 not of        
8both--and40  ,only by society          
undertaking the support of those women  
who by well fulfilling the duties of    
motherhood have produced the highest    
social asset1 can the question of       
married women's bread-winning be solved4
  ,and only if women put their personal 
creative desire into their mission as   

mothers during their children's first   
years1 will the problem be solved of    
woman's self-assertion and of her       
simultaneous devotion to the mission of 
the race4   ,no1 is the answer of       
,charlotte ,perkins ,stetson#e and of   
many others with her2 the solution is   
,state care of children4 ,look at all   
the wretched homes1 where the children  
lack the most necessary mental and      
bodily conditions for healthy           
development4 ,the collective rearing of 
all children would be both better and   
cheaper4 ,only those women who are      
liberated from the toils of the nursery 
and the kitchen are really free4 ,to the
 woman accustomed to public activity1   
the tasks of the home are monotonous and
 tiresome4 ,on the other hand1 as a     
calling freely chosen1 the care of      
children would satisfy those who have   
the gift for it4 ,the majority of       
mothers are only ape-mothers to their   
little children1 and1 as the latter grow
 bigger1 this vague affection is        

replaced by an obstinate                
misunderstanding4  ,this is what one    
hears over and over again at the present
 time4 ,and the more it is repeated1 the
 more certain do women become that all  
these half-truths are--the truth4  ,thus
 it is the mothers who are not good     
enough to bring up their own children1  
that are expected to provide the new    
illustrious leaders of the community4   
,it is the parents who themselves lack  
the talent and inclination for bringing 
up children1 that--directly or          
indirectly--will have to superintend and
 select the persons who1 in their place1
 will perform the duties of parents4 ,in
 other words1 they are to discover and  
appreciate qualities that they do not   
themselves possess4 ,the trouble that a 
woman cannot take for the children to   
whom she has herself given life1 is to  
be borne by other women for ten1 twenty1
 or thirty children1 who are not their  
own4  ,even to-day1 there is sometimes  
to be found a kind of primitive type of 

womanliness1 so widely maternal1 with   
such a superfluity of strength1 of      
tenderness1 of talent for organisation  
that it is too powerful for a single    
home2 a type which really possesses the 
immense wealth of spiritual elasticity1 
joy1 and warmth1 that is necessary in   
order that every such child should have 
its full share of these4 ,but most women
 probably do not possess any more of    
these things than is just sufficient for
 their own children4 ,and with these    
8elected mothers10 quickly worn out as  
they would be1 ten1 twenty1 or thirty   
children would be as badly off mentally 
as they would be bodily if a single     
mother's milk had to be divided among   
them all4 ,it is even now a serious loss
 to society that so many human beings   
are enfeebled for life by insufficient  
nourishment in childhood4 ,but according
 to the plan we have been discussing1   
which now has so many adherents1        
everyone would be starved in childhood  
as regards affection4 ,it is even now a 

serious loss to culture that school-life
 makes children uniform4 ,still more    
irreparable would be the harm if their  
fashioning were in the hands of a       
thorough-going ,state care of children4 
,the danger of uniformity is inseparable
 from the present tendency to a         
hard-and-fast organisation of society1  
with an ever greater need of            
co-operation1 an ever closer connection1
 an ever more intimate feeling of       
relationship between its component      
parts4 ,the organisation must go on1    
because1 amongst other reasons1 it is   
only in this way that the individual can
 now gain increased freedom for         
development and the use of his personal 
powers4 ,but if these increased         
possibilities of satisfying personal    
needs and using personal powers are to  
be of value to the individual--and      
through him to the whole community--then
 we must also have some individualities 
left who will be capable of taking      
advantage of their possibilities4  ,and 

now it is certain that the home--with   
its changing conditions of good and     
evil--is first and foremost the best    
means of forming an organically         
developing sense of solidarity with the 
whole community4 ,life itself creates in
 the home an inter-dependence among its 
members1 a sympathy for others' destiny1
 a contact with the realities of life1  
and with the seriousness of work1 which 
no institution can create4 ,it is by the
 efforts of a father and a mother that  
the joys of home are provided2 it is    
affection for all which counter-balances
 the mutual rights of all2 which gives  
to each his weight and his counterpoise 
in a way so natural that the methodical 
arrangements of an institution would    
never be able to imitate it4 ,and       
furthermore1 different homes1 with the  
variety of different impressions they   
offer1 are the best means of forming    
different characters and peculiarities4 
,however straitened and poor in every   
sense a home may be1 it nevertheless1 as

 a rule1 provides more personal freedom 
of movement and results in less         
uniformity than a collective system of  
bringing-up4  ,if this is even true of  
those homes where there can be no       
question of education in a higher sense1
 then in better homes the watchfulness  
and warmth of affection1 its            
understanding and sensitiveness1 will be
 the forces which will induce and       
protect individuality of character1 and 
which will most surely discover what    
ought to be counteracted and what left  
alone for self-development4 ,to this    
must be added the insight which the     
parents' knowledge of themselves and of 
each other gives into their children's  
character1 an insight which no stranger 
can possess4  ,to this it is objected   
that1 if every quarter of a town and    
every few square miles of country had   
its 8,state nursery10 parents would     
often be able to see to their children1 
as well as to take them home and thus   
have an opportunity of using their      

influence4 ,but apart from the          
circumstance that the relationship would
 then in most cases resemble that of the
 ,french petite bourgeoisie visiting    
their children en nourrice--that is to  
say1 that affection would be shown in a 
desire to amuse and deck out the child1 
to caress and play with it--the most    
important point is forgotten4 ,this is  
that time1 more time1 and still more    
time1 is one condition of education1 and
 quiet the other4 ,souls are not to be  
tended like maladies1 in fixed hours of 
treatment4  ,there is no sphere--as     
parents are still too apt to forget--in 
which the psychological moment is more  
important than in education4 ,the action
 which a mother has seen in the morning1
 should often be first mentioned by the 
child's bedside at night2 the confidence
 which at the right moment might have   
burst from the child's lips1 will never 
be given if the father has not availed  
himself of that moment2 the words which 
pained the mother this week1 must       

perhaps wait till next before a natural 
opportunity of effectively combating    
them occurs4 ,the caress for which a    
little head feverishly longs this       
evening1 will perhaps to-morrow leave it
 indifferent4 ,the word of affection    
which might have been all-powerful at   
one moment1 is powerless a couple of    
hours later4 ,and above all1 direct     
advice or correction is worthless in    
comparison with the unpremeditated words
 that parents let fall in the course of 
the day1 with the result that the child 
simply sees the full human life of its  
parents4  ,only living together on      
week-days and holidays deepens the      
immediate influence of parents2 only    
this makes it possible for the parents  
to distinguish in the child the         
accidental from the essential1 the      
newly-acquired from the intrinsic in its
 changing moods4  ,and finally1 when we 
think we have found that children       
receive too much warmth at home1 and    
that they ought rather to be hardened   

against life--have we then not observed 
such 8hardened0 ones8 ,have we not seen 
how they are beautified when they are   
admitted to a corner in a home2 have we 
not discovered that1 though in          
intelligence they may be far in advance 
of their time1 their feelings are still 
on a level with those of the savage8    
,so far from homes being too warm1 they 
are seldom sufficiently warmed by the   
only love that lasts for life1 that of  
knowledge and comprehension4 ,never yet 
was a human being too much loved1 but   
only too little1 or not in the right    
way4 ,the whole spirit of the age is now
 opposed to the fatherly and motherly   
feelings of older times1 which were     
related to the blind affection of animal
 parents4 ,the affection that is left   
must be intensified1 not weakened4  ,the
 child's splendid1 unconscious happiness
 is in making others happy2 in being    
answered by the smiles it produces2 in  
showing outbursts of affection and      
receiving affection in return2 in       

feeling the security and pride of itself
 owning and belonging to its father or  
mother2 in allowing this delight to show
 itself in play and caresses and being  
met with the same delight without its   
being empty4 ,for in a home1 where some 
seriousness prevails1 a child soon      
learns that affection also means work   
and sacrifice for others4 ,from such    
affection the psychically personal tie  
of blood is formed1 while the 8natural0 
one grows weak1 as it is not renewed by 
the apparently unimportant daily1 hourly
 influence of the intangible1 invisible 
things1 through which1 as even the ,edda
 tells us1 the indestructible ties are  
formed4 ,in a word1 the home of one's   
childhood is for the development of     
human feelings1 what one's native place 
is for the development of patriotism4   
,even now home-life suffers in a        
disquieting degree from the school's    
increasing grasp of the older children2 
from the indifference to and            
disconnection from the home which occurs

 when it sees the children only at      
meal-times1 on ,sundays1 and during the 
holidays4 ,but if even the little       
children were to be placed in the same  
situation1 then this evil would be      
extended to the most decisive years of  
their lives4  ,to turn now from parents 
and children to the new foster-mothers  
of the town and country nurseries1 how  
is it intended that these shall suffice 
for their own children1 if they are     
mothers1 how--if they are motherly--are 
they to content themselves with the     
children of others1 which they will     
furthermore be compelled to lose over   
and over again8 ,have the women who want
 to be 8freed0 ever given a thought to  
the sufferings of these others8  ,the   
only possibility of endurance for such  
nurses will be to give the children only
 that general kindness that is not      
enough for them4 ,love they will not be 
able to give4 ,no word is more abused   
than love1 not least by the interpreters
 of ,christianity1 who attenuate it into

 a wafer for the nourishment of all1    
under the name of universal love4 ,but  
there is no such thing as universal     
love1 or love of humanity2 there cannot 
be such a thing2 it would be as much a  
contradiction in terms as a             
quadrilateral triangle4 ,there is a     
charity which pours itself out like oil 
upon all wounds2 there is sympathy in   
joy and sorrow between individuals2     
mutual help and mutual responsibility in
 society2 a common feeling of rejoicing 
or suffering with our nation or with    
humanity at great moments4 ,but all love
 from one human being to another which  
deserves that name1 is in the highest   
degree individual2 it is a selection1 a 
separation4 ,if it is not this1 it is   
nothing4 ,a woman chooses her children  
even when she chooses their father2 and 
she often shows her preference among the
 children themselves4 ,an individually  
developed mother rightly asserts her    
privilege of not loving all her children
 equally4 ,she gives them all the       

affection they need in the same degree2 
she is capable of the same broad justice
 towards them all1 but she has for one  
of them a more personal love than for   
the rest4 ,the profound tragedy in the  
relations between parents and children  
is precisely this1 that this            
relationship is often as passionate as  
personal love1 but without the latter's 
understanding2 that it involves the     
claims of a great emotion1 but not the  
power that an individual feeling has of 
becoming intensified in the same degree 
as the claim is increased4  ,individual 
love is alone sufficient for a child's  
needs4 ,an 8elected mother0 may perhaps 
once1 or several times1 be able to feel 
such a love for one or more of the      
children entrusted to her4 ,but she     
cannot have this love for all of them1  
and she will herself be torn asunder    
when one after the other the children   
she loves are taken from her4  ,the     
mothers for the ,state institution must 
furthermore be found by thousands1 if   

the whole of society is to be           
constructed on this plan4 ,and then it  
will be with them as with the clergy1   
who in the earliest congregations were  
called by the ,holy ,spirit1 but        
afterwards by the congregation4 ,it     
would be more and more rarely the proved
 personal aptitude and inner necessity  
that would decide the choice1 but in its
 place the accepted standard of         
professional training4  ,it is by means 
of these professional mothers1 as is now
 the opinion1 that children would have  
better conditions of life than in their 
own homes1 where1 in spite of all       
shortcomings1 personal responsibility   
and personal affection render           
imperfection in the higher grades of    
education less dangerous than perfection
 in a lower grade4  ,exceptional        
circumstances exist1 to provide for     
which the crche1 the kindergarten1 the  
asylum1 and the industrial school must  
continue for the present4 ,but instead  
of trying to make these expedients      

universal1 we ought to endeavour to     
eradicate the causes which render them  
necessary4 ,this would be road-making in
 the right direction4 ,the other is a   
short cut1 which will infallibly take us
 longer round4  ,it is true that poverty
 now gives many children unhealthy      
homes4 ,attack the causes of poverty    
then1 instead of taking away the        
children and leaving the parents in     
misery4 ,it is true that much parental  
affection is injudicious4 ,then educate 
people to be parents4 ,it is true that  
parents now increase the inheritance of 
certain children at the cost of the     
others4 ,then lessen the possibility of 
this4  ,but do not deprive all children 
of their rightful inheritance3 home     
feelings and memories of home1 home     
sorrows and home joys1 all that gives   
its peculiar tone1 colour1 and perfume  
to every human being's disposition4  ,do
 not abolish the most important of all  
collective education1 that of the       
children through the parents and of the 

parents through the children4           
,doubtless1 love's freedom will bring   
about more complicated family relations 
than at present4 ,from this point of    
view there seems to be an evident       
advantage to the children in ,state     
institutions1 where their lives would   
not be so immediately affected by       
dislocations in those of their parents4 
,but to deprive the majority of children
 of their homes1 because the minority   
might thus lose theirs1 would be a worse
 expedient than that of connecting the  
home more closely with the mother and   
developing human beings so that they may
 remain friends even when they have     
ceased to be husband and wife1 and may  
thus continue to be capable of          
co-operating for the welfare of the     
children4  ,in a word1 it is not the    
family that ought to be abolished1 but  
the rights of the family that must be   
reformed2 not education by parents that 
ought to be avoided1 but education of   
parents that must be introduced2 not the

 home that ought to be done away with1  
but homelessness that must cease4  ,the 
,state rearing of children would work   
like the feeding of foundlings on       
,pasteurised milk3 they sickened when   
they were thus deprived of certain      
indispensable bacilli4 ,the people who  
were brought up on the germ-free milk of
 universal benevolence1 in the untainted
 air of uniform order2 who had their    
origin in the love of the majority1     
their nourishment from the automatic    
machine of the institution1 their       
education in the mould of the school1   
their occupation as wax-makers in the   
social hive--these unfortunate creatures
 might find existence so tame and so    
empty that those of them whom weariness 
of life had not driven to suicide before
 the age of twenty might use their      
atavistic longing for happiness in      
burning down the institutions and       
rebuilding homes for human beings4  ,can
 people not understand that ,state care 
of children would force upon the young  

generation life's last and hardest      
experience1 that of not being the most  
important or the nearest to anyone1 and 
that this heavy fruit--under which old  
trees may give way--might deform the    
young ones for ever8 ,do not people see 
that1 even if many homes are now hell1  
we should not sink to the lowest circle 
of hell--which ,dante's fancy made      
ice-cold--until the warmth was quenched 
which the hearths of home still throw   
out1 and their place was taken by the   
steam-heating of the institution8 ,when 
existence is made up of beings with     
starved hearts1 frozen souls1           
obliterated characteristics--what       
materials will these afford for         
constructing the society of which they  
will form part8 ,will they even care to 
produce children as raw material for the
 human factories2 or the necessaries for
 the maintenance of that life in which  
the elements of personal happiness are  
wanting8 ,will they even have the energy
 to take a decision about the order of  

society which robs them of life's       
greatest values8   ,so wonderfully      
strong is in man the need of having some
 place of his own1 of being among his   
own1 feeling himself at home in one poor
 corner of the world1 in a single poor  
heart1 that this feeling has even the   
power of clearing a morass into a spring
 by subterranean ways4  ,on a railway   
journey in the ,south ,i once saw a     
woman1 whose face1 figure1 and manners  
betrayed the completest downfall4 ,this 
mother had a beautiful six-year-old     
daughter4 ,never was it more horrible to
 see a child at her mother's knee2 never
 did an amulet seem more powerless than 
the saint's image that a pitying hand   
had hung about the child's neck4 ,but   
when the child leaned towards her       
mother1 she was embraced by the drunken 
harlot with a tender emotion1 which     
restored to her a spark of human        
dignity4 ,and when the child read in the
 looks of her fellow-travellers the     
disgust her mother inspired1 her dark   

eyes glowed with angry sorrow and she   
took up before her mother a position of 
protesting affection4 ,no one could     
doubt that this child ought to be taken 
out of such unclean hands4 ,but ,i      
wonder whether a better guardian would  
be able to give her the great emotion   
which at that moment dilated the child's
 soul8 ,if in a case like this one can  
even hesitate about the line between    
disadvantage and advantage1 then in many
 other cases one will be convinced that 
it is not necessarily where a child has 
the best food1 the cleanest bed1 the    
most uninterrupted care1 that it will   
thrive best1 but rather where its soul  
may be expanded by the warmest and      
greatest emotions4 ,moreover it is one  
of the sacred mysteries of life that    
most parents1 in themselves and towards 
one another1 are worse than the child   
sees them2 for the last being before    
whom a wretch casts off his protecting  
rags of human dignity is his child4     
,against the wickedness of parents1     

however1 as against their ill-treatment1
 the child must be protected1 and that  
in a much greater degree than now by a  
constant extension of the right and duty
 of society's intervention in these     
cases4 ,but1 when it can be avoided1 the
 children ought just as little to be    
deprived of the protection of home as   
the home should be deprived of the      
protection children give to it1 by      
compelling the parents to at least some 
measure of self-discipline1             
self-control1 and self-sacrifice1       
whereby their souls are extended beyond 
the individual ego4 ,in the day when the
 8hardening0 atmosphere of the ,state   
institutions encompasses all children1  
human virtue will sink with even greater
 rapidity them human happiness4   ,all  
that has been said above does not imply 
any blindness to the fact that even the 
best homes are now penitentiaries in    
comparison with what they may become    
when the formation of a home has become 
a science and an art4 ,at present the   

home is fortunately--or                 
unfortunately--neither inspected nor    
rewarded with prizes4 ,but perhaps this 
time is coming--as already in ,france   
the seventh child is brought up at the  
cost of the ,state1 and decorations are 
proposed for those women who have borne 
and brought up the greatest number of   
efficient children4 ,then1 if not       
before1 will the 8liberated0 women      
perhaps regain some interest in the     
development of their powers in the      
direction of the home4  ,what now       
frequently diminishes externally the    
value even of good homes1 is that they  
are arranged to promote a kind of       
8aspiration10 diametrically opposed to  
genuine life-enhancement1 whose first   
condition is that the home in a material
 respect should bear a relation to the  
health and comfort of its own members1  
not the habits of life of outsiders4    
,what again detracts in a spiritual     
respect from even the very best homes is
 that their members still retain the    

family rudeness and want of             
consideration of older days1 a rudeness 
which--owing to the new sensitiveness1  
the deeper strength of personal         
consciousness--causes even from         
childhood daily pain that1 as infallibly
 as the grosser faults of bad homes1    
poisons air and food4  ,people still    
allow themselves within the home circle 
a scornfulness of each other's          
peculiarities1 a silencing of each      
other's opinions1 a prying into each    
other's secrets1 a betrayal of each     
other's confidences1 which in daily life
 place the members of the circle on a   
footing of armed neutrality4 ,in good   
homes1 affection1 and in inferior ones  
fear1 stops them from breaking out into 
open war2 for in both cases all know    
each other's vulnerable spots so well1  
that they are perfectly well aware how  
severe the conflict would be for        
themselves as well as for the others4   
,but so long as homes1 even the best    
ones1 have these faults1 institutions   

must exhibit similar results--since both
 will be formed of the same human       
material4 ,the institutions1 on the     
other hand1 would not possess the       
advantages which in the case of homes   
outweigh the faults4 ,these faults may  
be gradually diminished by a higher     
spiritual culture4 ,but nothing could   
compensate for what mankind would lose  
by the abolition of the home4   ,the    
conclusion is thus that--however        
differently the conflict must be        
resolved in exceptional cases between   
woman's personal claims and her motherly
 feelings--in the main those women who1 
in order to serve humanity1 renounce    
motherhood or its cares1 are conducting 
themselves like a warrior who should    
prepare for the battle of the morrow by 
opening his veins the evening before4   
,,chapter ,,vii  ,,collective           
,,motherliness   ,at a ,scandinavian    
meeting on the woman's question1 a      
cantata was sung which proclaimed that  
the human race under the supremacy of   

man had stumbled in darkness and crime4 
,but the race was now to be newly born  
from the soul of woman1 the sunrise     
would scatter the darkness of night1 and
 the advent of the ,messiah was certain4
  ,that men during the period of their  
ascendancy had nevertheless produced a  
few trifles--for example1 religions and 
laws1 sciences and arts1 discoveries and
 inventions--that the darkness of their 
night was thus at least illumined by a  
,milky ,way1 all this her majesty ,woman
 was pleased to forget4  ,if man were   
sufficiently vindictive to set about    
finding out what woman has accomplished 
in the course of ages to justify her    
towering self-esteem--or in other words 
to justify her challenging the          
comparison with these works of man--then
 he would find only one thing4  ,when   
nature formed the instinct of the race1 
woman remoulded it as love2 when        
necessity made the dwelling1 woman      
transformed it into the home4 ,her great
 contribution to culture is thus        

affection4  ,and this work is in truth  
great enough to counterbalance man's    
contribution--but not to make it        
worthless4   ,fortunately we hear less  
and less about man's 8tyranny0 having   
robbed woman of the chance of also      
proving her powers within his sphere of 
activity4 ,it is more and more          
recognised that in the struggle for     
existence necessity decreed that woman's
 social work should take the form of    
home work4 ,the same necessity has      
now--in the main--liberated the powers  
that were confined in home work1        
although woman has never1 at any time1  
been excluded from the use of her mental
 gifts4 ,such use was1 however1         
obviously an occasional one1 so long as 
the total of her activity belonged to   
another sphere4  ,it is from the point  
of view of their now emancipated        
personality that women--and many men on 
their behalf--demand the right of       
employing these personally-human powers 
in social work4 ,they point in          

particular to the neglect of the ,state 
in that sphere of duty1 which is already
 theirs in the home1 namely1 that of    
protecting and improving the existence  
of the young and of the weak4 ,and men  
are beginning to see that1 the more     
fixedly society is organised1 the more  
indispensable will be the co-operation  
between all its parts1 if the social    
organism is really to fulfil its        
purpose1 the welfare of all2 they see   
that the new forms both of ,state help  
and self-help1 which are now being      
sought after with increasing            
consciousness of purpose1 cannot be     
adjusted to actual needs unless woman is
 able to co-operate with man in every   
department and take part in the         
legislation which is to decide the      
welfare of herself and of her child4    
,but that the organisation of society   
has now progressed so far that man is   
beginning to look for woman's help1 must
 not be taken by women as a reason for  
putting the whole blame for the slow    

development of society on men4 ,this    
slowness results in an equal degree from
 the hitherto existing nature of woman  
and of man1 from the limitations of     
both1 and from their both being bound by
 the laws of development4 ,progress     
towards higher conditions depends in an 
equal degree on transformations in the  
nature of both1 the ideals of both1 the 
means and aims of both in the           
furtherance of culture4 ,the very       
beginning of these transformations is   
the education women give to the new     
generation1 which is afterwards to make 
the laws1 to arrange the work1 and to   
determine consumption according to the  
needs they bring with them into life and
 the virtues they have learned to love  
at home4  ,our time is probably more    
conscious of its own shortcomings than  
any other4 ,but nothing is more         
revolting to one's sense of justice than
 when this consciousness takes the form 
of women's megalomania as regards their 
own omnipotence for altering the course 

of the world4  ,following on nature's   
rough division of the race1 nature and  
civilisation in conjunction have        
produced a finer one1 that of creator on
 the one side and material on the other4
 ,next to being one's self a creator1 it
 is a great thing to be worthy material 
in a creator's hand4 ,and enhancement of
 culture in a spiritual as well as a    
material sense is brought about by the  
creators' success in dealing with their 
material4 ,when that material is human1 
this means that the creators--or        
leaders--are successful in converting   
the rest into real collaborators with   
will and judgment of their own4 ,flocks 
driven on by shepherds1 or masses of    
humanity led by one no more remarkable  
than themselves1 have never had lasting 
effects on the course of civilisation4  
,such effects only follow when a creator
 fires the multitude with the enthusiasm
 of new aims1 or teaches them to ennoble
 the means by which they may attain ends
 worthy of aspiration4  ,thus1 if women 

are to give the development of society a
 direction wholly different from that   
which man has given it1 this will depend
 on the appearance among women of       
leaders who shall point the way to      
higher aims and employ purer means4     
,but what gives us reason to expect this
 of women8 ,the reason cannot be sought 
elsewhere than within the sphere of     
their own creations1 love1 motherliness1
 the home1 domestic economy4 ,if it can 
be shown that women have brought all    
these to the full perfection of which   
they are capable1 then there will really
 be good reason to believe in their     
miraculous power in the organisation of 
society4  ,but even if we fully admit   
the hindrances which man's ordering of  
society1 his legislation1 his nature    
have placed in the way of women--is     
there a single thoughtful woman who can 
maintain that she herself1 or that women
 in general1 have nevertheless done all 
that they could within their own special
 sphere2 that they have used to the     

utmost the opportunities they have      
possessed8 ,what conscientious woman    
does not perceive that the majority     
still bungle the great discoveries of   
their sex1 by the way in which they act 
as guardians and educators of children1 
as lovers1 wives1 makers of homes1      
housekeepers6 ,in every department they 
lack art and science1 clearness of view 
and circumspection4 ,frequently they do 
not possess the first conditions for    
intensifying and refining a happy love2 
that of bearing and bringing up worthy  
children2 that of attaining the greatest
 sum of material comfort for the members
 of the family with the least           
expenditure of force and of means2 that 
of arranging the spiritual balance-sheet
 so that the highest possible           
enhancement of life will be the net     
profit4 ,exactly as the majority of men 
only slowly and partially receive and   
transmit the thoughts1 the works of     
beauty1 the discoveries that their      
leaders bring them1 so also do women    

slowly and partially receive the leading
 ideas in their sphere4  ,there must    
then be something1 not only in man's    
nature but in woman's also1 which       
hinders perfection and delays progress4 
,if such be the case--and the           
supposition need not be considered too  
bold--then also we may perhaps wonder   
whether mankind would really have       
progressed so far1 if women had had the 
lead during past centuries4 ,and if we  
have ventured thus far1 we may also be  
bold enough to ask3 whether these same  
women--who have been so far from        
perfecting their own work--when they    
come to take part in the organisation of
 society1 will immediately perfect what 
man has bungled2 twist the sword into a 
ploughshare and bring about the         
,messianic kingdom1 where peace and     
righteousness shall kiss one another4   
,it is not until she has renounced all  
communion with the glorification of     
woman and the assertion of woman's      
superiority1 that a woman with a sense  

of intellectual propriety can occupy    
herself with the question of the social 
work of her sex4   ,those who conduct   
the woman's movement form in every      
country a 8right0 and a 8left10 each    
with an extreme wing4  ,the particular  
cult of the right is woman as an ideal  
being4 ,in addition1 its dogmas include 
,christianity1 monogamy1 and the rest of
 the existing arrangements of society4  
,it seeks to place woman on an equal    
footing with man within the old forms4  
,to the extremists of this group1 duty1 
labour1 and utility are the great words 
of life2 love and beauty do not come    
within the scope either of woman's      
rights or of her obligations4 ,to       
whitewash the stains on the existing    
social edifice2 to give themselves more 
space by building out a wing on the     
right--this is their chief concern2 the 
main building itself they would preserve
 unaltered4  ,the left has also its     
deities--but 8woman0 is not one of them4
 ,its view of life is radical2 that is  

to say1 evolutionist and social4 ,it    
seeks to reform the existing institution
 of marriage by a new morality1 and     
existing society by a higher            
organisation1 which will express a      
deeper sense of solidarity4 ,it thus    
looks at the rights and liberty of woman
 and of man in connection with the      
welfare of the whole community4 ,from   
this point of view1 it regards woman's  
freedom to love and right to motherhood 
as of equal importance with her right to
 vote and liberty to work4  ,here1      
however1 a difference comes in between  
this and the extreme left1 which would  
give woman complete personal freedom of 
movement by leaving the children in     
charge of the ,state4  ,thus the extreme
 wing of the old feminism meets that of 
the new on this point1 that to both     
woman's activity is an end in itself to 
the extent that her right is independent
 of whether this activity raises or     
lowers the vital efficiency of the whole
 organism4  ,in everything else the     

opposition is diametrical1 except on the
 plane where all the groups meet3 in the
 demand for woman's juridical and       
political equality with man4  ,those who
 demand political rights for woman in   
return for her liability to taxation and
 her cares as a mother1 have a          
well-founded claim4 ,but the position   
becomes still stronger when the claim is
 based upon the need of society that    
every member of it should co-operate to 
further the satisfaction of his own     
requirements4 ,for modern society       
corresponds more and more to the idea of
 an organism increasing in complexity1  
every part of which becomes more and    
more important to the whole1 determines 
more and more by its needs and powers   
the welfare or failure of the whole1 and
 itself receives more and more profit or
 harm from the condition of the whole   
organism4  ,society means human         
beings--men1 women1 and children1 dead1 
living1 and unborn--neither more nor yet
 less2 human beings banded together in  

order thus the higher to enhance the    
life of the individual and of all4 ,this
 combination takes at first simple1 then
 more and more complicated forms of     
organisation3 simple1 so long as their  
needs are so1 since only his needs move 
man to organise4 ,an increasing         
civilisation means a more and more      
perfect satisfaction of increasingly    
complicated and higher needs4 ,but as it
 is our needs that set us in motion1 any
 hindrance of movement will also produce
 immediate suffering through our not    
being able to get rid of the cause of   
our displeasure2 and indirect suffering 
through our losing the sense of pleasure
 that movement might have brought4      
,when the aim of society is seen to be  
that each of its members shall employ   
and develop his powers to the highest   
possible extent for the highest possible
 ends1 then it will no longer be in     
abstract constructions of constitutional
 law1 but rather in the laws of human   
life1 that the criteria of social       

well-being will be sought4  ,the order  
of society must then favour the         
life-enhancement of the individual2 the 
limitation of individual liberty must   
favour the life-enhancement of the      
whole--this will be to the evolutionist 
the motive for now extending1 now       
limiting1 the freedom of movement of the
 individual4  ,the parallelism with the 
human organism is evident4 ,the         
formation and activity of the individual
 cells determine the structure of the   
whole2 the degree in which their needs  
are satisfied determines the well-being 
of the organism4 ,the total vital needs 
of the organism limit the cells'        
expansion of force and                  
self-determination1 for without the     
health of the whole organism the cells  
would also languish4  ,every powerful   
movement of society--and the demand for 
women's suffrage is already such a      
one--is brought about by the will of    
many individuals to modify society in   
some respect1 in order better to satisfy

 their own needs and therewith those of 
the whole community4 ,such a movement is
 always opposed in the beginning from   
the point of view of the agreement1     
equilibrium1 and health of the          
community4 ,and since a transformation  
in a society never occurs uniformly in  
time or degree2 since the need of new   
forms is thus for a long time not widely
 spread1 the conservatives1 as a rule1  
are right at the beginning of their     
opposition2 they are right even until   
the transformation has been taking place
 so long that the health of the whole   
organism demands that the class of      
society1 religious body1 or group of    
opinion in question should be given the 
freedom of activity without which it is 
ill at ease2 for the uneasiness of many 
injures all4 ,conservatism is thus      
finally in the wrong by reason of the   
ever-repeated experience1 that when the 
vital force is increased in any         
important organ1 it is also increased in
 the whole organism4  ,woman's suffrage 

ought above all to be demanded from the 
point of view of the social value1 and  
consequent right to freedom of movement1
 of woman's powers4 ,its opponents      
answer3 8,we never thought of disputing 
either one or the other4 ,woman has     
already the same power as man in degree1
 though not in kind1 just as truly as   
the heart is an organ equally essential 
to life as the brain4 ,but the whole    
organism would go under1 if the heart   
insisted on usurping the functions of   
the brain4 ,woman has become the organ  
of the emotions in human life--but the  
emotions cannot have a leading mission  
in public affairs4 ,in that field woman 
must either be untrue to herself or lose
 her significance4 ,it would be an      
immense loss to civilisation if she were
 forced into the paths of masculine     
egoism1 instead of putting her whole    
strength into the rearing of future men4
 ,thus new generations of great-minded  
and far-seeing men would reform society 
in accordance with woman's ideals1 and  

woman would not lose her ideals in party
 strife1 where the chief thing is       
victory by any means and the end is lost
 sight of40 8,if10 it was thus said by a
 thoughtful young working woman1--8if   
the child saw both its father and mother
 striving for power1 with all the       
hardness and relentlessness this        
implies1 then idealism would soon become
 extinct1 whereas1 on the other hand1   
women1 by unequivocally making the      
highest ideal demands upon fathers and  
brothers1 husbands and sons1 could bring
 about by degrees an ideal condition of 
things40  ,this view1 which gives to    
woman the function of one central organ 
in the social organism and to man the   
other1 does not1 however1 correspond to 
the reality4 ,just as the individual is 
determined from head to foot by his sex1
 so also is society from top to bottom  
bi-sexual2 every function of government 
affects1 therefore1 all women just as   
much as all men4 ,at present1 however1  
only the latter possess the power of    

directly remedying what hinders and     
furthering what enhances their life1    
through also taking part in the         
functions by which they are affected4   
,since every 8cell10 which indirectly or
 directly makes up the social organism1 
is male or female1 it is unthinkable    
that a higher organisation of society   
would not finally of necessity manifest 
this its bi-sexual character4 ,like the 
family--the first 8,state0--it is       
probable that the final ,state will     
appear as a unity combining the male and
 female principles4 ,or1 in other words1
 it will be a 8,state-marriage10 not as 
hitherto merely a ,state-celibacy6      
,simply by performing the functions     
themselves1 instead of allowing the male
 cells to do so on their behalf1 the    
female cells may now as members of      
society experience their highest        
possible life-enhancement4 ,so long as  
women were content to let men represent 
them1 woman's non-enfranchisement did   
not disturb the well-being of the       

organism4 ,now1 on the other hand1 the  
disturbance has set in and can be       
removed only by change4 ,but what the   
health of the organism demands in the   
highest degree1 is that--when the female
 cells begin to perform their social    
functions--they should preserve their   
sexual character1 for otherwise no      
higher form of development would be     
attained4 ,not the male sex1 but the    
government of society may with truth be 
likened to its brain1 as representation 
may be compared with its nervous system4
 ,the society of the present day suffers
 from one-sided paralysis1 so long as   
half of it is excluded from the         
possibility of making known its needs   
through the nervous system4 ,and society
 suffers from this condition just as    
much as the body would from a           
corresponding state4 ,we can best see   
this by observing that society where the
 whole body is paralysed and only the   
head acts1 namely ,russia4 ,there only  
the wounds bear witness that the        

organism as a whole is alive4 ,but all  
the societies of ,europe now include    
within themselves a ,russia1 that part  
of the community which ,camilla ,collet 
rightly called 8the ,camp of ,silence40 
,from the same inner necessity that     
prompted a number of the men in those   
countries whose condition once was like 
that of ,russia to shake off the care of
 a parental government and take upon    
themselves the liberty of making known  
their own needs1 of themselves deciding 
the conditions for their well-being1    
must women--and the labouring           
classes--win this right4 ,this does not 
mean that the female half will work more
 perfectly or with less danger than the 
male4 ,but it means that the whole      
organism will work more1 will fare      
better1 and will be developed to a      
higher condition4 ,those at present in  
possession are challenged by women as by
 working men1 when they assert that they
 fully secure the interests of the      
unrepresented and direct their forces   

satisfactorily4 ,and it may not be they1
 contented as they are with their power 
and with themselves1 but the            
discontented that we should listen to1  
if higher conditions are to be attained4
  ,to these general considerations must 
be added1 in the case of the smaller    
nations1 this3 that the more alive and  
thoroughly active the whole social body 
is1 the more power of resistance it will
 possess in the struggle for its        
existence4 ,those nations1 in which     
every person can protect his own        
interests in and with those of the      
community1 will--other conditions being 
equal--surpass the others1 as an army of
 athletes would overcome one of         
invalids4   ,society is confronted by   
tasks of increasing complexity4 ,a force
 hitherto unused1 that of woman1 now    
become socially conscious1 offers its   
co-operation in dealing with them4  ,all
 thinking persons desire new conditions 
with growing earnestness4 ,but new      
conditions do not arise1 as the         

socialist is far too willing to believe1
 through new external relations alone2  
nor through new ideas and discoveries1  
as the man of science with his bias is  
too apt to think4 ,new conditions arise 
above all through new human beings1 new 
souls1 new emotions4 ,only these form   
new plans of life1 new modes of action2 
only these revalue the objects which are
 then pursued day by day by innumerable 
individuals4 ,a new idea becomes feeling
 and motive power1 at first with one    
individual1 then with a few1 then with  
many1 and finally with all4 ,he who has 
been able to witness this with regard to
 any particular idea1 knows that it     
comes about as in the spring1 when first
 a solitary birch-tree on the sunny side
 unfolds its golden-green banner3 then  
the veil of yellow1 reddish-brown1 and  
green is drawn closer and closer over   
the grey1 till finally all the tree-tops
 are rounded and full1 all colours      
subdued to one shade1 and one scarcely  
remembers what it was like in the play  

of shifting colours1 when the wild      
cherry gleamed white among the green1   
the dandelions spread themselves in wild
 profusion among the grass1 the lilies  
of the valley peeped out from the sheath
 of their leaves1 and the cuckoo called 
in the summer4  ,emotions are the sap   
which rises when the human landscape    
thus changes colour and form4 ,therefore
 no profound spiritual transformation   
has ever taken place unless women have  
taken part in it4 ,it is upon this great
 power of woman1 already indirectly     
effective1 that we may with reason base 
the hope of her direct exertion of force
 becoming even more effective--if with  
it she preserves her womanly character4 
,precisely as the stricter sexual       
morality made woman's love more         
soulful--till she can now claim love's  
freedom1 since she has a new            
contribution to make therewith--so the  
hindering of woman's external activity  
dammed up her emotional life4 ,under the
 division of labour into a 8manly0 and a

 8womanly0 field1 woman's peculiar      
character became more established2 her  
feeling became intensified in the       
direction in which she is now ready to  
use it in the immediate service of      
humanity4 ,tenderness distinguishes her 
whole way of thinking and feeling1 of   
wishing and working4 ,thus has she      
reached that dissimilarity to man1 which
 she must now maintain in a public      
capacity4  ,it is as natural as it is   
fortunate that woman should come forward
 with her claims to participation in    
social duties and social rights just in 
our time1 when the idea of              
interconnection1 the sense of           
solidarity1 has become increasingly     
conscious in every nation1 as well as   
between the nations4 ,for a clearer idea
 of interconnection will have the effect
 of saving woman from a number of man's 
mistakes2 a profounder sense of         
solidarity from a number of woman's     
weaknesses--while the best traits of the
 womanly character will be invaluable   

for intensifying the sense of           
solidarity4 ,the man and woman of the   
present day have become more sensitive  
to their own sufferings1 and this is the
 first condition for becoming more      
sensitive to those of others4 ,but now  
the problem is also really to intensify 
and to refine the feeling for others to 
such a degree that the social organism  
will no longer be able to endure that   
any of its members should suffer a      
hindrance to life in any avoidable way4 
,it is in this respect that woman's     
deeper sensitiveness1 her richer        
tenderness1 are given their great       
mission4 ,it is true that--as was       
remarked in connection with the         
evolution of love--it is becoming more  
and more impossible to speak of 8man0 or
 8woman0 in general1 since              
individualisation makes each sex more   
and more dissimilar within itself1 while
 development makes them more and more   
mutually alike4 ,average women and      
average men have more understanding than

 feeling4 ,but when feeling is found in 
a man1 it is more violent and more      
transitory1 whereas it is more intimate 
and more effective in a woman4 ,the     
majority of men as of women seldom      
think4 ,but when man and woman think1   
man's method is1 as a rule1 that of     
deduction and analysis1 woman's that of 
intuition and synthesis4 ,she unites    
instinct and reflection as the poet     
does3 the thought of both forms a       
connected line of light only in the way 
that a row of lamps seen in perspective 
does so4 ,her actions--like his         
poems--have the unconscious purpose of  
inspiration4  ,these general            
characteristics are reversed1 it is     
true1 in many individual cases4 ,it is  
thus certain that the most conspicuous  
revelations of ,christian charity have  
occurred in men4 ,this1 however1 does   
not alter the fact that 8the milk of    
human kindness0 flows more richly in    
women than in the majority of men4      
,this superiority is the natural result 

of motherliness1 which has gradually    
been developed in the female sex into   
immediate feeling for all that is weak  
and in want of help1 all that is budding
 and growing4  ,but it follows from this
 that if woman1 by her participation in 
public life1 is to provide a great1 new1
 progressive element--then not only must
 she not lose the power of sympathy she 
already possesses2 she must1 on the     
contrary1 intensify and extend it4      
,motherliness is not to be found in all 
those who are already mothers1 and we   
have arrived indeed at the strange      
position that--while man is beginning to
 see how much society needs the motherly
 feeling--a number of women are no      
longer willing to become mothers1 since 
their personal development and civil    
occupation would thus be interfered     
with4 ,nothing is more necessary than   
that woman should be intellectually     
educated for her new social mission4    
,but if meanwhile she loses her womanly 
character1 then she will come to the    

social mission like a farmer with a     
complete set of agricultural implements 
but no seed4  ,in all private activity  
the individuality is the best seed1     
while1 on the other hand1 in the social 
field women will probably for a long    
time be most valuable owing to their    
universal-womanly character2 for        
unfortunately it is still true in public
 life that individuality is frequently a
 hindrance to co-operation1 which takes 
place rather through partisanship in    
interests and views than through the    
working together of diverging           
characters4 ,it is only in rare cases   
that a non-party man has the chance of  
interposing in a decision4 ,at present1 
woman may be able to influence society  
not as a single personality1 but rather 
as a new and powerful principle1 a great
 contribution of a hitherto unemployed  
element4 ,doubtless individual          
women--through mental superiority1      
intellectual development1 strength of   
will1 and powers of work--will bring a  

great increase of general human value to
 social work4 ,but it will nevertheless 
be upon the difference in kind between  
the nature of man and woman that we must
 base our hope that women's             
participation in the work of society    
will have far-reaching results4  ,when  
women think themselves able to          
accomplish what the whole aggregate of  
man's courage1 genius1 devotion1        
self-sacrifice1 and idealism has        
hitherto not been able to do2 when in   
every difference of opinion on man's and
 woman's nature they attribute to him   
every feminine failing in addition to   
his own1 while claiming for themselves  
all man's merits1 then one can be       
certain only about woman's superfluity  
for the time being4  ,woman's right to  
participate in public life would1       
however1 be in a bad way1 if she could  
not bring to it something really        
indispensable1 new1 and peculiar to     
herself4  ,this new thing is her        
idealism and enthusiasm1 however finely 

and easily they may blaze up1 since     
woman is so much more inflammable than  
man1 so much more eager to translate her
 enthusiasm into action4  ,for only such
 an enthusiast and idealist is of       
account who can carry the flame of his  
zeal in his bare hand1 in spite of      
burns1 keep it alight in spite of gusts 
of wind1 and thus step by step come     
nearer his ideal4 ,but such enthusiasts 
and idealists--whether male or          
female--are rare1 much rarer than       
genius4 ,they are the wine and the salt 
of life1 whereas the virtues that the   
majority can show are only the daily    
bread on the table of society4  ,if then
 we look at the majority1 the sense of  
justice in man and the feeling of       
tenderness in woman may be the greatest 
virtues4 ,this does not mean that men do
 not both submit to and commit immense  
injustices1 or women immense cruelties4 
,but it means that the feeling which has
 been the strongest motive power in     
man's public actions--in revolts and in 

revolutions--is the sense of justice1   
while the feeling of tenderness sets a  
hundred women in motion for one that is 
moved by an outraged sense of justice4  
,nothing is more common than to hear    
even from the lips of a boy the words3  
8,it served him right02 while from a    
girl we should hear3 8,i'm sorry for him
 anyhow60  ,it is the masculine feeling 
alone which has decided the structure of
 society4 ,not until woman's feeling has
 the same scope as man's2 not until each
 can counterbalance what is extreme in  
the other--his what is too weak in hers1
 hers what is too hard in his--will     
society in its fatherliness and         
motherliness really provide for the     
rightful needs of all its children4     
,someone has maintained that the social 
brain in the course of ages has         
developed more than the individual3 by  
thinking and feeling more in common1 the
 capacity has also been increased of    
finding means for furthering the common 
weal4  ,it is probable that women's     

brains will show their efficiency above 
all in finding means of enhancing and   
preserving life1 which has so much      
greater significance for woman than for 
man2 for every life has cost some woman 
infinitely more than any man2 every     
mangled body on the field of battle or  
of labour has once made some woman happy
 with its child's smile1 and leaves some
 woman in tears4  ,but in order thus to 
become inventive1 women must remain what
 they now are3 passionate in the force  
of their love1 rapidly vibrating2       
otherwise they will not counterbalance  
the partialities of man in the work of  
civilisation4 ,there are perhaps no more
 remarkable pages in ,j4 ,s4 ,mill's    
book1 ,on the ,subjection of ,women1    
than those in which he maintains the    
faculty of woman--guided by her         
individual observation--for intuitively 
finding a general truth and1 unfettered 
by theorising1 for unhesitatingly and   
clear-sightedly applying it in a        
particular case4 ,woman1 he says1 keeps 

to reality1 while man loses himself in  
abstractions2 she sees what a decision  
will mean in an individual case1 while  
he loses sight of this in face of the   
general truths he has abstracted from   
reality1 which he tries to force into   
abstraction4 ,these qualities of woman  
make her more unflinching1 more rapid1  
and more immediate in her actions1 while
 at the same time her more intimate and 
passionate feeling gives her more       
perseverance and patience in the face of
 trouble1 disappointment1 and suffering4
  ,and this opinion of ,mill is         
confirmed by that of ,ibsen1 whose      
fundamental view of woman is precisely  
that she becomes stronger in            
self-assertion and tenacity of purpose  
when it is a question of values of      
personality1 but at the same time more  
devoted and self-sacrificing in the     
personal sphere4 ,he regards her as less
 fettered by religious or social dogmas1
 but with greater piety and a deeper    
sense of community than man2 he sees in 

her more unity between thought and      
action1 a surer grasp of life and more  
courage to live it4 ,in a word3 he      
thinks that woman more often is         
something1 because she has not tried to 
be it2 that she more often attempts the 
unreasonable1 because she cannot be     
satisfied with the possible4  ,thus     
woman became1 not more perfect1         
but--fortunately for the fulness of     
life--different1 when first life        
differentiated the natural function of  
mother and father2 made them into       
separate beings1 neither being superior 
or inferior to the other1 merely        
incomparable4 ,it is this               
differentiation which must continue--not
 least in politics2 for otherwise       
women's votes would only double the     
poll1 without altering the result1 and  
their participation in politics would   
thus only be a waste of their precious  
powers4  ,thus even in public life woman
 must preserve the belief in miracles1  
the courage of apparent foolhardiness   

which her love gives her2 that courage  
of which the most beautiful images are  
already to be found in national legends4
 ,what private life has taught her1 she 
must now teach in turn to public life4  
,this is the most difficult of all      
tasks2 for here she must preserve the   
sudden anger or enthusiasm of her       
feeling1 but purge it of arbitrariness  
and injustice4 ,she must trust to her   
feeling's unconscious sureness of       
direction1 but secure it against the    
risks of foolhardiness4 ,she must allow 
her feeling its mobility1 but free it   
from the connection with caprice and    
untrustworthiness4 ,she must keep her   
eyes for the individual1 but yet be     
capable of lifting them to the          
universal4  ,to be able to do all this1 
woman must be willing to learn of man   
where he is the stronger1 without       
letting man's scorn of womanly          
weaknesses or his pretensions to        
superiority mislead her into seeking a  
kind of strength which cannot be hers2  

for she could thus lose only what is    
already her own4   ,unfortunately1 all  
the signs are not favourable to the hope
 that woman will pass through academies 
and carry on the service of the ,state  
without injury to her rapidity of view1 
delicacy of observation1 and liberality 
of soul4 8,the conclusions of science10 
8the laws of history10 8the demands of  
social security10 8the opportunity of   
compromise10 and all the other things   
that men pile up in the way of reform1  
are also alarming to woman's courage1   
make her too ask for proofs instead of  
feeling strong in her intuition4  ,in   
the university1 the government          
department1 and the business office the 
soul of woman also may run the risk of  
becoming tied by red tape1 officially   
dry1 amenable to public injustice1 sober
 in the face of enthusiasm4 ,such       
official and business women will be as  
apprehensive as men of being suspected  
to be dreamers and agitators2 they will 
be as logical in proving the            

unreasonableness of those who think for 
the future4 ,in a word3 when women bear 
men's burdens they will also get their  
bent backs2 when they earn their bread  
in the general field of work1 their     
hands will also be hardened4 ,but we may
 hope--and everything depends upon this 
hope--that woman will attain her social 
power before she has yet lost her       
special characteristics1 and that she   
will then give her whole mind to        
bringing about new conditions1 in which 
she will be able to keep her hands soft 
and her attitude upright4  ,if this hope
 fails1 then woman's entrance into      
public life will not change1 for a      
thousand years to come1 its tendency to 
put safety before boldness2 to allow    
prudence to chill enthusiasm1 facts to  
clip the wings of inspiration1 and      
practical considerations to quench      
ideas4 ,the demands of humane feeling   
will continue to be blunted by the      
sharing of responsibility among many2   
nay1 we shall even see woman uniting    

herself with the majority in curing the 
madness of idealists or--if this is     
impossible--in rendering them harmless4 
,it is thus not by hymns of praise in   
honour of her sex1 but by great and     
inexorable claims on herself and on all 
other women1 that each individual woman 
can best co-operate in the education of 
her sex for public life4 ,only the      
spiritual education that each one gives 
herself will prevent in the political   
field false estimates of value and a    
confused sense of justice2 for in truth 
political life in this respect gives    
nothing to him who has nothing2 on the  
contrary1 it is there1 if anywhere1 that
 the words of the ,bible are applicable3
 from him that hath not shall be taken  
away even that which he hath4 ,public   
life in itself widens neither the view  
nor the heart of anyone2 of this our    
parish and district councils1 our       
municipalities and our parliament give  
sufficient evidence4  ,it is not only   
want of education1 but in an equal      

degree half-education1 that has the     
peculiar shady side2 and such is the    
education still provided for the        
majority by school and high-school3     
ability to pass examinations without    
formation of personality1 specialised   
knowledge without spiritual culture4    
,the sign of this half-education is that
 it swallows up the individuality and   
makes the instincts shallow4  ,this evil
 will above all be fraught with danger  
to woman's peculiar gift1 intuition4    
,the whole existing plan of education   
aims at rendering more acute the        
characteristics of man1 and is          
successful therein1 so that he is strong
 though one-sided in his half-education4
 ,woman1 on the other hand1 becomes weak
 in hers1 since it detracts from her    
characteristics without giving her1     
however1 those of man4 ,we often find in
 an unlettered woman an instinct for    
essentiality which the half-educated    
have lost or to which at least they no  
longer dare to trust themselves4 ,and1  

above all1 this is true of the qualities
 essential to woman herself4 ,thus women
 who are working in the service of the  
community often show their resentment of
 the gladdening power of other1 young   
and attractive1 women even within the   
sphere of social activity4 ,only the    
form and contents of the long catechism 
could convince them of a young girl's   
seriousness4 ,whether these             
beauty-haters belong to the pietists of 
,christianity or to those of the woman's
 movement1 they are agreed in the       
opinion that the attractive woman is    
also the less valuable1 and that men    
show their lack of discernment in so    
easily allowing themselves to be charmed
 by her4 ,man's sense is1 however1 not  
so far wrong1 even though he often takes
 appearance for reality4 ,for what man  
looks for above all in woman--and loves 
most deeply1 when he finds it--is the   
joy of goodness4 ,it is this which is   
made visible in all real charm and gains
 its rightful victory2 and only when    

women possess this joy of goodness and  
know how to communicate some of its     
charm to public life1 will their        
participation in the latter tend to     
beautify it4  ,in judging of the        
position of affairs at the present      
moment we ought to remember that it is  
not only mothers-in-law but also        
daughters-in-law1 not only the mistress 
of the house but also the cook1 who     
would receive the franchise4 ,but none  
of these groups seems inclined to regard
 the others as at present endowed with  
the greatest imaginable perfections--in 
private life6 ,it may not1 therefore1 be
 too presumptuous if an outside observer
 should wonder whether it will be given 
to them to exhibit greater perfections  
in political life4  ,in a word1 we must 
remember that developed women are not   
more numerous in proportion to the      
undeveloped than the former kind of men 
are to the latter4 ,the same or other   
prejudices1 self-interests1 and         
stupidities1 which on the part of men   

delay progress1 will also stand in its  
way on the part of women4 ,just as one  
now sees herds of male 8electoral       
cattle0 in the wrong place1 so will one 
see crowds of electoral hens--and the   
wrong place does not mean either the    
right or the left1 but the place to     
which one is driven without personal    
choice and where one nevertheless       
remains without a feeling of shame4     
,woman will1 however1 have the advantage
 of being able to learn from man's      
mistakes1 and she learns more quickly   
than he4 ,but only the power of being   
one's self active where one has the     
responsibility1 and the right of        
deciding where one is to act1 are       
educative4 ,developed women will        
naturally exhibit one-sidedness1 like   
developed men2 not until each sex comes 
forward with its own peculiarities will 
legislation and administration become   
universal4 ,but universality is not yet 
connection4 ,whether one strums with one
 finger or with all ten on an           

instrument1 this does not make music4   
,not until each finger does its         
work--and can play together with the    
others--does harmony result1 whether one
 is speaking of instrumental or of      
social music4  ,before social politics  
have replaced the politics of           
self-interest and class instinct1 it is 
probable that the vital forces of many  
will be wasted1 and among them those of 
many women1 if in the meantime women    
enter political life4 ,but neither the  
argument that women are too good1 nor   
that they are too immature1 will weigh  
heavily in keeping them from political  
work2 for they will hasten development  
in the degree in which they preserve    
their worth2 they will attain the       
maturity they lack in the degree in     
which they participate in development4  
,only by being used can tools be        
gradually adapted and perfected for what
 they have to do2 only by performing its
 functions does the organ become        
developed for its purpose4 ,and to this 

must be added the equally weighty       
argument that the women even now        
necessary for development are1 no more  
than the men1 to be found on one side   
only of a dividing line of money or     
birth or education4 ,only the great     
democratic principle--equal             
possibilities for all--involves in spite
 of its defects the best prospect of the
 right man or the right woman arriving  
in the right place4 ,it is more         
important to the community that one man 
or woman through right of election or   
eligibility should reach the prominent  
position for which nature intended them1
 than that a hundred others should make 
mistakes as electors4 ,even if women are
 at first on the side of reaction--and  
in ,sweden this would certainly be the  
case--their direct influence would      
nevertheless be less dangerous than     
their indirect and irresponsible        
influence is now2 for there would be a  
possibility of their being convinced by 
public life that1 as long as a dominant 

social and economical group maintains   
the conditions which make innumerable   
other members of society the victims of 
militarism and industrialism1 of        
prostitution and alcoholism--so long    
will all social work be casting seed    
into the snow4 ,but even if women did   
not allow themselves to be convinced1   
but only became a support to those at   
present in power1 this still ought not  
to be a hindrance to their              
enfranchisement4 ,just as nothing makes 
us more persevering than working for    
justice1 so there is no better evidence 
of the purity of our own claims than    
when we adhere to them in spite of our  
knowledge that their attainment will for
 a long time be to the advantage1 not of
 ourselves1 but of our opponents4       
,everyone with eyes to see is more and  
more clearly aware that in our time new 
paths must be found4 ,women too are more
 and more frequently among those who see
 this1 although the majority of women1  
by their ignorance1 their lack of       

understanding1 their petty aims1 still  
place obstacles in the way of the       
pioneer work of their male kinsmen and  
fellow-workers4  ,but even among women  
fully conscious of the importance of    
social questions1 there is little       
perception of their significance4 ,this 
perception must be raised1 but1 above   
all1 the idea of collective motherliness
 must be intensified1 by fundamentally  
distinguishing it from that of          
benevolence4 ,the latter may be         
justified in the individual case4 ,but  
all social work1 which is directed to   
the whole community1 must aim at        
attaining so far in right-thinking that 
all well-doing may disappear4           
,collective motherliness must act more  
as an eternal subterranean fire and less
 as the soaring but soon burnt-out flame
 of a sacrifice4 ,it is not enough that 
the instinct of mutual help and sympathy
 is more immediate in woman than in man4
 ,just as affection is not sufficient   
for the care of children1 if insight    

into the vital laws of the body and soul
 is lacking1 so also do women need an   
understanding of the biology and        
psychology of society in order to fulfil
 their individual tasks in national     
economy1 and to understand the problems 
which are summed up under the name of   
social organisation4  ,only thus can    
sympathy with the victims of society    
lead women to an ever stronger          
opposition to the system which permits  
these sacrifices4 ,they must thus       
begin--and that very soon--by obtaining 
power to restrict this1 at any rate     
where it applies to the bringing-up of  
children and the education of the young2
 to places where women work or are      
brought to justice2 where the sick and  
aged are cared for2 where laws are made 
for all these4 ,the majority of         
women--who are still on ,christian      
ground--preach at the best charity as   
the duty of the favoured and patience as
 that of the unfortunate4 ,but no more  
than the individual mother will be      

satisfied with charity for her own      
child1 but will have full justice--which
 implies full possibilities of          
development1 full satisfaction of       
wholesome needs1 full employment of     
personal powers--even so will collective
 motherliness refuse to be satisfied    
with less on behalf of any child of the 
community4  ,not until the idea of      
poor-law relief is exchanged for that of
 self-help1 aided by society but without
 sacrifice of pride1 not until charity  
is exchanged for justice1 patience for  
assertion of rights1 will there be a    
prospect for the many of an existence   
compatible with human dignity4 ,we need 
not fear that the virtues of charity and
 patience will therefore disappear3     
everyone will doubtless have only too   
much daily use for them--not only       
towards ,god1 but towards himself and   
his neighbour4  ,but as regards the life
 of the community their time is gone    
by--or at least will be so1 in          
proportion as the belief in a fatherly  

providence above is exchanged for a     
knowledge of the power of human         
providence upon earth4 ,when women's    
brains and hearts begin to exercise this
 providence in such a way that their    
views of life and their social work no  
longer conflict with one another1 then  
and not till then will these brains and 
hearts become a reforming force4  ,now1 
for instance1 the majority of women are 
afraid of socialism1 as to which however
 only one opinion should prevail3 that  
as a party policy in the near future it 
is the most indispensable motive power  
of development1 while as a              
principle--when cleared of the mutually 
conflicting dogmas of different         
schools--in its widest meaning it       
expresses the ever firmer coalescence of
 society into an ever more intimate     
unity1 in which the sincere assurance of
 the old hymn1 8the good of one1 the    
good of all10 will gradually be realised
 in and through the whole organisation  
of society4 ,when this has made the fine

 image of the suffering of every member 
through that of one come true--then will
 the social ,state be attained4  ,the   
fear of socialism now hinders the       
leading women of the upper classes from 
supporting the others in conflicts which
 can result only in the victory of the  
cause they themselves wish to further4  
,they are alarmed at the mere word      
claims1 behind which they see the great 
hosts of the labouring classes streaming
 on with their red flags4 ,they         
therefore prefer to speak of the duty of
 voting rather than of the right to     
vote4 ,they hope it may be possible to  
carry on politics as peacefully as a    
college of teachers1 that a public      
meeting may be as amenable to discipline
 as a school class4 ,but this lack of a 
sense of proportion misses both the end 
and the means4  ,women are thus         
desirous--and with full reason--of      
abolishing prostitution4 ,but the first 
condition is a wholesale raising--for at
 least fifty per cent4 a doubling--of   

the present wages of working women and  
shop assistants4 ,this increase can take
 place only by means of trade-unions1   
and then strikes will be necessary4 ,but
 the ,christian champions of the woman's
 movement have a horror of both these   
things4  ,the latter desire--and with   
full reason--to stop the abuse of       
intoxicating liquors4 ,but they do not  
see that this is not to be brought about
 by prohibitions and tea-meetings2 that 
only by better opportunities and an     
increased appetite for the joys of home 
comfort1 education1 beauty1 and nature  
can the intoxication of life take the   
place of the intoxication of alcohol4   
,but these enhanced possibilities of    
life will result only from the          
stubbornly waged class-war1 of which    
,christian women in general disapprove4 
,a number of women wish to abolish war4 
,but the same women are not able in     
education to renounce those kinds of    
forcible methods which keep alive crude 
passions and low ideas of justice2 they 

still believe that the souls of children
 are to be cleansed like mats1 by       
beating4 ,it is in vain that all the    
most eminent educationalists1 as well as
 many of the foremost criminologists of 
our time1 have again and again condemned
 corporal punishment--which one of the  
greatest contemporary authorities on    
jurisprudence has called the 8fruitless 
bloodshed0 of the centuries--since      
experience has incontrovertibly shown   
that physical fear never produces       
morality in the true sense of the term4 
,women1 however1 continue to lighten    
their work in the nursery by employing  
fear4 ,in other words1 they themselves  
practise--and train their children      
in--acts of violence1 such as correspond
 in the life of nations to the wars     
these very women wish to abolish4       
,these examples might be multiplied4    
,they do not prove that woman is more   
ignorant or more inconsistent than man  
in her social activity4 ,but they prove 
that women1 like men1 will be of very   

little value in their public capacity1  
so long as they follow the methods of   
piece-work rather than of continuity4   
,to begin with1 therefore1 it would seem
 that individual women1 and not the     
majority of the sex1 will represent that
 collective motherliness which is to be 
at the same time far-seeing and         
warm-hearted4 ,and these women can no   
more expect to go on from one victory to
 another1 than can individual men4      
,those who--with their souls glowing    
against all injustice1 their hearts warm
 and anxious with sympathy--enter into  
cold reality1 must be prepared to       
experience what has been the lot of     
innumerable reformers in thought and    
action among the other sex3 that they   
have won the best for                   
themselves--martyrdom2 but not the best 
for society--victory4 ,and it is a poor 
consolation that it is often the best   
who become martyrs and the next best who
 are victorious4 ,the former are those  
who throw themselves into the fight1    

urged by justice or love of humanity or 
passion for liberty--without asking     
themselves whether they will conquer1 or
 at least without knowing what will be  
the answer to this question4 ,the latter
 again are usually those who within     
themselves have answered it in the      
affirmative2 for this conviction of     
success gives them the power of arraying
 an army behind them1 and the courage to
 inspire it4  ,the precursors among     
women will also find out how unspeakably
 difficult it is to aristocratise the   
democracy1 which does not mean simply   
cleaner hands and better manners1 but   
purer actions and finer thoughts4 ,and  
if they retain their sensitiveness--as  
they must--the leading women will thus  
have to suffer not only from their own  
wounds1 but from the shame of seeing so 
many of their own sex as incapable as   
the men of sacrificing their own        
advantage--or the imaginary advantages  
of their country--when humanity and     
justice demand it4 ,and it will be the  

fate of these women--as of so many men  
before them--that the pure will1 the    
rich personality1 which cannot bend1    
will be forced to break4  ,everyone who 
has had anything to do with politics    
must have seen something of these       
tragedies in which a noble heart is     
broken piece by piece1 and know how     
cruel these bloodless struggles really  
are4  ,will the best women endure to    
witness such tragedies8 ,will they      
endure to see how year by year politics 
and the press--indirectly1 if not       
directly1 under the sway of financial   
interest--succeed in producing the      
greatest possible number of             
half-measures and the greatest possible 
amount of stagnation1 accompanied by    
inevitable self-surrender on the part of
 the best1 and unconditional            
self-satisfaction on the part of the    
others8 ,will they endure seeing how in 
questions of culture1 where selfishness 
can mean nothing1 omniscient stupidity  
decides the great vital interests of the

 nation8  ,a gathering of people on     
great national festivals can together   
feel and act more greatly than each     
individual for himself4 ,but in the     
everyday life of nations the individual 
is often better than he becomes in      
co-operation with others4 ,what         
collective stupidity1 collective        
cowardice1 and collective untruthfulness
 together produce without shame in      
public life1 would cause almost everyone
 who makes up the mass to hesitate in   
his private life4 ,to rescue the        
effectiveness of the private            
conscience--but at the same time to     
preserve the power of the collective    
conscience for great moments--this      
should be the great task of political   
morality4   ,women must be prepared to  
find that their participation in public 
life will cost them1 not only various   
unjustified prejudices1 but also many   
hardships4 ,they must1 moreover1        
understand that it will take much time  
away from their home2 for the whole     

thing is not so simple as merely handing
 in one's voting-paper1 reading the     
leading article instead of the          
feuilleton1 and going to an election    
meeting instead of to supper4 ,if one   
hands in a voting-paper without knowing 
how one has voted1 one's participation  
is of no great importance4 ,if one wants
 to know how one is voting1 this        
involves the sacrifice of time2 and when
 once one has begun to take part in     
public affairs1 one is often forced by  
circumstances further and further into  
their vortex4  ,fathers of families1 who
 8take up0 politics1 are even now the   
despair of those families4 ,and what if 
mothers of families begin likewise8     
,this is the kernel of the question4 ,as
 mother of a family the woman who takes 
part in politics must make her choice   
between an outward direction of her     
activities which will be unfortunate for
 the home and children and a lack of    
independence which will be personally   
painful to her4 ,she can sacrifice her  

private pleasures1 not her private      
duties4 ,but it is this latter          
temptation which will present itself to 
the woman of the poorer classes4 ,the   
wife of a working man wants to go to an 
election meeting with her husband--but  
what of the little children8 ,there is  
no servant4 ,the neighbour's wife8 ,she 
too wants to go to the meeting4 ,the    
crche8 ,it is closed in the evening1 for
 its manageress also takes an interest  
in public affairs6 ,there is therefore  
no way out of it but that the wife must 
be content with her husband's judgment4 
,in the suffrage question--as always    
when it was a question of woman's       
rights--attention has been too          
one-sidedly directed to the point of    
view of the unmarried woman of the upper
 class4 ,but these are so far from being
 the most important that we might rather
 assert that a mother of the working    
class1 who--with all the trouble and    
privations this involves for her--has   
cared well for her children both bodily 

and spiritually1 has made a happy home  
for them and her husband and therewithal
 has acquired for herself education and 
insight in social questions1 affords so 
extraordinary a social power1 that the  
most just of proportional suffrage      
methods would be to give her--and all   
other mothers of remarkable children--a 
double vote4  ,we are here again faced  
by the difficulty already pointed out3  
that it is precisely the most excellent 
women1 the most indispensable for the   
task1 who will have to choose between   
the duties of collective motherliness   
and those of motherhood1 as well as     
between the latter and those of         
individual development4 ,during her     
children's earlier years no mother can  
well fulfil both these motherly calls4  
,she will be forced to acknowledge that1
 if anyone could be said to cross the   
river to fetch water--and with one of   
the ,danaids' pitchers at that--then it 
would be one who should set aside her   
children for her social mission4  ,here 

and there we already meet one or another
 of these strong1 proud1 and beautiful  
mothers of the twentieth century1 who   
have lost nothing of their full-blooded 
womanliness1 but rather doubled it      
through a personal quality which year by
 year embraces the kernel of their being
 more closely4  ,human being and woman1 
citizen and personality--less than this 
the social mother of the future cannot  
be4 ,she has destroyed all bridges which
 might take her back to the womanly     
ideal of older times3 the powerful but  
narrow-minded housekeeper1 the          
thoughtlessly devoted wife4 ,but at the 
same time she has nothing in common with
 the short-sighted woman's rights woman1
 who takes pride in being a restless    
working-machine or a specialist rewarded
 by diplomas but otherwise              
half-educated4  ,she has learned        
something from the older as well as from
 the new type4 ,but she resembles       
neither1 for only completeness of life  
is to her the meaning of life4   ,many a

 little girl1 leaning over her history  
book1 must have been indignant at the   
way humanity used to be reckoned in past
 times3 so many men--8besides women and 
children06  ,it was long before women   
began to be counted at all1 and they are
 still only half-counted4 ,children are 
still under 8besides40 ,but some day we 
may perhaps have come so far in our     
feeling for what is coming on1 that we  
shall invert the order and reckon 8so   
many children--besides women and men40  
,we shall then give evidence in our     
treatment of children of our reverence  
for these profoundly wise and mysterious
 beings1 whom we never fathom4 ,we shall
 see behind the figure of every child   
the infinite line of past generations1  
before it the equally endless ranks of  
those to come4 ,we shall remember in our
 actions that the child is the sum of   
these dead ones1 the hope of those      
unborn4 ,we shall let the child reveal  
itself and receive its revelations with 
a discretion at present unsuspected4    

,the tragedies of the childish soul are 
still waiting for their ,shakespeare1   
although the child is already appearing 
in literature as never before4 ,and     
here1 as ever1 literature is the        
precursor of the great movement of      
liberty which shall bring the children's
 declaration of rights and make an end  
of the spiritual and bodily             
ill-treatment of children1 which must   
appear to the future as monstrous as    
negro slavery does to us4 ,it may be    
that children too will have their right 
to vote1 as well as their own           
representatives in the legislature and  
in the courts of law4#f  ,it should be  
the collective mothers who would thus   
finally liberate the children of        
society4 ,it will then be seen that the 
octave of the child's soul was just as  
indispensable as that of woman or man1  
in order that the great harmony of      
humanity might be complete4  ,when this 
happens the third kingdom will have     
arrived1 whose ,messiah the age now     

awaits4 ,but it is not in the lap of    
collective motherliness that he will be 
borne4  ,again and again saviours will  
be born to humanity4 ,but always of some
 young woman with forehead pure as a    
lily and deep eyes4 ,and ,bethlehem will
 always be there1 where a young mother  
kneels in prayer by her child's cradle4 
,,chapter ,,viii  ,,free ,,divorce      
,the desire of the young to abolish     
prostitution by means of love's freedom 
has already been adduced as one of the  
proofs of the higher development of     
sexual morality4 ,another such proof is 
the desire of the present day to abolish
 adultery by means of free divorce4     
,the preachers of monogamy are afraid   
that this desire will prepare the way   
for an open polygamy1 instead of that   
which at present is at least secret4 ,in
 the press and in the pulpit1 in        
schoolrooms and lecture-rooms1 modern   
literature is blamed for this 8new      
immorality40  ,and yet we all know that 
long before our time1 married men and   

their sons in country houses were too   
often ready to seduce the wives and     
daughters of their dependents as well as
 the servants of the house4 ,the wives  
and mothers of these gentlemen were     
frequently not ignorant of this--but    
they were praised for their wisdom when 
they pretended to suspect nothing4 ,it  
was a matter of common knowledge that   
not a few married men and married women 
had mistresses and lovers within their  
own social circle2 and every one knew   
that in the towns many men1 during or   
before marriage1 had illegitimate       
families4  ,serious preachers of        
morality doubtless reply that they no   
more condone this secret adultery than  
they would an open one2 that they see in
 one and the other a manifestation of   
that power of sin which only religion   
can vanquish4 ,we have the right then to
 ask1 whether within their own          
ranks--among clergymen1 missionaries1   
readers--no similar transgressions      
occur4  ,the honest ones answer ,yes1   

but point out that this causes shame    
among their fellow-,christians1 and that
 these believers themselves acknowledge 
that they have sinned4 ,such men of the 
world1 who play the hypocrite to retain 
their respectability1 do the same thing4
 ,but the great danger to society first 
comes in when free-thinkers with no     
qualms of conscience commit1 and authors
 without moral indignation describe1 the
 sin4 ,this it is that degrades the     
ideal of morality4  ,here we are at the 
very cross-roads of the old and the new 
morality4  ,the champions of the latter 
go on to ask whether all                
adulterers--children of this world as   
well as children of ,god--in their      
innermost consciousness really feel     
themselves to be sinners4 ,the need     
which impelled them was perhaps so      
imperious that it justified them before 
their own conscience in choosing a      
lesser evil in preference to a greater1 
when--from one cause or another--they   
could not or ought not to satisfy the   

need in their marriage4  ,and if this be
 so1 then the exponents of the new      
morality may have grounds for their     
opinion3 that self-control cannot and   
must not be the only answer to all the  
problems of sexual life2 that a solution
 must be found which shall by degrees   
prevent men from wasting1 either in     
unchastity or in a celibacy disguised as
 marriage1 the strength which belongs to
 the race4 ,the solution can only be    
this1 that we not only assert love's    
freedom to unite without external tie1  
but also man's right more freely than at
 present to loosen the tie1 when real   
union is no longer possible4  ,when     
speaking of love's selection1 it was put
 forward that a growing insight into the
 value and conditions of the enhancement
 of the race might produce cases where a
 marriage could be openly broken without
 therefore being dissolved4 ,but the    
true line of development will quite     
certainly be this3 that divorce will be 
free1 depending solely on the will of   

both parties or of one1 maintained for a
 certain time2 that public opinion as   
regards a dissolved marriage will take  
the broader view that it has already    
acquired in the question of a broken    
engagement1 which at one time was       
thought just as humiliating as a divorce
 is now4  ,with ever-growing seriousness
 the new conception of morality is      
affirmed3 that the race does not exist  
for the sake of monogamy1 but monogamy  
for the sake of the race2 that mankind  
is therefore master of monogamy1 to     
preserve or to abolish it4  ,even the   
advocates of free divorce know well     
enough that it will involve abuses4 ,but
 at the same time they know that there  
is no better proof of man's incredible  
indolence of mind than the uneasiness   
produced by the thought of possible     
abuses resulting from a new social form1
 while the ancient abuses are tolerated 
with the dullest tranquillity4          
,whatever abuses free divorce may       
involve1 they cannot often be worse than

 those which marriage has produced and  
still produces--marriage1 which is      
degraded to the coarsest sexual habits1 
the most shameless traffic1 the most    
agonising soul-murders1 the most inhuman
 cruelties1 and the grossest            
infringements of liberty that any       
department of modern life can show4  ,we
 may answer that abuses do not prove    
anything against the value of any       
particular social arrangement1 so long  
as its right use serves well the purpose
 for which it was introduced4  ,the     
majority thinks that this is still the  
case with marriage4 ,the minority1 on   
the other hand1 considers that its      
constraint now tends to defeat its      
original object1 an enhanced sexual     
morality4  ,this minority thinks that1  
as soon as love is admitted as the moral
 ground of marriage1 it will be a       
necessary consequence that he who has   
ceased to love should be allowed a moral
 as well as a legal right to withdraw   
from his marriage1 if he chooses to     

avail himself of this right4  ,and this 
same minority is aware that love may    
cease1 independently of a person's will2
 that therefore no one can be held to   
the terms of a promise1 the performance 
of which lies outside his powers4       
,nothing is more natural than that      
love's longing for eternity should      
prompt lovers to vows of eternal        
fidelity2 nothing is more true than that
 it is a satanic device of society to   
seize upon this promise and base thereon
 a legal institution 7,carpenter74      
,nothing is more necessary than to      
abolish the legal claims that people    
have on one another1 supported by       
promises of love and vows of fidelity4  
,the more people understand the laws of 
their own being1 the more will the      
conscientious begin to hesitate about   
making promises which perhaps some day  
they will be forced by inner necessity  
to break4 ,an increasing number of      
people find it impossible to contract   
marriage1 or to ask it of the other     

party--or to continue in marriage or ask
 its continuance of the other--when     
their love has died or has awakened for 
another4 ,a generation ago1 an engaged  
person could refuse his or her          
betrothed's petition for liberation with
 the answer that he or she had love     
enough for both4 ,in corresponding      
circles at the present day1 such a      
speech is unthinkable4 ,but then a      
public engagement was still regarded as 
a binding tie and the marriage took     
place4 ,after a long engagement it was a
 8point of honour0 for the man not to   
let a woman run the risk of being       
unmarried1 and she was satisfied if he  
only paid his debt of honour4  ,such    
coarseness of feeling is fortunately    
becoming more and more rare1 although it
 is far from disappearing4 ,people see  
more and more that they have no more    
right to marry simply to fulfil a duty  
of fidelity than they have to steal in  
order to fulfil a duty of maintenance2  
that there is no more obligation to     

abide by a marriage which one feels to  
be one's ruin than there is a duty to   
commit suicide for the sake of another4 
,the love of older times was above all  
afraid that the other party should not  
feel sufficiently bound4 ,the finest    
erotic feeling of the present day       
shudders at the idea of becoming a bond2
 trembles at pity and recoils from the  
possibility of becoming a hindrance4    
,this state of the soul knows of no     
other right than that of perfect        
candour4 ,to place legal limits to each 
other's liberty1 so that neither shall  
cause pain to the other1 is under these 
conditions meaningless2 for each suffers
 just as much through a union maintained
 without full reciprocity4  ,thus the   
question of divorce presents itself to  
modern souls1 in cases where there are  
no children4 ,and when there are        
children--as is of course the rule--they
 think that the mistakes of parents do  
not absolve them from the duty of       
co-operating in the rearing of the      

children to whom they have given life4  
,but they maintain that this need not   
always be effected by means of continued
 cohabitation4 ,on the other hand1 this 
may often be necessary1 and in such     
cases they subordinate their personal   
claims of happiness to those of the     
race4 ,one who holds these opinions     
regards him who gives the same answer in
 every case--whether this answer be     
8freedom at any price0 or 8renunciation 
at any price0--simply as a moral        
automaton4   ,it is true that modern men
 and women are less able to bear        
unhappiness in marriage than were those 
of former times4 ,this shows that       
connubial idealism makes greater demands
 than formerly4  ,the conscious will to 
live1 of our time1 revolts against the  
meaningless sufferings through which the
 people of bygone days1 above all the   
women1 allowed themselves to be         
degraded1 benumbed1 and embittered4 ,a  
finer knowledge of self1 a stronger     
consciousness of personality1 now puts a

 limit to one's own suffering1 since the
 danger is understood of taking hurt in 
one's soul4 ,this determination of      
individualism makes it impossible for   
the modern woman to be fired by the     
ideal of ,griselda--if for no other     
reason1 because she feels how           
all-suffering meekness increases        
injustice4 ,the 8good old0 marriages1   
sustained by the willing sacrifice of   
wives1 are disappearing--that is happily
 true6 ,but no one takes notice of the  
new good ones that are coming in their  
place4 ,if those who now grudgingly     
reckon up divorces would also count all 
happy marriages1 it would be seen that  
new formation has proceeded further than
 dissolution4  ,it must be evident that 
the question of divorce is the pursuance
 of the line of development of          
,protestantism4 ,with the formation of a
 right and a left party1 as usual in the
 treatment of a problem of culture1 the 
,reformation succeeded only in asserting
 the right of the senses in human life4 

,that it is the right of the soul in    
sexual life that is now most intimately 
affected by the question1 people will   
not understand4 ,against the right of   
the individual they set up that of the  
child4 ,if there is none1 then a certain
 number of ,christians are willing to   
admit that divorce is sometimes         
justified4 ,unhappy parents1 on the     
other hand1 must remain together for the
 sake of the children4  ,but the        
erotically noble person of the present  
day cannot1 without the deepest sense of
 humiliation1 belong to one he does not 
love1 or by whom he knows he is not     
loved4 ,thus for one or both of the     
parties a marriage that is persisted in 
without the love of one or both causes  
profound suffering either through this  
humiliation or through lifelong         
celibacy4  ,this is the kernel of the   
question1 which is avoided by all who1  
in their care for the children1 forget  
that the parents must nevertheless be   
considered as an end in themselves4 ,it 

is not asked that for the sake of the   
children they should commit other       
crimes2 thus a woman who committed      
forgery to support her child would be   
disapproved of4 ,but other women are    
judged leniently who 8for the sake of   
their children0 feel themselves         
prostituted year after year in their    
marriage4  ,that married people are to  
be found who continue to live as        
friends1 since the erotic needs of both 
are small2 that others do not feel the  
humiliation of cohabitation without     
love2 that the former as well as the    
latter are probably acting best for the 
children in keeping together a home for 
them--this does not prevent others under
 similar circumstances from suffering in
 such a way that life loses all its     
value4 ,and these are they who end      
either in adultery or divorce4  ,even if
 an enemy of divorce admits these       
difficulties1 he replies1 that the      
individual must still suffer for his    
erotic as for his other mistakes1 since 

only so can people be taught not to     
commit mistakes4  ,but the true state of
 the case may be1 that just as in old   
times murders increased in proportion to
 the number of executions people        
witnessed1 so unhappy marriages may     
become more frequent1 the more there are
 at present2 for it is1 above all1 the  
whole spirit that prevails around us    
which determines our action4 ,if the    
young are accustomed to see their elders
 content with false and ugly relations1 
they will learn to be so likewise4 ,if  
they see around them an aspiration      
towards ideal conditions in love--an    
idealism which is revealed now in a     
beautiful married life1 now in the      
dissolution of one that is not          
beautiful--then their ideals will also  
be lofty4 ,those again1 who have once   
made a mistake1 will perhaps be more    
clear-sighted if they choose again4     
,but neither those who make mistakes nor
 those who witness them can be saved by 
the misfortunes of others from that     

great source of error1 erotic illusion4 
,and until erotic sympathy has become   
more refined1 these mistakes are the    
most innocent of all4 ,every lover      
believes himself to be exempted from the
 sacrifice of illusion and no experience
 of the irretrievable erotic mistakes of
 others has ever opened the eyes of one 
blinded by love4  ,as it is recognised  
that society ought to make the lives of 
all as valuable as possible1 this       
involves the claim that innocent        
mistakes should cause as little ruin as 
need be4  ,in marriage as in other      
fields1 the modern principle must be put
 in force1 that punishment should       
improve the faulty and prepare the way  
for a higher idea of justice4 ,but this 
higher idea is that marriage should be  
contracted under gradually improving    
conditions1 not that it should continue 
under gradually deteriorating           
influences4  ,marriage under constraint 
forces people to continue their         
cohabitation and to bring children into 

the world in a revolt of the soul which 
must leave its mark in their children's 
nature and thus influence their future  
destiny4 ,but this is not a             
8well-deserved punishment0 for a        
mistake3 it is the profoundest violation
 of the sanctity of the personality and 
of the race4  ,here as ever the only    
logical alternative is full individual  
liberty or unconditional surrender4     
,the ,catholic ,church maintains--and   
rightly from its own point of           
view--that1 since even marriages entered
 into with the warmest love and under   
the most favourable conditions may turn 
out unhappily1 it is impossible to base 
the morality of marriage on the emotion 
of love4 ,nothing that is founded upon  
emotion can be permanent4 ,nay1 the     
richer1 the more individually and       
universally developed a personality is1 
the less immutable will be the state of 
its soul4 ,thus even the highest need an
 inflexible law1 an irremovable tie1 to 
prevent their being at the mercy of     

winds and waves through their emotions1 
while inferior beings need them so as   
not to be driven out of their course by 
their desires4 ,the concessions of      
,protestantism1 therefore1 lead to the  
dissolution of marriage1 since when love
 is made the basis of marriage it is    
built upon sand4  ,marriage1 which the  
,church therefore made a sacrament and  
indissoluble1 had already become the    
legal expression of the husband's right 
of private ownership over his wife and  
children4 ,the course of development has
 consisted in an unceasing              
transformation of this                  
religio-economical view1 and development
 cannot stop until the last remnant of  
this conception has been destroyed4     
,therefore the believers in ,life refuse
 to admit either the half-admissions of 
,protestantism or the logical compulsion
 of ,catholicism4 ,they demand that the 
step from authority to freedom shall be 
taken outright1 since they know that the
 external authority which simplifies    

life does not create the deeper         
morality4 ,compulsion fetters legal     
freedom of action1 but thereby only     
makes secret crime a social institution4
  ,and even if a husband or a wife has  
outwardly overcome a temptation1 this   
will not prevent that individual when in
 the embrace of the lawful spouse from  
being filled with feeling for another4  
,have they then avoided adultery8 ,not  
according to their own finest           
consciousness--that consciousness which 
,goethe aroused in his great poem on    
elective affinities4 ,duties performed  
may as surely as those left undone      
produce incalculable and tragic results4
 ,they are foolish who think they can   
lead another soul across the bridge1    
fine as a hair and sharp as a           
knife-edge1 by which every one goes his 
solitary way over the abyss to          
salvation3 the way of the choice of     
personal conscience4  ,when custom and  
law deprive a human being of full       
freedom of choice in the matters of most

 profound personal concern--his belief1 
his work1 and his love--then existence  
is robbed of greater values than those  
the compulsory fulfilment of duty can   
bring in4   ,in love1 the idea of       
personality has now brought us to the   
view that 8property is theft02 that only
 free gifts are of value2 that the ideas
 of connubial 8rights0 and 8duties0 are 
to be exchanged for the great           
reconstructive thought1 that fidelity   
can never be promised1 but that indeed  
it may be won every day4  ,this will    
give the motive power for the attainment
 of ever higher forms of erotic         
organisation a power which the          
,buddha-like calm of indissoluble       
marriage has left unused4  ,it is sad   
that this truth--which was already clear
 to the noble minds of the ,courts of   
,love--should still need proclaiming2   
for one of the reasons given in these   
,courts for love being impossible in    
marriage is this3 that woman cannot     
expect from her husband the delicate    

conduct that a lover must show1 since   
the latter only receives by favour what 
the husband takes as his right4  ,when  
divorce becomes free1 the attention to  
each other's emotions1 the delicacy of  
conduct and the desire to captivate by  
being always new1 which belong to the   
period of engagement1 will be continued 
in married life4 ,as in the early days  
of love1 each will allow the other full 
freedom in all essential manifestations 
of life1 but will exercise control over 
his own casual moods1 whereas marriage  
now as a rule reverses this happy state 
of things4  ,the security of possession 
now puts to sleep the eagerness of      
acquisition2 the compulsion to win anew 
will brace the energy in this as in     
every other connection4  ,a fidelity    
thus won will be the only sort that will
 be thought worth having in the future4 
,a craving for happiness more sensitive 
than the present may one day marvel at  
the legally insured fidelity of our     
time1 as at its inheritance of wealth4  

,in both cases it will have been seen   
that only one's exertion of force brings
 happiness and gives that felicity of   
victory before which hands stretched out
 to steal shrink back4  ,the believers  
in ,life are everywhere distinguished by
 their determination to give to every   
relation the value of the unique1 the   
stamp of the exceptional1 that which has
 never been before and will never come  
again4 ,like the worshippers of ,life of
 the ,renaissance1 those of our time    
have begun to recover the power of      
strong enjoyment and strong suffering   
which is always the sign of increasing  
spiritual unity1 a new gathering of     
force through a new religious feeling4  
,to this view of life the permanence of 
happiness will be less important than   
its completeness while it lasts4        
,spinoza1 who described jealousy as no  
one else has done1 has also uttered this
 deep saying of love3 ,the greater the  
emotion we hope that the loved one will 
experience through us1 and the more the 

loved one is moved by joy in his        
relation to us1 the greater also will be
 our own happiness in love4  ,people of 
the present day have begun to           
distinguish the idea of this 8greatest  
joy0 from lifelong proprietorship2 and  
therewith jealousy in its lower form has
 begun to disappear4  ,jealousy like    
other shadows belongs to the rising and 
setting light and disappears like them  
in the full clearness of noonday4 ,but  
its tone of feeling has become quite    
different since man has discovered that1
 if the sun stands still in the zenith  
for him1 it is a miracle--not a right4  
,the most highly developed people of the
 present day say 8,i am loved0 or 8,i am
 not loved0 with the same simplicity as 
they say the sun shines or does not     
shine4 ,the difference is in both cases 
immeasurable1 but in one case as in the 
other1 necessity removes the feeling of 
humiliation4 ,the grief which comes when
 a lover no longer feels that he brings 
joy to the beloved or when he sees      

another bring it1 is natural and worthy 
of respect4 ,it ceases to be so when it 
manifests itself in the will of an      
avaricious proprietor1 the brutal       
instinct which often survives not only  
the feeling of the other but also its   
own4  ,but although the psychological   
differentiation in our time involves    
greater possibilities of finding some   
one who will satisfy some side of the   
erotic longing1--while it is more and   
more difficult to find one who wholly   
satisfies this ever more complex        
desire1--the danger of such division of 
self is counterbalanced by the growing  
wish for the longing to be wholly       
satisfied4 ,love by thus making ever    
greater demands becomes at the same time
 ever more faithful4  ,those who dread  
the dissolution of society through the  
insistence upon the rights of love1 do  
not reflect that its right to break up  
marriage is allowed to the feeling1     
which has not only the red glow of      
passion1 but also the clearness through 

which two people have become conscious  
of each other as a revelation of the    
whole unsuspected richness of life4 ,a  
revelation which included all the       
fulness of comprehension1 all the       
serenity of confidence2 where both have 
given with equal exactingness and       
generosity--not meagrely or             
hesitatingly1 but so that each without  
reserve has rushed to meet the          
other--this is the only happiness that  
love's noblemen will now experience4 ,it
 will be more and more difficult even to
 experience it once--how much more so   
then to find it many times6  ,a great   
love is never like the erotic           
thunderstorms which move against the    
wind--that is to say1 against the whole 
disposition of the personality in other 
things4  ,all valuable feelings--whether
 entertained for a person1 a belief1 a  
place1 or a country--are conservative4  
,the consciousness of this gives the    
preacher of liberty his boldness4 ,he   
never perceives how liberty may be      

abused1 since he knows what it costs to 
loosen a heart from what it has once    
embraced4  ,to a volatile nature1 the   
happiness that a more steadfast one     
experiences in love is as unfathomable  
as the bliss of the mystic becoming     
absorbed into the fulness of his        
divinity is to the polytheist4  ,here1  
as everywhere1 to the believer in ,life1
 happiness is one with morality4 ,since 
happiness consists in the greatest      
emotions1 its first condition is to     
intensify and enlarge all feelings1 and 
above all that which leads to marriage4 
,but in addition1 the whole standard of 
personality depends to a great extent   
upon whether we consider fidelity a     
life-value4 ,he who desires fidelity    
centres his moods and his powers upon   
what is essential and protects them from
 the gusts of the accidental4 ,only this
 gives style and greatness to existence4
 ,the desire of fidelity is therefore   
one with a person's feeling for his own 
integrity1 his inward consistency1 the  

attitude and dignity of his spiritual   
being4  ,when fidelity is preserved for 
these profound reasons1 it will also be 
broken only for the same reasons4 ,a    
fidelity1 on the other hand1 which rests
 upon conventional notions of duty1 will
 be in the fire like a fire-escape of   
straw4  ,it is moreover forgotten1 in   
all discussions of the dangers of free  
divorce1 that under the influence of    
love the whole disposition of the soul  
is towards fidelity4 ,great love absorbs
 all associations of ideas and thus     
without conscious exertion intensifies  
and enlarges the personality4 ,fidelity 
will be a necessary condition of love1  
but a condition whose psychological     
continuance is not favoured by coercive 
marriage4  ,fidelity towards one's      
self--also in the new sense of the      
word--thus involves not only the ability
 in case of need to destroy the bridge  
between one's self and one's past4 ,it  
also implies the building of better     
bridges to strengthen the connection    

between our personality and our present4
 ,it implies not only the capacity to   
have finished with a destiny2 but also  
that of not having done too soon with a 
person4 ,it may certainly involve the   
necessity of a new experiment in life4  
,but still more certainly it involves   
the need of not allowing the incidental 
numbness of one's feeling to seduce one 
to new 8experiences40 ,this             
expression--in place of the old word    
8adventures0--implies1 moreover1 an     
intensification of feeling3 where       
formerly only the excitement of         
8adventure0 was looked for1 a richer    
element of life is now sought4 ,but it  
is often a fatal error to suppose that  
this is to be gained in new relations1  
when on the contrary it might have been 
won by an intensification of the former 
ones4 ,by more attention to and respect 
for the other's personality one may     
often discover more than one had        
expected2 for some people are like      
certain landscapes or works of art3 they

 do not begin to make an impression     
until one thinks one has done with them4
 ,but piety is required to await the    
revelations of soul as of a work4 ,piety
 implies contemplation1 and this demands
 peace4 ,but peace is difficult to find 
in our time1 whose misfortune is        
precisely disturbance and amusement4    
,that our time like every other has its 
particular epidemics in the erotic      
sphere1 is certain1 and disturbance is  
just the condition in which the most    
dangerous of these find a favourable    
soil4 ,it is therefore a part of the    
erotic art of living that a married     
couple should now and then pass some    
time undisturbed in each other's        
company--or separately and alone--in    
order thus to strengthen the health of  
their feelings4 ,here as in other things
 external precautions against infection 
are unimportant in comparison with care 
of the general health4  ,only he who1   
after unceasing effort and patient      
self-examination1 can say that he has   

used all his resources of goodness and  
understanding2 put into his married life
 all his desire of happiness and all his
 vigilance2 tried every possibility of  
enlarging the other's nature1 and yet   
has been unsuccessful1--only he can with
 an easy conscience give up his married 
life4   ,the life-tree of a human being 
is formed1 no more than are the trees of
 the forest1 according to a strict      
measure for the length of the branches  
or a pattern for the shape of the       
leaves4 ,like nature's trees1 its beauty
 depends upon the freedom of the boughs 
to take unexpected curves1 upon the     
disposition of the leaves to exhibit an 
infinite diversity of shape4 ,only he   
who does not permit the tree to grow    
according to its own inner laws1 but    
clips it according to those of          
gardening1 can be sure of not preparing 
surprises for himself and others1 when  
one branch unexpectedly shoots out and  
another equally unaccountably withers4  
,no one can answer for the              

transformations to which life thus may  
subject his own nature2 nor for the     
changes which the transformation of     
another's nature may effect in his own  
feeling4 ,he may possess the rarest     
disposition to fidelity1 the most       
sincere desire to concentrate himself   
upon his love1 to 8let his personality  
grow around it1 as about its core0--it  
nevertheless does not depend upon his   
will alone whether this core shall      
shrivel or be corrupted4  ,therefore the
 desire of fidelity can not1 must not1  
and ought not to imply more than the    
will to be true to the deepest needs of 
one's own personality4  ,in other       
spheres than that of love1 people admit 
this freely4 ,nobody considers it an    
unquestionable duty for a young man to  
find at once the view of life or the    
career in which he can continue for the 
rest of his life4 ,what young people are
 rightly warned against is the wandering
 without method among different opinions
 or undertakings2 for only that belief  

or that work which one seriously tries  
to live by and live for can really      
employ the powers of the personality and
 thus show its efficacy in enhancing    
them4 ,but the most profound seriousness
 cannot prevent a continued development 
of the personality from one day         
compelling the man to abandon that      
belief or that work4 ,it probably would 
not occur to a thoughtful clergyman to  
appeal to such a man's promises at      
confirmation1 or to a thoughtful father 
to bring forward his own choice of a    
career as an example to his son4        
,lifelong tenacity was demanded in those
 days when it was assumed that a single 
doctrine1 a single set of circumstances1
 was entirely adequate for personal     
development for a whole lifetime4 ,the  
crime of deviation was then logically   
punished by excommunication or by fines4
 ,but the profounder view which we have 
acquired in the matters of belief and   
occupation must also be extended to the 
third4 ,we ought to perceive that       

unconditional fidelity to one person may
 be just as disastrous to the           
personality as unconditional continuance
 in a faith or an employment4 ,those who
 are now patching the sack-cloth of     
asceticism with a few shreds from the   
purple mantle of personality are        
spoiling both4 ,either state the claim  
of renunciation clearly1 like the       
,catholic1 or admit the whole claim of  
personality4 ,but the whole problem is  
unfairly stated by those who make       
8personal love0 the moral basis of      
marriage1 but go on to speak of this    
love as though it were a question of    
light-heartedly taking partners for a   
game1 where nothing is more usual than  
that each woman finds the right man and 
each man the right woman--and so        
everything is in order4 ,if life were so
 easy1 there would be reason for the    
pronouncements1 which are now so        
profoundly coarse1 that only the man or 
woman without character1 the aimless    
personality1 is incapable of vowing a   

lifelong love and keeping the promise2  
nay1 that a true personality can        
8command itself to love its child's     
father or mother40  ,he who asserts that
 our true personality will always follow
 the duty laid down by society and      
constantly be able to fulfil the claims 
of fidelity1 and that those who cannot  
do this are guided by a false           
subjectivity and not by their           
personality1 makes the idea of          
personality equivalent to that of member
 of society1 the whole equivalent to the
 part4 ,the personality1 the unique and 
peculiar value1 is certainly connected  
through part of its nature with the     
standards of right upheld by society4   
,yet it never becomes equivalent to     
them4  ,the only thing therefore that a 
psychological thinker can demand is that
 love should not divide the personality 
in any phase of a human being's         
development1 but should always be its   
true expression4  ,but only one who is  
ignorant of the idea of personality can 

believe that the relation1 into which a 
person at the age of twenty puts his    
whole feeling1 must necessarily         
correspond to the needs of the same     
personality as it becomes at thirty or  
forty4 ,only one so ignorant can        
persuade himself that the destiny of our
 love will necessarily resemble our     
lofty theory of love1 our pure desire of
 constancy4 ,if even our own will has   
little to do with the love we feel1 how 
much less then will it influence that   
which we receive or lose6  ,thus the    
problem of fidelity is not solved merely
 by imposing the claim of constancy upon
 one's self2 for in the first place1 in 
love there are two who must desire the  
same thing1 and in the second1 each of  
these two is manifold4  ,no human being 
is sole master of his fate when he has  
united it with another's4 ,the          
possibility of becoming a complete      
personality in and through love depends 
in half upon the pure and whole desire  
of the other to share in developing the 

common life4  ,it is this which is      
overlooked by the eloquent preachers of 
8constancy as the expression of the     
personality10 and this makes their words
 about the duty of lifelong love as     
meaningless as a harangue about the duty
 of lifelong health4  ,it is a beautiful
 sight when two married people enjoy the
 happiness of their love for the whole  
day of human life4 ,it is also a        
beautiful sight when life sets like a   
clear sun upon the horizon1 and does not
 lose itself like a weary river in the  
sand4 ,but these are beautiful ideals   
not commands of duty4  ,love1 like      
health1 can certainly be neglected or   
cared for1 and by good care the average 
length of life both of human beings and 
of their loves may be raised4  ,but the 
final causes both of love's birth and of
 its death are as mysterious as those of
 the origin and cessation of life4 ,a   
person can therefore no more promise to 
love or not to love than he can promise 
to live long4 ,what he can promise is to

 take good care of his life and of his  
love4   ,this may be done1 as already   
pointed out1 through the conscious will 
to be faithful1 the firm resolve to make
 love a great experience4  ,but perhaps 
the majority as yet do little to        
preserve their happiness4 ,in this case1
 life works for them1 as ,god 8gives to 
his servants1 while they sleep40  ,if   
ever the doctrine of the importance of  
the infinitely small has its            
application1 it is in respect to the    
power the little things of everyday life
 have of uniting or dividing in         
marriage4  ,that hardships and memories1
 joys and sorrows shared bind people    
together even without the continuance of
 love2 that in the deepest sense of the 
word they cannot be separated1 since a  
great part of the one's nature remains  
in the other's--this in reality forms   
the binding tie1 but not ideas of duty1 
whether clear or obscure1 strict or     
free4 ,if in one case a married life has
 so dried up the feelings of both that a

 gust of wind drives them apart like two
 withered leaves1 in another it may have
 given the feelings such deep roots     
that1 even if all the leaves that the   
springtime gave are torn away1 even if  
life seems as empty and cold as naked   
boughs in winter--it is still lived in  
common4  ,it is thus a physiological and
 psychological fact that the man or     
woman who for the first time has        
communicated to the other the joys of   
the senses retains a power over her or  
him which is never really set aside4 ,it
 is even said that long after a man's   
death a woman sometimes bears children  
to another man which resemble the first4
 ,as such influences are more decided in
 the case of the woman1 her fidelity has
 also for this reason become more of a  
natural necessity than man's--although  
the same influence1 if in a somewhat    
less degree1 applies to him4  ,even if  
no qualms of conscience for others'     
sufferings are mingled with a new       
happiness--in many other senses the two1

 who in each other seek to forget the   
past of one of them1 will perhaps for   
ever find a third between them4         
,marriage1 in a word1 has such sure     
allies in man's psycho-physical         
conditions of life that one need not be 
afraid of freedom of divorce becoming   
equivalent to polygamy4 ,what this      
freedom would abolish is only lifelong  
slavery4   ,it is evident to every      
thoughtful person that a real sexual    
morality is almost impossible without   
early marriage2 for simply to refer the 
young to abstinence as the true solution
 of the problem is1 as we have already  
maintained1 a crime against the young   
and against the race1 a crime which     
makes the primitive force of nature1 the
 fire of life1 into a destructive       
element4  ,but the consequence of early 
marriages must be free divorce4  ,as    
soon as one approaches the outer side of
 the marriage problem1 one is met by the
 experience which the four great        
,norwegian writers1 ,ibsen1 ,bjrnson1   

,lie1 and ,kielland1 some years ago     
jointly and publicly announced3 that at 
present the majority do not marry for   
love4 ,and ,r4 ,l4 ,stevenson may have  
hit the mark1 when he calls the         
marriages of the majority 8a kind of    
friendship sanctioned by the police0 and
 compares the 8fancy0 which decides them
 to that which sometimes takes one for a
 particular fruit in a dish that is     
being handed round4  ,but even if we one
 day come so far that early love-matches
 are the rule1 we shall still be faced1 
as regards them1 by the system which at 
present obtains among the upper classes3
 that marriage is binding upon the      
lovers before love is consummated4      
,there is therefore a truth worthy of   
consideration in the words of the       
brothers ,margueritte1 in their         
contribution to the question of free    
divorce2 that as the young girl has not 
experienced what she binds herself to at
 marriage1 the majority of divorces     
begin on the wedding night4  ,free      

divorce is therefore an unconditional   
demand of such young people who know    
that unforeseen transformations may take
 place in the sphere of the soul as in  
that of the senses1 and who now         
frequently seek in the secret possession
 of love a security against a           
precipitancy which the legal bond of    
marriage may make irretrievable4  ,the  
young know1 if any can know1 that no    
form of love is more beautiful than that
 in which two young people find each    
other so early that they do not even    
know when their feeling was born1 and   
accompany each other through all their  
fortunes1 sometimes even to death--for  
now and then life vouchsafes this       
crowning fortune4 ,never do greater     
possibilities exist for the happiness   
both of the individuals and of the race 
than in a love which begins so early    
that the two can grow together in a     
common development2 when they possess   
all the memories of youth as well as all
 the aims of the future in common2 when 

the shadow of a third has never fallen  
across the path of either2 when their   
children in turn dream of the great love
 they have seen radiating from their    
parents4  ,these happy ones--like the   
old couple in ,bernard's fine fresco in 
the mairie of the ,louvre arrondissement
 in ,paris--will one day look up to the 
stars of the winter twilight1 united in 
a more intimate devotion than either the
 playtime of the spring morning or the  
midday toil could afford4  ,if this     
wonderful love were really the first and
 only one which fell to the lot of every
 young man and woman1 and were it always
 possible for them to realise it at the 
right time--then there would neither be 
a problem of morality nor of divorce4   
,but the youth of the present day knows 
that this love is not the fortune of    
all4 ,it has learned so much1 from      
literature1 from life1 from its own     
soul1 of the transformations of love1   
that one is tempted to wish for these   
young people the romantic belief of     

their fathers and mothers in a love     
which became extinct as easily as now4  
,the difference is merely this1 that    
whereas formerly they were content with 
a faded glow1 we will have continual    
fire4  ,it is known now that1 although  
youthful love may be the surest basis of
 marriage1 it is more often the reverse4
 ,here1 if anywhere1 is the scene of    
accidents4 ,the one we have grown up    
with1 the girl or youth we are thrown   
with just when the erotic life is       
waking2 the one we were teased about2   
the one we hear is 8in love0 with us2   
the one we meet when the happiness of   
others fills the air with longing--these
 and other accidents1 but not personal  
choice1 often decide youthful love4     
,then the imagination sets to work to   
transform the reality in accordance with
 the ideal we have formed for           
ourselves--and even this is often the   
result of accidental influence4 ,it is  
therefore not surprising that most      
people1 when after ten years or so they 

meet again the object of their first    
love1 give a sigh of gratitude to the   
fate which made that love 8unhappy40    
,when it has not been so in the usual   
sense of the word1 one of the parties   
may often be most to be pitied1 and it  
is just those young people who          
unhesitatingly realise their love in the
 belief of its lifelong continuance1    
that in coercive marriage are made the  
victims of their own pure will1 their   
healthy courage1 their bright idealism4 
,for the younger1 in the richest sense  
of the word1 a person is1 the more      
certainly does he possess the poet's    
gift which transforms reality according 
to his dreams4 ,the fine curve of a pair
 of lips renews the marvel of the       
legend3 that every frog that jumps over 
them is changed into a rose4 ,even if a 
dim suspicion awakes1 when every serious
 thought or intimate feeling is met by  
empty silence or equally empty          
loquacity1 the imagination easily       
convinces the instinct that silence     

means 8profundity of intelligence10 or  
speech 8candour40 ,at every age1 but    
especially at this1 love is a great     
superstition4 ,secure as sleep-walkers  
in the presence of danger1 its votaries 
fling themselves into a decision4 ,and  
it is this simple rashness of innocence 
that the current conception of morality 
subjects to a lifelong punishment4 ,the 
cautious ones1 on the other hand1 often 
find in time the great rewards--thanks  
to their own smaller value4  ,more      
things happen in a human life than      
marriage and finally death4 ,much may   
happen in a human soul between marriage 
and death4 ,the current assumption that 
everything which separates a person from
 the partner in matrimony is evil and   
ought to be overcome2 everything which  
binds him to her good and ought to be   
encouraged--this is part of the wisdom  
which reduces life to the simplest      
terms1 which is cheap and therefore most
 in use2 for a higher wisdom demands a  
higher price4  ,nothing is commoner1    

especially for the woman whose first    
experience of love is in marriage1 than 
that she is in love with love and not   
her husband4 ,sometimes woman is        
betrayed by her senses1 but more often  
by the morning dew of sensibility1 which
 youth and love spread over even the    
driest of men's souls1--a dew which     
disappears with the morning4 ,another   
illusion1 which in these days of        
intercommunication causes many mistakes 
in love1 is the peculiarity of a foreign
 nationality1 which has the effect of a 
personal originality--until it gradually
 betrays itself as only another kind of 
conformity than that one is used to4    
,in other cases again1 the husband is   
all she sees in him4 ,but a young woman 
herself often goes through1 during the  
years from twenty to twenty-five1 so    
complete a transformation of feelings   
and ways of thought1 that after a few   
years of marriage she finds herself in  
the presence of a man who is a perfect  
stranger to her4  ,this period of       

illusions in first youth is answered by 
another towards the close of youth4 ,if 
a woman has not before experienced love1
 this is the psychological moment at    
which almost every illusion is possible4
 ,her now universal demands of love1 the
 longing of her mature woman's nature1  
have countless times made a noble       
creature cast these pearls--if not      
exactly as described in the biblical    
image--at least into an empty space     
where they have just as surely been     
unappreciated4  ,on man's side1 there   
are other or corresponding possibilities
 that early marriage may be founded on  
self-deception4  ,but even when love is 
real and well-founded1 there yet arise1 
from the charm of contradictions already
 referred to1 innumerable occasions of  
incurable discord4  ,thus there are     
natures so simple that they become      
crippled1 so uncomplex that they are    
foolish1 so homogeneous as to be heavy4 
,these are they who usually love once   
for all1 with complete devotion4 ,but1  

especially when they are women1         
,goethe's words are often true of them3 
that a woman's greatest misfortune is   
not to be charming when she loves4 ,only
 complete security gives these natures  
the calm of equilibrium1 the courage of 
self-confidence1 which calls forth the  
8smile of inward happiness0 whereby they
 also become attractive4 ,but these     
natures1 who of all most deserve        
happiness1 usually meet with some person
 of constantly changing moods1 who      
reacts with extreme sensitiveness to    
every impression1 but can never love    
deeply1 and therefore is soon unable to 
bear that simplicity and seriousness in 
life and death which at first charmed by
 their contrast4  ,such people are often
 poets or artists1 who in love seek only
 constant stimulation4 ,to them loving  
means 8waking in the morning with new   
words on one's lips10 and their erotic  
fortunes therefore show a rapidity of   
revolution comparable with that of the  
moons around ,mars4 ,just as for certain

 natures1 a connection originally       
frivolous may become permanent1 held    
together by depth of feeling1 so for    
this class of natures--on account of the
 superficiality of their feelings--no   
kind of connection is serious4  ,it is  
not unfrequently those who give the     
finest descriptions of their soulful    
moods and their exquisite feelings1 who 
in their acts of love are narrowly      
selfish or relentlessly harsh4 ,for it  
is the impressions of culture stored in 
their intelligence which determine their
 conscious utterances1 but1 on the other
 hand1 it is their subconscious ego that
 decides their actions4 ,and this ego is
 often centuries behind their cultured  
consciousness4 ,he1 on the other hand1  
who is reticent and curt of speech or   
dull and awkward in manners may at      
bottom possess a delicacy which he can  
show only in actions1 the others only in
 words4 ,but unfortunately in our time  
opportunities for speech are many and   
for action few--and so women pass over  

the latter for the former4 ,how many a  
woman has not afterwards--before some   
act of the man of words--asked herself  
how it was possible for her ever to love
 that man6 ,how many a one1 before the  
actions of the silent1 has not sighed1  
,what a pity that ,i was never able to  
love him6  ,but in one case as in the   
other1 through the law of contrasts1 she
 was united to him and feels in this    
union the death or paralysis of the best
 possibilities of her being4  ,the most 
misleading of illusions are1 however1   
those which are fostered by the actions 
love produces2 for it is not these which
 determine the quality of a personality4
 ,while love is fighting for its        
happiness it may transform an ordinary  
person into something higher than       
himself1 as also into something lower4  
,when the tension is relieved1 it is    
seen that in the former case--especially
 as regards men--love was able to    444
 unmake him from a common man   ,but not
 complete him to an uncommon one4444    

,it was no organic growth of the        
personality1 but only a straining of    
self that love called forth4  ,but she  
who loved him will watch till her eyes  
are weary for what she has seen but     
once6  ,those who have loved them deeply
 learn from these1 in one way or        
another1 inadequate persons the most    
dearly-bought truth in the knowledge of 
human nature1 a truth that the heart    
acknowledges last of all3 that even if  
we poured out our own blood in streams  
for any one--we could not thereby give  
him a drop of richer or more noble blood
 than is found in his own heart4  ,many 
have learned this secret in that kind of
 marriage1 where secure friendship and  
faithful comradeship abounded2 just     
those feelings1 in fact1 which are      
recommended as the infallible remedy for
 love's mistakes4  ,how often has not   
one of these married people active for  
and with the other1 found out that they 
never bring their mate into spiritual   
activity1 that the soul of one has never

 reached the soul of the other8 ,outside
 observers think them suited like 8hand 
in glove40 ,the image is significant1   
for a glove is empty and meaningless    
when it does not enclose a hand4 ,but   
like hand to hand they are not suited6  
,therefore it not unfrequently occurs   
that some day one of them is seized by a
 passionate longing to meet with another
 hand1 which shall be strongly and      
quietly grasped in his own and thus     
double its power2 that the voice1 which 
has continually spoken into empty       
space--whence a faithful echo has       
unfailingly answered--will finally be   
dumb from the longing to receive an     
answer from another voice1 in words that
 were never heard before4  ,not a few   
marriages include men who have had such 
fine thoughts1 dreamed such fair dreams 
of woman1 that they have desired to win 
her senses only through her soul and    
have disdained to offer her other than  
their best1 the richest treasures of    
their personality4 ,but perhaps such a  

man has a wife who understands only     
money-making and desires only the       
pleasures of love4 ,if he offers all the
 glories of his soul1 she does not even 
suspect when a mood is at its height2   
for her silence is never eloquent2 she  
is incapable of waiting for another's   
thought2 has no patience with what is   
difficult of comprehension1 and will    
always receive the unusual with dull    
misunderstanding or gay superiority4    
,the gulf perhaps began to open between 
them when one became aware of the       
other's absence at a moment when he     
himself was most present2 or when one   
felt that their bodies stood between    
their souls1 the other that their souls 
stood between their bodies2 or when one 
felt a restriction of liberty from the  
other's superior spiritual or sensual   
force2 or when one found that he could  
never show his innermost being without  
its putting the other out of humour4    
,thus two persons1 each one innocent1   
may make each other profoundly solitary 

while sharing the same bed and board4   
,neither receives from the other what   
his innermost nature needs--and what one
 gives is only a constraint upon the    
other's nature4 ,not a note in the soul 
of one is tuned to the same pitch as the
 other's2 not a movement in the blood of
 one is capable of enrapturing the      
other's4 ,now it is unbearable          
dissimilarities1 now unbearable         
similarities1 that cause the trouble2   
each finds in the other 8all the virtues
 he detests but none of the faults he   
loves40 ,with all this1 perfect outward 
peace may prevail2 nay1 respect and     
devotion in a certain sense4 ,that this 
is the fortune of innumerable marriages 
is overlooked in general1 since married 
life usually continues--unless a third  
appears4  ,in the ideas of the ,church1 
the incapacity for marriage of one party
 freed the other from the duty of       
fidelity4 ,in the more spiritual view of
 the future it will be equally evident  
that the same right exists to dissolve a

 marriage which has remained            
unconsummated in a spiritual sense2 and 
there may be just as many possibilities 
of incapacity to fulfil the spiritual   
claims of marriage as there are men and 
women2 therefore also just as many      
causes of divorce4   ,in the preceding  
pages only certain typical cases of     
unhappiness have been referred to4 ,the 
many tragic exceptions are here left    
altogether on one side4 ,so also are    
those causes of divorce which the       
preachers of monogamy call the 8real    
misfortunes03 drunkenness1 bodily       
cruelty1 and the like2 for with the     
customary realism of 8idealism10 they   
admit these as valid reasons for        
divorce4 ,it is significant that among  
the lower classes people still often    
think themselves bound to bear these    
misfortunes as a part of the            
miscalculations of marriage as          
unavoidable as those more complex       
sufferings which the champions of       
monogamy exhort people on a higher plane

 to endure4 ,the pangs a soul suffers   
may1 they think1 be borne with ,god's   
help1 whereas unfortunately ,god is not 
in the habit of interfering when a man  
beats his wife2 and the longer a soul   
has suffered1 the more certain are they 
that it can continue to suffer4  ,nor do
 they perceive that a relationship may  
have seemed good--perhaps even have been
 good1--until1 after a lapse of years1 a
 moment has arrived which has stripped  
the soul of one of them naked1 sometimes
 in all its loftiness1 more often in all
 its baseness4 ,if the latter1 then what
 was possible before becomes from that  
hour unthinkable4  ,that the soul may be
 confronted by such an alternative1 of  
life or death1 they will not admit4 ,the
 soul1 they say1 is 8a spirit10 an      
8invisible and imperishable entity40    
,that its conditions of life are just as
 variable and complex as those of the   
organism is1 to a certain sort of       
8idealism10 meaningless4 ,with ,god's   
help1 they say1 everyone may save his   

soul4 ,but such help is in this kind of 
peril as uncertain as it is in peril of 
the sea--and even in the latter case it 
is not 8the votive tablets of the       
drowned1 but only those of the saved1   
that one sees in the temple0            
7,nietzsche74   ,it is1 however1        
especially when a man or woman is       
divorced in order to contract a fresh   
marriage that an outcry is raised over  
the weakness of the age in bearing      
suffering4 ,indeed1 it is not even      
acknowledged that marriage may involve  
any suffering4 ,even those who have     
hitherto found a married couple         
extremely ill-suited1 forget at once    
that they did so--should either of them 
8allow a third person to come between   
them40  ,they forget not only their own 
former judgment but also the fact taught
 by experience1 that when two married   
people are wholly one1 there is no room 
for a third between the bark and the    
tree4 ,in the contrary case1 a third    
comes between them sooner or later4     

,sometimes it is the child1 sometimes a 
life's work1 sometimes a new            
feeling--but something always comes1    
thanks to nature's 8abhorrence of a     
vacuum10 which is never more fatal than 
in marriage4 ,within the dimensions of  
the soul1 as within those of space1 no  
one can take the place of another1 but  
can occupy only that space which another
 has left empty or not been able to     
retain4  ,in the latter case it is fair 
to admit the indirect share of          
literature in the inconsiderateness of  
those without an erotic conscience4 ,the
 idea of justice in love has had to be  
extended4 ,but during this removal of   
the boundaries1 which literature is     
carrying out1 a general insecurity has  
set in4  ,poetry performs with the      
fullest freedom its duty of             
investigating the secrets of love1      
according to which souls and senses are 
attracted and repelled in answer to that
 law of elective affinity which our time
 is seeking more and more eagerly to    

discover1 in order to be able to direct 
the erotic forces to a higher           
development4 ,literature is the foremost
 of these discoverers2 and this in      
itself is enough to justify that        
complete freedom1 without which1        
moreover1 it cannot become what ,georg  
,brandes has called love-poetry3 the    
finest instrument for gauging the       
strength and warmth of the emotional    
life of a period4  ,that literature is  
often the power which gives rise to     
erotic agitation1 is self-evident4 ,and 
thus it always co-operates in some      
measure in the misfortunes which are    
caused by loves of the imagination or   
the intellect1 misfortunes which are    
avoided by the firm and mature          
personality4 ,the weak1 on the other    
hand1 are those who in their loves as in
 their beliefs adopt the course that    
another's influence gives them4  ,like  
lawn-tennis--which in certain circles   
makes or mars marriages--love is        
favoured by summer air and idleness4    

,but at all seasons there are men and   
women for whom everyone is a ball that  
sets their fancy or their vanity in     
motion4 ,no form of self-assertion is   
more justified than that of opposing    
one's vigilance1 one's will1 and one's  
dignity to this use of one's            
personality4 ,what stimulates the game  
is not the power of the senses alone4   
,no1 this game is the sole inventive    
faculty of spiritual poverty1 the mark  
of erotic ill-breeding4 ,only a refined 
person can rejoice at the stimulants to 
life in every field1 the means of which 
he does not himself possess4 ,as yet few
 people have attained a culture like    
that of the ,athenian beggar1 who       
thanked ,alcibiades for giving him the  
jewels that ,alcibiades indeed wore--but
 that the beggar was free to rejoice at4
 ,to attain in regard to human beings   
this sense of joy1 free from all        
covetousness1 is the flower of fine     
breeding4  ,but the nervosity of the    
present day stimulates1 on the contrary1

 erotic kleptomania4 ,people steal one  
another1 now from the same kind of      
hysteria which makes thieves of         
,parisian ladies in the fashionable     
stores2 now from the same crudity which 
makes the child pluck every flower he   
sees2 now from the same desire which    
urges the collector constantly to       
acquire new specimens4  ,when in regard 
to human beings the pleasure of the     
connoisseur rather than that of the     
collector has been attained1 then the   
greatest of all joys--that of human     
beings in one another--will not be so   
often disturbed by erotic complications4
 ,to appeal to the liberty of the       
personality in frivolous concessions to 
eroticism is the same gross abuse of the
 idea as to use the name of this liberty
 in sailing a leaky yacht in a storm4   
,the liberty of the personality involves
 great risks to win great rewards2 but  
it does not involve allowing one's self 
to be driven into dangers1 where for a  
trifle one stakes one's own life and    

that of others4 ,to drift into relations
 where one has not the hundredth part of
 the consent of one's innermost ego1 is 
not proving but wasting one's           
personality2 for every action which is  
less than ourselves1 degrades our       
personality4  ,again1 it may be         
disastrous to perform acts greater and  
stronger than ourselves4 ,he who        
ventures upon an exceptional course     
must--like the alpine climber--possess  
an abundance of strength and the sense  
of security which it lends2 for         
otherwise1 in both cases1 the enterprise
 will be successful only if everything  
occurs according to the most favourable 
calculation4 ,in an unforeseen          
misadventure the inadequate ones are    
those who are lost4 ,therefore1 in one  
case as in the other1 public opinion is 
unwittingly right when it glorifies the 
daring that succeeds1 but condemns that 
which fails4  ,most people are not equal
 to the consequences of their           
resolutions4 ,on the contrary1 like     

unseated riders they are dragged by     
their actions through degraded          
circumstances that they had not counted 
upon4 ,thus many a pair of lovers who   
have broken earlier ties1 have been only
 a warning example--since their action  
was destructive1 not enhancing to life4 
,ruin may be the climax of life2 but    
inefficiency is always defeat2 and of   
all the rashness of this life1 the rash 
project of an exceptional lot is the    
saddest4  ,few people who have passed   
their youth have courage or strength for
 such new experiences as imply a real   
enhancement of life4 ,the majority ought
 rather to employ their personality in  
the task of worthily bearing and making 
the best of their lot--and1 in spite of 
all that is asserted to the contrary1   
that is also what most people do and    
will continue to do4  ,those who trust  
only in compulsion to restrain a man's  
desire to desert his wife1 forget to    
what a degree spiritual influences have 
even now facilitated divorce1 in spite  

of the coercive law4 ,one seldom finds  
in our day a high-minded husband or wife
 who insists on retaining the other     
against his or her will1 except when it 
is clear to one partner that divorce1 if
 conceded1 would result in the certain  
ruin of the other4 ,as a rule it is now 
only the narrow-minded or the low-minded
 who exercise the right of refusing     
divorce4 ,if this right were abolished1 
this would not entail the abolition of  
the influences which even now keep      
married people together--although in    
most cases they might be free if they   
wished it4  ,those who thoughtlessly    
separated1 when greater facilities are  
given1 would be the same class of people
 who now1 in coercive marriage1 secretly
 deceive one another4  ,to the serious1 
divorce will always be serious4 ,before 
a person of feeling and thought         
consciously hurts another who has loved 
or loves him1 he himself has suffered   
terrible pain4 ,gratitude for a great   
devotion in a free connection has often 

proved more powerfully binding than the 
law could have been4 ,nay1 to anyone    
tender of conscience the ties formed by 
a free connection are stronger than the 
legal ones1 since in the former case he 
has made a choice more decisive to his  
own and the other's personality than if 
he had followed law and custom4  ,and   
even when no feelings of affection      
exercise their retentive power1 many    
people prefer to remain as wreckage on  
the same shore1 rather than be washed   
away towards a new and uncertain fate4  
,human nature is credited with far too  
great simplicity and elasticity when it 
is taken for granted that one experiment
 in life would succeed another if       
divorce were free4 ,in this case it is  
life itself1 not the law1 which fixes   
the insurmountable limits4 ,to the      
deeper natures which have broken away   
from a life-connection1 the pain of it  
has often been so great as permanently  
to deaden the colours of life4   ,in    
connection with the modern demand for   

exemption from motherhood we have       
already rejected the expedient of       
securing love's freedom through the     
rearing of children by the ,state4 ,at  
the same time the importance and value  
of the parental home was insisted upon  
as strongly as possible4  ,here1 on the 
other hand1 is the place to point out   
the one-sidedness of the notion that    
nothing is more important than that the 
parents should remain together for the  
sake of the children--since everything  
must finally depend upon how the parents
 remain together and what they become   
through remaining together4  ,the more  
degrading cohabitation is to the        
personality of each parent the less     
valuable will be the influence for the  
children of the parental relation4      
,only one who sees in marriage a system 
directly ordained by ,god1 a form of    
realisation of the divine reason1 can   
maintain the proposition that in such a 
system the good must outweigh human     
defects4 ,those who hold that the       

maintenance of marriage is always the   
sound and moral course1 must take upon  
themselves the burden of proving that   
the dull connubial habits of divided    
mates are a pure source for the origin  
of new beings2 that their mutually      
conflicting influences are better able  
to further the welfare of the children  
than a tranquil bringing-up by one of   
them3 that the happiness of one of them 
in a new union is more dangerous to the 
children than his unhappiness in the    
former one4  ,to those1 on the other    
hand1 who hold the faith of ,life1 the  
question of the children is always a    
fresh one in every fresh divorce4 ,here 
again we must rise to the conditional   
judgment1 and leave behind the          
chess-board morality with its equal     
squares of right and wrong4 ,the danger 
to the children arising from a divorce  
depends on all that has gone before and 
all that comes after4 ,he who dissolves 
his marriage in the face of his inner   
consciousness of the harm that the      

children will thereby suffer1 commits a 
sin which will infallibly be succeeded  
by the remorse that friends are         
sometimes eager to adduce as extenuating
 circumstances4 ,he1 on the other hand1 
who 8sins0 with an easy conscience1 has 
made his choice with the welfare of the 
children in one scale of the balance4   
,this calm of conscience is then not    
indifference1 and1 therefore1 does not  
prevent the possibility of his suffering
 deeply through the consequences of the 
decision which he nevertheless does not 
regret4 ,it may be that in most cases   
where there are children1 the less      
painful course1 even for him who is most
 convinced of his personal right1 is to 
endeavour to the utmost to preserve a   
common life which allows the children to
 grow up under the joint protection of a
 father and mother1 and for the sake of 
the children to give this life a worthy 
and kindly character4  ,in former times1
 people mended and patched things up    
endlessly4 ,the psychologically         

developed generation of the present day 
is more disposed to allow what is broken
 to remain broken4 ,for1 except in the  
cases where the cause of rupture has    
been outward misunderstanding or belated
 development1 patched-up marriages--like
 patched-up engagements--seldom prove   
lasting4 ,it has often been profound    
instincts that caused the rupture2 the  
reconciliation violated these instincts 
and sooner or later such violation      
revenges itself4  ,thus1 it happens1    
that even exceptional natures have a    
greater burden than they can bear1 and  
then it is not the living together but  
the dying together of their parents that
 the children witness4  ,neither        
religion nor the law1 neither society   
nor the family1 can decide what a       
marriage kills in a human being or what 
it may be the means of saving in him4   
,only he himself knows the one and feels
 the other4 ,only he himself can        
determine how far it may be possible for
 him to have so far finished with his   

own existence that he can completely    
pass into that of his children2 to bear 
the pain of a continued married life so 
that it may enhance the powers of       
himself and the children4 ,a mother can 
do this oftener than a father1 but in no
 case is there any standard that others 
can use to determine when an excess of  
suffering is present4 ,more than this1  
there is strictly no suffering1 but only
 suffering beings who in every case     
create the suffering anew according to  
their type of soul4  ,only one thing is 
certain3 that no one is more outside the
 question than the very one who causes  
the suffering4 ,thus nothing can be more
 unreasonable than to leave to the      
judgment of one of the parties the      
decision we have just mentioned4 ,the   
knowledge of being able to refuse a     
divorce now involves want of            
consideration for the other's moods of  
dejection1 which would never occur if   
consideration were necessary to prevent 
separation4 ,such attentions are        

especially significant at the beginning 
of married life1 when most young married
 people solve the small and great       
problems of accommodation with more or  
less difficulty4 ,the birth of the first
 child1 moreover1 is often accompanied  
by abnormal states of feeling1 which    
lead to hasty conclusions as to         
incompatibility and antipathy4 ,the     
opponents of free divorce think that it 
is just during these years that         
precipitate divorces might take place4  
,but they do not reflect that either    
partner in his sense of proprietorship  
now gives himself a loose rein in a way 
that would be unthinkable if such       
security did not exist4 ,thus the young 
certainly keep together1 but not        
unfrequently destroy their finest       
chances of happiness4 ,the need of      
mutual caution during these dissensions 
should have a much deeper influence in  
keeping a couple together than has at   
present the knowledge that they cannot  
be free4 ,after the advent of children1 

the danger is small--except in the case 
of heartless natures--that a sufferer   
will too hastily think his powers of    
endurance are exhausted4 ,the           
inter-dependence which children create  
between their parents when these        
together care for and love them1 is     
sometimes indissoluble4 ,in most cases  
it is so strong as to form the real tie1
 without which laws twice as strict as  
the present ones would have no power to 
keep together two unwilling beings4     
,when speaking of love's selection1 we  
pointed to the signs which indicate that
 the feeling for the race--the feeling  
which from time immemorial has linked   
together man and woman at a common      
hearth1 has raised the altar near it and
 round them both the town wall--is      
approaching its renaissance4            
,consciousness of the children's rights 
is indubitably on the increase1 together
 with a knowledge of the rights of love4
 ,and against the assaults of this most 
turbulent and dangerous sea the         

race-feeling will continue to stand as a
 wall protecting society1 though in a   
new form to give it new powers of       
resistance4  ,but the opponents of      
divorce think1 on the contrary1 that the
 sense of happiness through the         
children--especially in the case of the 
father--has now become so weak that most
 fathers would free themselves from all 
responsibility if they only could4  ,if 
this be so1 society itself is to blame4 
,it not only countenances sexual        
relations entirely independent of the   
mission of the race2 it frees the man   
from responsibility for his illegitimate
 children and thus assigns to him a     
standpoint below that of the beasts4    
,the instincts favourable to offspring1 
which in animals have remained          
undisturbed1 cannot attain their full   
strength until man is completely        
answerable for every life he creates4   
,as soon as society decrees that the    
fact of two persons becoming parents    
makes their union obligatory1 the       

relationship itself will gradually      
intensify their feeling and the man will
 wish to possess and preserve the       
elements of joy for which he must always
 bear the burdens4 ,even if man's       
fatherly feelings should be slow in     
awaking--and if a number of fathers of  
the present day should thus really avail
 themselves of free divorce to leave    
wife and child--there are still the     
mothers1 who do not1 as a rule1 lightly 
leave their children1 but who1 on the   
contrary1 now suffer the deepest        
misfortunes and renounce the greatest   
happiness so as to remain with them1 and
 who--even if they tear themselves from 
them--are hardly ever able to release   
themselves4 ,when the law gives to every
 mother the rights which now only the   
unmarried mother possesses1 but imposes 
at the same time on every father the    
obligations which now only the married  
have--then it may be that the child will
 become a new and more valuable         
possession in the eyes of the man4 ,if  

he only feels the influence he may      
obtain through his wife's respect for   
his fatherly qualities2 if his          
importance in the child's existence     
comes to depend on personal force1 not  
on legal might1 then the quality of     
fatherhood may be in a high degree      
ennobled4 ,and with this affection will 
grow1 according to the immutable law1   
that the more man gives1 the more he    
loves4  ,if matriarchy1 in a new form1  
refined by the whole of development1    
should become the final phase--as in the
 opinion of many it has been the        
starting-point--of the family1 then this
 would involve that paternal authority  
became conditional1 depending on the    
value and warmth of the paternal        
feeling4 ,at present many fathers are   
merely an accident in their children's  
life1 an accident which never even looks
 8like an idea40 ,and this is not only  
true of those fathers who1 with the     
support of the law1 withdraw themselves 
from all responsibility1 but also of    

many others1 especially of those who are
 driven by work or public business and  
who remain inwardly strangers to their  
children4  ,for the present1 it may be  
regarded as certain that free divorce   
would1 above all1 afford this advantage1
 that a number of wives1 who now keep   
broken-down husbands1 could work for    
food for their children instead of for  
liquor for the children's father2 and   
that a number of mothers1 who now are   
obliged for the sake of their children  
to suffer the deepest humiliation1 would
 be able to free themselves2 and in both
 cases the children would gain4 ,on the 
other hand1 the father who took         
advantage of free divorce to desert his 
family for frivolous reasons might1 as a
 rule1 be easily spared by that family4 
,in most cases1 the children are even   
better off through a divorce1 when the  
cause of it is differences of           
temperament and opinion between the     
parents4 ,each of them separately may be
 a person of merit4 ,when they separate 

on the ground of dissension1 both have a
 sense of something to atone for with   
the children4 ,this prompts them to try 
to make amends1 and thus the children   
receive--from each separately--far more 
than they did when the parents were     
united1 when the children were witnesses
 to their conflicts and saw the worse   
side of the nature of each4 ,the        
children are spared the pain of being   
the subject of their father's and       
mother's quarrels2 of being compelled to
 take the part of one of them2 of being 
torn between two diverse wills1 between 
the jealous endeavours of each to win   
them exclusively4 ,they1 in part1 avoid 
being brought up from two different1    
mutually-counteracting points of view1  
where one is trying to take away from   
the children the ideas that the other   
has given them4  ,but of all this the   
opponents of divorce take no account4   
,the main thing is that the parents     
shall keep together1 however chill or   
dark with thunder may be the air in     

which the children grow up4  ,this point
 of view misses the reality as much as  
that of those who call for divorce as   
soon as love is over4 ,keeping together 
may1 in certain cases1 give the children
 a happier and richer childhood than the
 state of things after a divorce4 ,it   
has been maintained with reason that    
discord between the parents is sometimes
 compensated for by the value of the    
manly nature of the one and the womanly 
nature of the other1 which--even if they
 do not co-operate--still work well side
 by side2 and that children who1 through
 dissensions at home1 have early been   
forced to think and choose for          
themselves1 often become stronger       
characters than those who have grown up 
in happy homes4  ,while1 on the one     
hand1 we hear children whose parents    
have separated complain that they did   
not have the patience to remain         
together1 on the other we hear those who
 have grown up in unhappy homes regret  
the continuance of their parents'       

married life4 ,if this had been         
dissolved1 the children might have had  
at least one good home1 perhaps two1    
whereas now they have none4  ,but1 of   
course1 each one can know only what he  
has suffered from a series of events1   
not what he might have suffered if      
circumstances had been different2 and   
thus the children's opinion cannot in   
either case be regarded as decisive1    
when laying down the principle4  ,the   
experience1 therefore1 which we have1 of
 the position of children whom death has
 deprived of their father is more       
important4 ,while the widower1 as a     
rule1 marries again1 if his children are
 small1 the widow1 in most cases1       
remains unmarried4 ,and it may be       
regarded as certain that statistics of  
able men would give a remarkable result 
in respect of the sons of widows4  ,a   
divorce often puts the child in a       
corresponding position of tenderness and
 responsibility towards his mother4 ,but
 while society bows to the 8stern       

necessity0 of a single battle making    
more children fatherless than the       
divorces of a generation--and calmly    
relies on the mothers' ability by       
themselves to make good citizens of     
their sons--it shrinks from the same    
stern necessity when it is a question of
 saving a living person from lifelong   
unhappiness4  ,the children's chief     
danger in a divorce is that they are    
often divided between father and mother 
and thus lose in part the companionship 
of brothers and sisters which is so     
eminently productive of happiness4 ,next
 to this1 the greatest misfortune is not
 that the father and mother no longer   
live under the same roof1 but that they 
are no longer able to meet4 ,this       
misfortune could often be avoided1 if   
friends and relations would refrain from
 the pleasure of deciding how the       
divorced couple ought to hate and       
variously torment each other4 ,if people
 saw the merit of two human beings--who 
were able to separate as friends and to 

meet again as such--being also capable  
of this2 if the presence of either      
parent with the children never led to   
their being influenced to the detriment 
of the absent one--then children1 even  
after a divorce1 would not feel the want
 of their essential relation to both    
their parents4 ,now1 on the other hand1 
divided as they often are between two   
mutually hostile parents1 separated thus
 from each other and--lacking common    
memories and other ties to bind         
them--gradually becoming strangers to   
each other when they meet1 the children 
lose so much by a divorce1 that parents 
in most cases can gain nothing which    
makes up for the losses of the children 
and thus prefer to bear the burdens of  
living together rather than lay those of
 divorce upon the children4  ,in the    
question of divorce also1 the great     
fundamental idea of protestantism must  
be applied in the recognition of the    
individual's full freedom of choice1    
since no case can be decided generally1 

and since here also the right and wrong 
can only be discovered through the      
searching of each individual conscience4
  ,a child has often--in moments of     
great crisis--blocked the way which led 
from the door of the home4 ,but the home
 within that door did not for that      
reason become brighter or warmer for the
 child4   ,in the preceding1 the        
position of the children in divorce has 
been considered from the point of view  
of discord between the parents4 ,if1 on 
the other hand1 the divorce is brought  
about by a new feeling on the part of   
one of them1 then this father or mother 
must be prepared one day--when the      
children can understand them--to justify
 the step by showing them how the new   
love has made him or her a richer and   
greater personality4 ,the children have 
a full right not to be sacrificed to the
 degradation of their parents4 ,in every
 case1 the children are the most        
incorruptible judges of their parents4  
,but the fact that a person has already 

brought children into the world does not
 give to these children an unconditional
 right to demand that a father or mother
 shall sacrifice the love that may      
advance themselves1 and through them the
 race1 to which they may thus give more 
excellent children or more excellent    
works than they have been able to       
produce hitherto4 ,many a woman has     
borne children to her husband without   
having seen her child2 many a man has   
given the community his industry but    
never his work--until great love        
accomplished their innermost longing and
 the child or the work that was thus    
created became the only one             
indispensable to the race4  ,the claim  
of society that a father or mother1     
radiant with possibilities of happiness1
 shall sacrifice these for the sake of  
the children1 will be reduced when the  
sense of the value of life has grown and
 the duty of parents to live for their  
children is more often interpreted to   
mean that they must continue to be fully

 alive1 with powers of renewal4 ,on the 
other hand1 this very rejuvenation of   
parents at the present day may often    
result in their living so rich a life   
together with their children that they  
will need no other renewal than that    
which is most productive of happiness to
 all parties2 namely1 to enjoy their    
8second springtime0 in the children's   
first4  ,if1 on the contrary1 the result
 of this prolonged youth of the parents 
is that a father or mother changes the  
course of his or her life1 then the     
children must suffer--until they can    
understand that perhaps in a deeper     
sense they do not suffer thereby4       
,sometimes the new partner has exercised
 a richer influence on the children than
 their own father or mother--as may also
 be the case with a step-father or      
step-mother4 ,at present1 however1 this 
possibility is often destroyed by the   
common opinion just alluded to1 which   
also decides that the children ought to 
hate1 where1 if left to themselves1 they

 would perhaps have learned to love4    
,the selfish demand of grown-up children
 that the life of their parents shall in
 and with them have reached its climax  
and be personally concluded1 is as cruel
 as it is unjustified1 since there are  
souls which do not lose their blossom   
when the fruit appears1 but are able at 
the same time to bear both fruit and new
 blossom4 ,children receive with life a 
right to the conditions which may make  
them fully fit for life2 no less than   
this1 but at the same time no more4     
,what their parents may be willing to   
sacrifice of their own lives beyond this
 must be reckoned to their generosity1  
not their duty4   ,if great love may    
thus be admitted to possess a right     
superior to that of the children1 the   
question obviously arises1 how is this  
love to be distinguished from the       
accidental8  ,a mistake is already a    
hard thing in a marriage where there are
 children1 for the obstacles that have  
to be surmounted in such a case are so  

serious that only great love can        
overcome them--that is1 if the parents  
are such that they really mean anything 
at all to their children4  ,it is       
precisely by its genesis1 in despite of 
all obstacles1 that the predestined love
 often reveals its nature and thus      
becomes what is called 8criminal40 ,even
 if those who are possessed by this     
emotion allow duty to interpose oceans  
between them1 they will1 nevertheless1  
come together in every great moment of  
their lives until the last1 convinced   
that    8his kiss was on her lips before
 she was born40  ,when people have      
acquired more knowledge of the laws of  
psychology1 they will discover1 as      
,edward ,carpenter has said1 that there 
is also an astronomy in the world of    
emotion2 that inter-dependence arises   
there also1 in obedience to eternal     
laws2 sympathies and antipathies which  
keep all the 8heavenly bodies0 at the   
right distance or proximity2 that thus  
the path of love follows an equally     

irresistible necessity as the orbit of a
 star and is equally impossible to      
determine by any influences outside its 
own laws4 ,and without doubt there will 
some day be discovered a telescope for  
this field also1 which will at last     
reveal to the short-sighted the fixed   
stars1 planets1 nebul1 and comets of    
erotic space1 and will prove that its   
constellations are ordered by a higher  
law than that of 8crude instinct40 ,but 
until we attain this astronomical       
certainty we must be content with the   
degree of knowledge that art criticism  
can give4  ,great love1 like a great    
artist1 has its style4 ,whatever subject
 the latter may handle1 whatever medium 
he may use1 he gives to the canvas or   
the marble1 the paper or the metal1 the 
impress of his hand1 and this reveals   
itself in the smallest thing he has     
created4 ,so in every age and every     
country1 every class and every time of  
life1 great love is one and the same2   
its signs are unmistakable1 though the  

fortune it leads to and the individuals 
on whom it sets its mark may in one case
 be more important than in another4     
,but this mighty emotion--which arouses 
one's whole being through another's and 
gives one's whole being rest in         
another's--this emotion seizes a man    
without asking whether he is bound or   
free4 ,he who feels strongly and wholly 
enough need never wonder what it is he  
feels3 it is the feeble emotion that is 
doubtful to itself4 ,nor does he who    
feels strongly enough ever ask himself  
whether he has a right to his feeling4  
,he is so exalted by his love1 that he  
knows he is thus exalting the life of   
mankind4 ,it is the minor1 partial      
passions that a person already bound    
feels with good reason to be 8criminal40
 ,for him1 on the other hand1 who would 
call his great emotion a sinful         
infatuation1 a shameless egoism1 a      
bestial instinct1 one who loves thus has
 nothing but a smile of pity4 ,he knows 
that he would commit a sin in killing   

his love1 just as he would in murdering 
his child4 ,he knows that his love has  
once more made him good as in his       
childhood's prayers to ,god1 and rich as
 one for whom the gates of paradise are 
opened anew4  ,art is interpreting a    
universal experience when it always     
depicts ,adam and ,eve as young when    
they are driven out of ,eden4 ,one      
wonders that no artist has shown        
them--at a maturer age--outside the     
walls of paradise1 tormented by the     
sense of now possessing wisdom enough to
 preserve the happiness for which in    
youth they only possessed the means4    
,for there not unfrequently arrives a   
time in human life when enlightenment   
enters before coldness has set in2 when 
the blossoms are still rich although the
 fruits have already begun to mature4   
,it is then that great happiness is     
often seen for an instant and then      
disappears4 ,sometimes she is never     
seen1 for she comes softly and--like a  
playmate--lays a hand over one's eyes1  

asking3 ,who am ,i8 ,one guesses wrongly
 and happiness is gone before one can   
bid her stay4 ,to her favourites only   
does she come with her hands full and   
open4 ,to the majority the words of the 
dying ,hebbel are true3 ,we human beings
 lack either the cup or the wine4       
,love's deepest tragedy is that a number
 of people have first to learn through  
their mistakes before their souls and   
senses are ready for the great love     
which of two beings makes one more      
perfect4  ,in poetry as in life it is   
sometimes the first love1 sometimes the 
last1 that is extolled as the strongest4
 ,neither need be1 and either may be1   
this4 ,the strongest love is that       
which--at whatever age it comes--most   
takes up all the forces of personality4 
,it also sometimes happens that not     
until a person ought to have done with  
love1 is he really ready for it4 ,the   
fewer are then the chances of finding   
the love he wishes to give and receive4 
,and fewer still the chances that he can

 give himself up to them1 with the      
concurrence of his whole being4  ,for it
 is one thing to have the right to one's
 great emotion2 another to have the     
right or the possibility of one's full  
happiness4  ,love may be never so free  
in its social aspect2 no freedom of     
morals or of divorce can release the    
sons of men from the inevitable         
sufferings of their own nature1 nor from
 the inevitable conflicts of their      
connection with the past4 ,these        
sufferings and conflicts have been made 
so deep by life itself that there is    
indeed no necessity for the law to make 
them deeper4  ,the most usual form of   
the conflict is that a person is bound  
by or broken by casual love--whether    
wedded or free--when the predestined    
intervenes in his existence4  ,that so  
many more unhappy marriages continue    
than are dissolved may be due less to a 
sense of duty than to the fact that only
 a few are capable of great emotions4   
,peer ,gynt's symbol--the               

bulb--illustrates the erotic nature of  
the majority4 ,it flowers as readily in 
sand as in water1 in the open as in a   
pot4 ,but should an acorn be planted in 
a pot1 it is inevitable--on account of  
the vital conditions of the oak--that it
 should one day burst its prison or die4
  ,and in such a case1 it is unfortunate
 when a ,christian ethical view stands  
in the way of serious and genuine       
chances of so renewing life that it may 
be more valuable to the community as    
well as to the individual himself4      
,people who are equipped with rich      
possibilities still allow themselves to 
be decided by unconditional             
consideration for others' feelings1     
which1 taken from ,christianity1 have   
been grafted even on evolutionism1 and  
which1 especially through ,george       
,eliot1 have obtained their great but   
one-sided expression4  ,that the race   
not only needs people willing to lose   
their lives in order to gain them1 but  
also people with courage to sacrifice   

others in order to win their own--this  
is a truth which nevertheless must be   
indissolubly bound up with an           
evolutionist view of life1 to which the 
will to preserve and enhance one's own  
existence is a duty as undeniable as    
that of preserving and enhancing the    
lives of others by self-sacrifice4 ,to  
have the courage of one's happiness1 to 
be able to bear the pain inseparable    
from a rupture without pangs of         
conscience1 is only in the power of     
those who act from their innermost      
necessity4 ,that pairs of lovers outside
 the law now so often commit suicide    
together is no proof of the             
overmastering power of love2 it rather  
proves the powerlessness of their       
emotion to dare and win the right of    
direct and immediate living and thus    
increasing the riches of life4 ,for it  
is only to a love that is throughout a  
will to live that circumstances become  
as wax in the artist's hand4  ,from the 
point of view of the religion of ,life  

this impotence is regrettable1 just as  
much as secret adultery4 ,doubtless both
 may possess the beauty of a great      
love-tragedy4 ,probably no one who has  
read the ,inferno wished ,francesca     
strength to reject the love of ,paolo4  
,and so strangely does a soul find the  
way home to itself1 that there are cases
 where a person in adultery feels       
himself purified from the defilement of 
marriage--since he thus for the first   
time experiences the unity of soul and  
senses which was his dream of love from 
the beginning4  ,but even in these      
exceptional cases--so much the more1    
therefore1 in others--the secret        
transgression1 which the older morality 
found comparatively innocuous1 is from  
the point of view of the new morality   
greater than the open rupture4 ,for the 
personality is humiliated by the        
duplicity and the weakness whereby one  
avoids the responsibility of the        
consequences of one's actions4 ,and     
this1 moreover1 decreases the life-value

 of love to the race4 ,new experiments  
in life1 which are made openly1 which   
enhance the strength of the individual  
through conflict and earnestness1 may   
possess an importance for the           
personality itself and for society which
 secret transgressions in most cases    
lack4  ,a poet or an artist1 for        
example1 has a wife1 as to whose        
insufficiency for him all are agreed--so
 long as he still has her4 ,suddenly he 
finds the space1 that was empty and     
waste1 filled by a new creation2 the air
 becomes alive with songs and visions4  
,he not only feels his slumbering powers
 awake1 he knows that great love has    
called up in him powers he had never    
suspected2 he sees that now he will be  
able to accomplish what he could never  
have done before4 ,he follows the       
life-will of his love1 and he does      
right4 ,marriages kept inviolable have  
doubtless produced many great advantages
 to culture4 ,but it is not to them that
 art and poetry owe their greatest debt 

of gratitude4 ,without 8unhappy0 or     
8criminal0 love1 the world's creations  
of beauty would at this moment be not   
only infinitely fewer1 but1 above all1  
infinitely poorer4 ,nay1 after such an  
exclusion the whole spiritual world     
might appear as some medival church1    
decorated from floor to roof with       
frescoes1 appeared after the            
whitewashing of the ,reformation4  ,but 
in a choice such as we have just        
mentioned1 public opinion is always     
certain that the sufferings of the wife1
 unimportant as she is to the community1
 are the great thing1 while those of the
 man1 important to the community1 may be
 disregarded4  ,he1 however1 who        
experiences the new spring which flowers
 in song1 in tones1 in colours1 raises  
the life of generation after generation1
 centuries after the one person or the  
few who suffered through him have long  
ceased to suffer4  ,who would have      
gained what the race would have lost    
through his self-sacrifice8 ,not the    

wife1 if she had a heart1 and not only a
 pride1 which could suffer4  ,not only  
from the point of view of universal1 but
 from that of individual                
life-enhancement1 we ought not to give  
all our sympathy to the one who is      
called 8heart-broken40 ,why is the heart
 that is broken considered so much more 
valuable than the one or the two which  
must cause the pain lest they themselves
 perish8 ,and why will people not see   
that he who is looked upon as           
8broken-hearted0 sometimes finds a new  
and richer happiness8 ,but1 above all1  
why is it constantly forgotten that one 
who suffers through sorrow often becomes
 greater than he could ever have been in
 the secure possession of his           
8property08  ,there are other ways of   
living on a great emotion than that of  
being in the usual sense made happy by  
it4  ,this must1 however1 be remembered 
above all by him who1 already tied1 is  
seized by a new feeling4 ,if all three  
parties are high-minded enough1 it has  

sometimes happened that the feeling has 
been transformed into an amiti          
amoureuse1 which has made all of them   
richer and none of them unhappy--even if
 it has made none of them completely    
happy4  ,but even under other           
circumstances people ought to remember1 
that one does not always own what one   
has--and sometimes possesses most surely
 what one has never owned4  ,the        
sanctity and loftiness of one's own     
feeling is the indestructible part of   
happiness in love4 ,no longer to be able
 to love is the greatest sorrow4 ,but a 
person no more becomes less worthy of   
love because his own love is dead1 than 
he becomes so through leaving love      
unrequited4  ,therefore1 he alone can   
feel himself really ruined who has been 
nothing but the means of another's      
pleasure or sport1 development or work2 
a means that is cast off when it no     
longer affords enjoyment or profit4 ,the
 person who is thus betrayed in love1   
either because love never existed or    

because its past existence is denied2   
who sees the personality he loved       
unveiled as another than he believed    
himself to be loving--this person must  
exert his whole soul to save it from    
being narrowed1 embittered1 and         
destroyed4 ,all other great blows of    
fate may be borne in such a way that a  
man grows by them3 but to lose faith in 
a human being is the greatest pain of   
all1 since it is also the most          
unfruitful2 since it in no respect      
enlarges the soul or enhances the       
existence4  ,but even from this         
suffering the soul may finally raise    
itself through the consciousness that it
 has too great a value of its own to    
allow itself to be destroyed by the     
baseness or pettiness of another4 ,only 
he who has fought out the battle alone  
in all the horrors of the desert night  
knows what the sunrise is4 ,years later 
it may fall to the lot of such a man1   
who at one blow has lost everything--the
 sanctity of his memories1 the meaning  

of his experiences1 the faith of his    
love--himself to see the truth of the   
great1 calm thinker's exhortation3 that 
one ought neither to laugh nor weep at1 
exalt nor curse a human being's actions1
 but only to try to understand them     
7,spinoza74 ,and then there begins for  
him a great and difficult work1 which   
perhaps will last as long as life lasts1
 the work of looking into the depths of 
this other soul2 of again reviewing the 
past in the perspective of distance2 of 
perceiving his own limitations as well  
as those of the other1 and thus         
beginning to understand4 ,this is the   
only forgiveness there is4  ,but thus a 
person once dead and buried in the midst
 of life may finally see the grass grow 
green and the sun shine over his grave4 
,if this can become true--and it has    
become true for many people whom others 
regarded as broken-hearted--how much    
more then is it not true to him who has 
once been really rich and has never been
 robbed of his greatest treasure1 the   

glory of his own love8  ,a woman1 for   
example1 who for years of her life has  
possessed complete happiness and through
 this has become a mother--will she be  
robbed of it all1 if this happiness     
comes to an end8  ,there is still the   
happiness of others to serve1 the       
sufferings of others to alleviate1 the  
great ends of humanity to further4 ,to  
many a one who has never even had a     
happiness of his own this must still be 
sufficient consolation4 ,but we judge of
 happiness as of wealth4 ,that          
innumerable human beings daily perish   
from want makes little impression on us4
 ,but if one of our friends falls from  
riches into poverty1 this seems to us   
dreadful4 ,we forget that he may        
perhaps1 through poverty1 attain a      
development that riches never won for   
him2 that he who is robbed by fortune   
may make a new position for himself4    
,life has countless possibilities as    
well as countless contradictions4 ,it is
 full of secret remedial powers as well 

as of hidden causes of death4 ,and1     
finally1 it is1 therefore1 very         
uncertain whether it is not the two who 
come together that are 8torn            
asunder0--while the one abandoned       
remains whole4  ,for loving is a healing
 medicine even for the wounds love      
gives4 ,only one thing a loving person  
cannot bear1 to see the dear ones       
suffer4 ,to take one's self silently    
away in order to spare them pain is     
within the power of great love4 ,and    
this does not mean a tame resignation   
watering the red stream of the blood4   
,it means that love has become so great 
that it takes seriously the great words 
so lightly uttered in happiness1 that   
torments caused by the beloved were     
dearer than joys given by others4 ,when 
love has become the power in which a    
person lives and moves and has his      
being1 the words of the ,epistle to the 
,corinthians on love are fulfilled in a 
more beautiful way than ,paul dreamed   
of4 ,great love does not only love for  

the sake of loving2 it attains the      
incredible3 to love the loved one more  
than one's own feeling4 ,if it were a   
question of thus providing for the other
 a more perfect happiness1 this love    
would be able to quench its own flame   
and with it the fulness of pain and of  
joy that life had gained from this      
feeling4 ,women sometimes make such a   
sacrifice4 ,here and there a man has    
been capable of it4 ,but he who has     
attained to this height of emotion lives
 so wonderful a life that the happiness 
the united couple create for each other 
must be extraordinarily great if these  
two rich ones are not in reality to be  
the poorer4  ,when the thought has once 
become inherent in mankind that no one  
can be happy without the feeling that he
 is making others happy2 that only the  
highest development of one's own feeling
 is imperishable happiness2 that all    
other happiness is charity1 not         
justice--then there will be fewer torn  
asunder1 even if there be no more happy 

ones4  ,but love is still such1 men1    
women1 and the people around them are   
still such1 that one would rather wish a
 tied man or woman strength to endure   
marriage than to break it1 at least if  
they have children who must share with  
them the unknown fortunes of their love4
 ,before these1 if ever1 one feels the  
meaning of the ,breton fisher's song3   
444 la mer est grande et ma barque est  
petite 444  ,how often has not the      
little boat1 fraught with life's last   
riches1 been lost on the wide sea8  ,but
 therefore it is that no one there seeks
 his pleasure1 but only his life4       
,that our actions in the erotic         
sphere--as in every other--must call    
forth the criticism of others is just as
 unavoidable as that our figure should  
be reflected in a mirror as we pass4    
,but public opinion is a convex mirror1 
a globe swollen by prejudice1 which     
distorts the image4 ,only a clear and   
calm soul gives a true picture of       
another's actions4  ,and to such a soul1

 it will not unfrequently be apparent   
that the 8transgression0 was right for  
one nature and not for the other4 ,the  
latter will have felt that its innermost
 being would have been outraged if      
fidelity to the past had not been       
preserved to the uttermost--and will    
have chosen to allow its erotic powers  
to wither and to live only by the will  
of duty4 ,of this kind of               
self-immolation the same is true as of  
its bodily counterpart3 sometimes they  
are great souls1 sometimes great        
cowards4 ,nay1 the same sacrifice may be
 sublime at one period of our lives and 
shameful at another4  ,life never shows 
us 8marriage10 but countless different  
marriages2 never 8love10 but countless  
lovers4 ,he who sets up an ideal in     
these matters must1 therefore1 be       
content with possibly working for the   
future1 but should not use his ideal as 
a criterion for the present4 ,nay1 he   
ought not even to desire in the future  
the sole authority of his own           

ideal--since a descent from the diverse 
to the uniform would be a retrogressive 
development4  ,the effort of society to 
press into a single ideal form life's   
infinite multitude of different cases   
under the same circumstances or of the  
same cases under different              
circumstances1 the same influences on   
different personalities or the same     
personalities under different           
influences--this has been in the field  
of sexual morality as violent a         
proceeding as would be the establishment
 for all figures of ,polycletus's canon 
of beauty4 ,the madness of the latter   
proceeding would be obvious4 ,but       
violence to souls is not so obvious4    
,therefore it is always established by  
law4  ,not until the diversity of souls 
becomes in our ideas a truth as real as 
the diversity of our bodies shall we    
perceive that of all dogmas monogamy has
 been that which has claimed most human 
sacrifices4 ,it will one day be admitted
 that the auto-da-fs of marriage have   

been just as valueless to true morality 
as those of religion were to the true   
faith4  ,the ,grand ,inquisitors of the 
past probably resembled those of the    
present day in that1 when confronted by 
a particular case within the circle of  
their own friends and relations1 they   
found easily enough extenuating         
circumstances which they did not        
otherwise admit4 ,but we must learn to  
see that every case is a separate case  
and that1 therefore1 sometimes a new    
rule--not only an exception to an old   
rule--becomes necessary4 ,we cannot any 
longer maintain this double standard for
 known or unknown1 for friends or       
enemies1 for literature or life4 ,it    
must be abolished by an earnest desire  
for genuine morality4  ,this double     
standard shows us1 however1 that even   
among the orthodox of monogamy the      
impossibility of carrying out a         
monogamous morality which shall apply to
 all is beginning to be perceived4 ,but 
the effort1 nevertheless1 to attain in  

some degree the impossible now stands in
 the way of the possible1 which is      
germinating here and there3 the         
attainment of the morality of love4     
,although the new life is already       
showing its strength--like spring       
flowers that push their way through last
 year's carpet of dead foliage--the     
withered leaves must yet be cleared     
away4#g ,and only they who do not       
perceive the power of the new spring are
 afraid that the earth will not be able 
to dispense with its withered           
protection4     ,,chapter ,,ix  ,a ,,new
 ,,marriage ,,law   ,it results from the
 foregoing that the ideal form of       
marriage is considered to be the        
perfectly free union of a man and a     
woman1 who through mutual love desire to
 promote the happiness of each other and
 of the race4  ,but as development does 
not proceed by leaps no one can hope    
that the whole of society will attain   
this ideal otherwise than through       
transitional forms4 ,these must preserve

 the property of the old form3 that of  
expressing the opinion of society on the
 morality of sexual relations--and thus 
providing a support for the             
undeveloped--but at the same time must  
be free enough to promote a continued   
development of the higher erotic        
consciousness of the present time4 ,the 
modern man considers himself supreme in 
the sense that no divine or human       
authority higher than the collective    
power of individuals themselves can make
 the laws that confine his liberty4 ,but
 he admits the necessity of a legal     
limitation of freedom1 when this        
prepares the way for a more perfect     
future system for the satisfaction of   
the needs of the individual and a more  
complete freedom for the use of his     
powers4 ,insight into the present erotic
 needs and powers of individuals must   
thus be the starting-point of a modern  
marriage law1 but not any abstract      
theories about the 8idea of the family0 
or juridical considerations of the      

8historical origin0 of marriage4        
,since1 as already pointed out1 society 
is the organisation which results when  
human beings set themselves in motion to
 satisfy their needs and exercise their 
powers in common1 it must also be in a  
condition of uninterrupted              
transformation according as new needs   
arise and new powers are developed4     
,this has now taken place in the erotic 
sphere1 especially since those emotional
 needs and powers of the soul1 which    
formerly were nourished by and directed 
towards religion1 have been nourished by
 and directed towards love4 ,love itself
 is thus becoming more and more a       
religion1 and one which demands new     
forms for its practice4  ,but while the 
individualist can only be satisfied with
 the full freedom of love1 he is        
compelled by the sense of solidarity1 at
 least for the present1 to demand a new 
law for marriage1 since the majority is 
not yet ready for perfect freedom4      
,the sense of solidarity and            

individualism have equally weighty      
reasons for condemning the existing     
institution of marriage4 ,it forces upon
 human beings1 who are seldom ideal1 a  
unity which only an ideal happiness     
renders them capable of supporting4 ,it 
fulfils one of its missions--that of    
protecting the woman--in a way that is  
now humiliating to her human dignity4   
,it performs its second function--that  
of protecting the children--in an       
extremely imperfect fashion4 ,its       
third--that of setting up an ideal of   
the morality of sexual relations--it    
performs in such a way that this ideal  
is now a hindrance to the further       
development of morality4  ,from a       
realistic point of view1 what is the    
value of matrimony to a woman8 ,that the
 present law compels the husband to     
provide for his wife and for the        
children born in wedlock1 and that at   
the death of the husband it secures to  
her the widow's share in his estate and 
to the legitimate children their        

inheritance4 ,but she pays for these    
economical advantages by resigning the  
right over her children1 her property1  
her work1 her person1 which she         
possessed when unmarried4 ,even when    
there is a marriage settlement the      
husband--as guardian and administrator  
of his wife's property--may squander    
this1 as well as the proceeds of her    
work2 he can forbid her exercise of a   
calling or sell the implements of its   
exercise4 ,in the eyes of the law1 she  
is placed on a footing with her children
 who are under age3 her husband has to  
sue and to answer for her1 and there are
 certain functions of a citizen which   
she cannot perform at all1 while others1
 which she could perform if unmarried1  
she can fulfil only with her husband's  
consent4  ,as concerns the children1 the
 law leaves those born outside wedlock  
entirely without rights1 except for an  
insufficient contribution to their      
bringing-up1 if the father does not free
 himself from this by oath4 ,the law    

provides very imperfectly for the       
welfare of the new generation by        
limiting the right of marriage to       
certain degrees of affinity1 refusing it
 in the case of certain diseases1 and   
fixing the age for lawful marriage at   
fifteen to seventeen for the woman and  
twenty-one years for the man4#h         
,finally1 marriage binds the wife to the
 husband and him to her1 by the fact    
that neither can obtain a divorce       
without the other's consent unless      
certain acts of ill-treatment or        
misconduct can be proved4 ,even when    
married people agree to a divorce1 it   
entails a painful procedure for both of 
them and poor guarantees for the        
children's welfare4 ,if the man refuses 
a divorce1 the woman--owing to the      
above-mentioned obligation of proof1    
frequently impossible--is forced to     
remain with a man she despises1 since   
only thus can she keep her children and 
receive support4 ,if the husband is no  
longer capable of providing this2 if1   

perhaps1 he has squandered means        
belonging to her which would have       
provided it2 nay1 if the wife1 by her   
own work1 is keeping him1 herself1 and  
the children1 he still retains the same 
authority over her and them4  ,the      
unmarried woman1 on the other hand1 who 
has given her love 8freely0--that is1   
without legal compensation in the form  
of a right of maintenance--retains full 
authority over her children1 as well as 
personal liberty1 responsibility1 and   
civil rights4 ,in other words1 she      
retains all that gives her a dignified  
position as a human being in            
society--but loses the respect of       
society and economic security4 ,the     
married woman1 on the other hand1 loses 
all that is important to a member of    
society of full age1 but retains the    
respect of society1 her right of        
inheritance1 and her support4  ,truly1  
society has not made it easy for woman  
to fulfil her 8natural mission06 ,that  
she nevertheless--under one or other of 

these two alternatives--still gladly    
performs it1 is strong evidence that it 
must be the most powerful demand of her 
nature4 ,if other needs become          
stronger--as is already the case with   
some women--then the conditions of      
either alternative will be unacceptable4
 ,and as the new women are still less   
likely to content themselves with the   
two other extremes--lifelong asceticism 
or prostitution--a new marriage has     
become for them a condition of life4    
,the marriage law now in force is a     
geological formation1 with              
stratifications belonging to various    
phases of culture now concluded4 ,our   
own phase alone has left few and        
unimportant traces in it4  ,it has been 
perceived in our time that love ought to
 be the moral ground of marriage4 ,and  
love rests upon equality4 ,but the law  
of marriage dates from a time when the  
importance of love was not yet          
recognised4 ,it1 therefore1 rests upon  
the inequality between a lord and his   

dependent4  ,our time has given to the  
unmarried woman the opportunity of      
making her own living1 a legal status1  
and civil rights4 ,but the marriage law 
dates from a time when women had none of
 these things4 ,the married woman1 thus1
 under this law1 now occupies a position
 in sharp contrast to the independence  
of the unmarried1 which has been        
acquired since that time4  ,our time has
 displaced the ancient division of      
labour1 by which the wife cared for the 
children and the husband provided       
maintenance4 ,but the law of marriage   
dates from a time when this division    
held full sway and when it was1         
therefore1 almost impossible for a woman
 to receive protection for herself and  
her child otherwise than in matrimony4  
,now society has begun to provide such  
protection for unmarried mothers1 and   
the renunciation of liberty by which the
 wife purchases the protection of       
marriage is seen to be not only more and
 more unworthy1 but also unnecessary4   

,our time has recognised more and more  
the importance of every child as a new  
member of society and the right of every
 child to be born under healthy         
conditions4 ,but the law of marriage was
 framed at a time when this aspect had  
not presented itself to the             
consciousness of mankind2 when the      
illegitimate child was regarded as      
worthless1 however superior in itself1  
and the legitimate child as valuable1   
whatever might be its hereditary        
defects4  ,our time has recognised the  
value to morality of personal choice4   
,it admits as really ethical only such  
acts as result from personal examination
 and take place with the approval of the
 individual conscience4  ,the marriage  
system came into being when this        
sovereignty of the individual was       
scarcely suspected1 much less           
recognised2 when souls were bound by the
 power of society1 and when compulsion  
was society's only means of attaining   
its ends4 ,marriage was the halter with 

which the racial instinct was tamed1 or1
 in other words1 the instinct of nature 
was ennobled by being brought into unity
 with social purpose4  ,now love has    
been developed1 the human personality   
has been developed1 and woman's powers  
have been liberated4  ,on account of    
woman's present independent activity and
 self-determination outside marriage1   
the law must provide that the married   
woman shall retain her freedom of action
 by giving her full authority over her  
person and property4  ,on account of the
 individual's dislike of being forced   
into religious forms that have no       
meaning for him1 the legal form of      
marriage must be a civil one4  ,on      
account of the individual's desire of   
personal choice in actions that are     
personally important1 the continuance of
 marriage--as well as its               
inception--must depend upon either of   
the parties and divorce be thus free2   
and this all the more1 since the new    
idea of purity implies that compulsion  

in this direction is a humiliation4     
,these are the claims the people of the 
present day make upon the form of       
marriage1 if it is to express their     
personal will and further the growth of 
their personality4 ,the actual          
institution of marriage1 on the other   
hand1 involves forms that have become   
meaningless and therefore repulsive1 and
 places the parties under the law in a  
position with regard to one another     
which1 looked at ideally1 is as far     
beneath the merits and dignity of the   
modern man as it actually is beneath    
those of the modern woman4  ,while thus 
the development of the ideas of         
personality and of love have resulted in
 these demands of increased liberty for 
the individual within marriage1 the idea
 of solidarity and evolutionism1 on the 
other hand1 demand great limitations of 
individual freedom4 ,the knowledge that 
every new being has a right to claim    
that its life shall be a real value--as 
well as knowledge of the right of       

society that the new life shall be a    
valuable one--has involved the demand of
 prohibiting marriages which would be   
dangerous to the children1 and of better
 protecting the children where there is 
no marriage or where a marriage has been
 dissolved4   ,the economic factor has  
in modern society an importance for     
marriage which is felt to be more and   
more degrading as marriage becomes      
established on the basis of love4       
,marriages inwardly dissolved are now   
often held together because both the    
parties would be in a worse financial   
position after divorce4 ,the husband can
 not or will not make his wife a        
sufficient allowance2 he is1 perhaps1   
unable to realise her fortune1 which he 
has invested in his business1 or perhaps
 he has spent it2 the wife at marriage  
has abandoned an occupation which she   
cannot now take up again in order to    
support herself--and so on to infinity4 
,but even happy marriages suffer through
 the wife's subordinate position1       

economically as well as judicially4  ,it
 is1 therefore1 of great importance both
 in happy and unhappy marriages that the
 wife should retain control over her    
property and her earnings2 that she     
should be self-supporting in so far as  
she can combine this with her duties as 
a mother1 and that she should be        
maintained by the community during the  
first year of each child's life4        
,similar proposals have been made from  
the socialist side1 but also in other   
quarters4  ,a woman ought to be able to 
claim this subsidy if she can prove3    
,that she is of full legal age2  ,that  
she has performed her equivalent of     
military service by undergoing a one    
year's training in the care of children 
and in hygiene1 and--if possible--in    
nursing the sick2  ,that she will1      
herself1 care for the children or       
provide other efficient care2  ,that she
 is without sufficient personal means or
 earnings to provide for her own and    
half of the children's support1 or that 

she has given up work for the sake of   
looking after the children4  ,those who 
are unwilling to conform to the above   
conditions will not apply for the       
subsidy1 which naturally cannot be      
greater than what is strictly necessary1
 and which will only in exceptional     
cases be distributed for longer than a  
child's three first and most important  
years4  ,those who renounced the subsidy
 would thus be as a rule the well-to-do1
 or those who wished to devote          
themselves to self-support and thus gave
 up1 either altogether or after the     
first year1 this help from the          
community4 ,the arrangement would fulfil
 its purpose in those classes of society
 where at present the mother's outdoor  
work1 both in country and town1 involves
 equally great dangers to herself and   
the children4 ,the charges for this most
 important of defensive taxes ought1    
like other similar ones1 to be graduated
 and thus to fall most heavily upon the 
rich1 but upon the unmarried in the same

 degree as the married4  ,inspection    
should be carried out by commissioners  
to be appointed in every commune1       
varying in number according to the size 
of the commune1 but always composed of  
two-thirds women and one-third men4     
,these would distribute the subsidy and 
supervise the care not only of young    
children but also of older ones4 ,the   
mother who neglected her child would1   
after three cautions1 be deprived of the
 subsidy and the child would be taken   
from her4 ,the same would also apply to 
other parents who subjected their       
children to bodily or mental            
ill-treatment4  ,the mother's           
maintenance would always amount to the  
same sum per annum1 but for every child 
she would receive in addition the half  
of its maintenance1 until the number of 
children was reached that the community 
might consider desirable from its point 
of view4 ,any children born beyond that 
number would be the affair of the       
parents4 ,every father would have to    

contribute a corresponding half of the  
child's maintenance from its birth up to
 the age of eighteen4 ,at present the   
community affords a man help as         
breadwinner for a family in the form of 
higher wages calculated to that end and 
a rising scale according to age1 which1 
however1 he receives whether he is      
married or single1 childless or the     
father of a family4 ,but by paying the  
subsidy to the mother1 all need of      
unequal wages for the two sexes would   
cease1 and the subsidy would really     
further the purpose that is of          
importance to the community3 the rearing
 of the children4  ,the present system1 
on the other hand1 maintains that most  
crude injustice1 the difference between 
legitimate and illegitimate children2 it
 frees unmarried fathers from their     
natural responsibility2 it drives       
unmarried mothers to infanticide1 to    
suicide1 to prostitution4  ,all these   
conditions would be altered by a law    
which prescribed that every mother has a

 right1 under certain conditions1 to the
 support of the community during the    
years in which she is bearing the burden
 most important to the community2 and   
that every child has a right to         
maintenance by both its parents1 to the 
name of both and--so far as there may be
 property--to the inheritance of both4  
,since the mother must now1 with        
increasing frequency1 be a breadwinner  
as well as the husband1 it is just1 even
 from this point of view1 that she      
should share with him authority over the
 children4 ,but since1 furthermore1 she 
has suffered more for them1 thus loves  
them more and understands them          
better--and thus1 as a rule1 not only   
does more for them but also means more  
to them--it is likewise just that1      
whereas the mother now has to be        
satisfied with what power the father    
allows her1 the conditions should be    
reversed1 so that the mother should     
receive the greatest legal authority4   
,when the husband is not alone in       

bearing the burden of breadwinner1 there
 will be a possibility of his duty as   
educator being realised4 ,he will then  
have time to develop his qualities in   
this direction and the growing value of 
his fatherly care and fatherly love will
 lighten for the mother the task of     
education which at present often        
overwhelms her1 since with a growing    
consciousness of its responsibility this
 task is becoming more and more         
difficult to perform with her increasing
 need of personal freedom of movement4  
,the mother and child would1 therefore1 
not have to look exclusively to the     
father for the necessaries of life1 and 
they could not become entirely destitute
 through his incapacity or downfall4    
,but he would1 nevertheless1 continue to
 bear his half of the responsibility and
 the family would still be dependent on 
the father and his voluntary            
contributions for a great part of the   
pleasures of life1 while he would1      
moreover1 be freed from the often       

unbearable burdens under which his      
spiritual worth as a father and his     
family joys now suffer to so great a    
degree4 ,far from its being the case--as
 one has heard certain women            
declare--that the majority of men are   
nothing but egoists1 countless numbers  
of them have borne and still bear       
burdens of slavery1 not only for wife   
and children but also for the support of
 other female relations4 ,on the other  
hand1 the prevailing system of society  
has prompted fathers still more to      
enslave themselves in order to create an
 advantageous position for their        
children4 ,the existing rights and      
duties of a father stand in immediate   
connection with the right of            
inheritance1 one of the greatest dangers
 of our system of society4 ,for         
inheritance often keeps inefficiency in 
a leading position1 but efficiency in a 
dependent one2 it favours the           
possibility of the degenerate           
propagating the race1 above all if the  

parents have died early1 although--as it
 has been asserted--it is precisely such
 children that are the least apt to have
 offspring4 ,it is unfavourable to the  
chances of the efficient in this as in  
every other direction1 where birth in   
poor circumstances involves hindrances  
to education and the use of personal    
powers which wealth permits4 ,on the    
other hand1 poverty favours natural     
talent1 in so far as it braces the      
capabilities1 while it is often one of  
the misfortunes of heirs not to         
experience this inciting and pleasurable
 tension4 ,it is only the strongest or  
the finest natures that become stronger 
and finer through the advantages and the
 sense of responsibility that inherited 
wealth brings with it4 ,in the main1 the
 productive sources of society would be 
multiplied upwards as well as downwards1
 if wealth became personal in the       
fullest sense of the word1 depending on 
each person's contribution of efficient 
force1 but the goad of acquisitiveness  

would be broken1 through the limited    
possibility of increasing one's wealth  
and the needlessness of thereby securing
 the existence of one's children4 ,a new
 system would do away with the necessity
 of applying to the state for increase  
of salary for the education of children 
as befits their class4 ,for if all      
children were placed in an equal        
position by the community providing     
everything--from school materials to    
travelling scholarships--for the        
complete education of the bodily and    
mental powers of individuals1 an        
education in which a true circulation of
 the classes would take place by        
consideration being given only to       
ability2 if each thus had the same      
position when all entered upon their    
different careers2 if each had the same 
chances of there attaining to the right 
use of his special powers1 since he had 
had every means of training them2 if    
society gave--as a right1 not as a      
charity--to every worker full care      

during sickness and full support in old 
age1 then the desire to favour one's own
 children at the cost of the rest would 
disappear4 ,the father whose activity   
had procured him a position of power1   
which during his lifetime made his      
children's circumstances more favourable
 than those of a number of others1 would
 certainly thus be able--and to the     
advantage of the whole community--to    
allow his children to enjoy that        
differentiation and refinement which1   
for instance1 the richer culture of     
their home might give4 ,but when the    
right of inheritance disappeared--or at 
least was greatly limited and heavily   
taxed--he could not exempt them from    
permanently securing by the exercise of 
their own powers the advantages of a    
higher or lower kind that they had      
learned to value at home4  ,when the    
difference between legitimate and       
illegitimate children is abolished in   
every respect1 the paternal home1 as in 
classical and ,scandinavian antiquity1  

may include more often than at present  
the children of more than one living    
mother2 sometimes even a mother's home  
may include children of more than one   
living father4 ,in either case this     
would be a recognition of the children's
 rights which would leave present day   
customs with respect to children born   
out of wedlock a long way behind4   ,no 
relation shows better than marriage how 
morals and emotions may be centuries in 
advance of the laws within whose limits 
they have been developed4  ,many men now
 show their wives a delicacy of feeling 
and allow them a freedom of action which
 render these fortunate wives           
unconscious of the fact that--in the    
eyes of the law--they possess these only
 by the grace of their husbands4 ,it is 
not until relations become unhappy that 
the wife discovers that all the legal   
power is placed in the hands of one1 who
 thus has judicial support if he wishes 
to use his power alone1 to the exclusion
 of his wife1 or if he wishes to misuse 

it1 to the detriment of her and the     
children4  ,that1 in spite of these     
circumstances1 married men so often     
voluntarily place themselves in a       
position of equality with their wives in
 regard to authority in the home and    
with the children is the best proof of  
the power of the feelings to protect    
essential values4 ,and that men1 in     
spite of these marriage laws1 have      
become more and more considerate1       
redounds as much to their credit as     
their success in becoming human         
beings--in spite of all                 
hindrances--redounds to that of royal   
personages4 ,just as the latter have    
more excuse than others when they abuse 
their position1 so the same is true of  
the husband1 who must be a very         
fair-minded person if an ,i will is not 
to be the conclusion of a difference of 
opinion between himself and his wife2   
for not even the tenderest love will    
hinder the sense of mastery from flaring
 up in the face of her obstinate        

resistance in one direction or another4 
,to the majority of men1 however--and   
this is the more the case the lower they
 are in other respects--the present     
marriage law still forms the great      
hindrance in the way of their           
development to a higher humanity4 ,to   
have wife and child in his power makes  
of the wicked man a torturer1 of the    
low-minded a wretch4 ,there is no       
exaggeration in ,stuart ,mill's words1  
that so long as the family is based upon
 laws which are at variance with the    
first principles of social life in other
 things1 the law will be favouring what 
education and civilisation are          
counteracting in other spheres1 namely1 
the right of force instead of that of   
personality4 ,everywhere--in morals as  
in politics--it is now held that not    
what a man becomes through being born in
 a certain sex or class1 but what he is 
personally worth determines the respect 
he should enjoy2 that only his conduct  
and merits can be the source of his     

power and authority4 ,but marriage      
reverses the whole of this principle of 
modern constitutional law and1          
therefore1 the social application of the
 principle of personality has not yet   
gone beyond the surface4  ,that the law 
continues to sanction what reality has  
begun to transform is1 as we have said1 
of comparatively little weight1 since   
the law is--in the better sense of the  
words--a dead letter4 ,but the immediate
 danger to the individual and the       
indirect danger to society become       
greater in proportion as the possessor  
of uncontrolled power is worse1 or the  
life less ideal in which this authority 
is decisive4 ,and even when             
circumstances are favourable1 the       
authority of the husband is the more    
painful to the modern woman in          
proportion as she is more conscious of  
being able to attain only through       
perfect equality a satisfactory         
co-operation with her husband in every  
direction4 ,it is this profound vexation

 of the modern woman with her dependence
 which1 amongst other things1 makes many
 women1 even when they do not need it1  
wish to remain at least self-supporting 
after marriage4  ,the labour market has 
hitherto favoured this desire of theirs4
 ,it can1 however1 only be a question of
 time when the unmarried women will     
begin to thrust out the married         
ones--owing to the conditions of        
competition being more favourable to the
 former--when legislation has begun to  
deal with the present disproportionate  
state of things1 where the wives lower  
the wages of the husbands1 the children 
those of the parents1 and the result is 
the neglect of the homes and the        
physical and moral degeneration of the  
children4  ,but when married women's    
labour has been limited by legal        
8protection for mothers0--especially if 
this takes the form proposed above--and 
when1 further1 the married and the      
unmarried are protected by the fixing of
 a minimum wage1 an eight hours' day1   

and prohibition of working at night and 
in certain industries dangerous to      
health1 then the mothers will still be  
able--when their children have passed   
the age of infancy--to take part in     
several occupations4 ,this will be still
 more the case if a collective system of
 dwellings sets them free from the work 
of the kitchen and renders possible a   
good collective superintendence of the  
children while their mothers are absent4
  ,but the best thing for the           
children--especially if by the          
prohibition of home work they were      
rescued from earning a livelihood to the
 advantage of their school and home     
life--would be the liberation of married
 women from outside labour through the  
higher wages of their husbands1 while in
 return their home work would acquire   
the character of spiritual care4 ,this  
would be brought about in the fullest   
sense by the mothers being allowed the  
above-mentioned subsidy from the        
community for bringing up the children4 

,in such an arrangement1 approved by the
 community1 the majority might find that
 agreement between their occupation and 
their powers which constitutes the true 
joy of work4 ,for it can scarcely be    
doubted that even now the wife1 as a    
rule1 finds more employment in her home 
work1 however heavy1 for her special    
talents1 and thus finds a greater       
satisfaction than the husband1 who often
 slaves1 not at the work he has chosen1 
but at that he has been able to obtain4 
,but what1 in spite of this1 now makes  
women more and more unwilling to        
undertake the duties of the home and to 
prefer outside work1 is that they carry 
out their domestic work under conditions
 derogatory to themselves4  ,first and  
foremost1 women are determined to enjoy 
the facilities in their domestic work   
which here and there are already        
beginning to be provided4 ,these1       
however1 will probably not become       
general until women make more use of    
their capacity for thinking out the most

 convenient and agreeable methods1 both 
for labour-saving co-operation and for  
the performance of domestic duties1     
which will in any case always remain2   
and this again necessitates their       
educating themselves to a real knowledge
 of the questions of consumption and    
other details of modern household       
management4 ,this will be the more      
necessary as the servant problem within 
a short time will have reached that     
point at which women of all classes will
 have to choose between doing the work  
themselves and the complete dissolution 
of the home4 ,woman's domestic work and 
the care of children will be facilitated
 for all women only in so far as the    
educated agree in making new and higher 
demands in the matter of domestic       
arrangements as well as in practical and
 ornamental appliances4 ,they would thus
 not only further their own work1 but   
also evoke a higher culture as regards  
beauty and appropriateness1 both in     
architecture and industry4  ,but this is

 not enough to enable domestic work to  
regain its dignity4  ,this will not take
 place until society shows such         
appreciation of woman's domestic work as
 shall remove her present sense of being
 kept by her husband to perform a       
subordinate work1 a work which does not 
receive the appreciation which at the   
present time has become the absolute    
standard of the economical value of     
labour1 that of a money wage4  ,the     
existing institution of marriage came   
into being when woman had no real field 
of employment outside the home1 since   
its income was for the most part        
received in kind1 and the wife was thus 
indispensable for turning it to account4
 ,her domestic activity was of great    
value from the point of view of national
 economy1 and under these circumstances 
the joint estate was natural4           
,furthermore1 the mistress of the house 
possessed at this time--as manager of   
the consumption of the commodities she  
had prepared from raw materials--a      

freedom of action and an authority which
 she now quite naturally lacks in her   
own eyes and those of her husband4 ,it  
is of no avail that she has a legal     
right to be supported by her husband    
according to his position and           
circumstances2 for if her task          
frequently consists simply in asking her
 husband for money and keeping an       
account of its expenditure through the  
cook and the needlewoman1 she has reason
 to feel herself kept in a humiliating  
way4 ,neither indirectly nor directly is
 it through her work that the food comes
 to the table or the clothes are fitted 
to the body1 since the husband alone    
earns the means wherewith               
she--efficiently or otherwise--keeps    
house4  ,for this reason wives are      
becoming increasingly desirous of       
personally earning a livelihood4 ,they  
see how their husbands are developed    
through devotion to a profession1       
through the patience1 the accumulation1 
and tension of forces which this        

demands4 ,and only professional         
training1 in the opinion of modern      
woman1 can give her the same energy1    
only a direct income can give her the   
same certainty of her fitness for work4 
,but there is another expedient which   
would afford these advantages without1  
however1 driving women away from home1  
namely1 that their special training for1
 and their work in1 the field of        
housekeeping and the care of children   
should be as serious as in any other    
occupation4 ,not until she has a sense  
of the new value of her domestic work   
will the wife be able to demand that it 
shall be economically estimated like any
 other efficient work4  ,when wives     
speak of the humiliation of being kept  
by their husbands--since they have more 
and more frequently been self-supporting
 before marriage--their husbands always 
become profoundly idealistic4 ,they use 
fine words about the wife's important   
mission1 the adapting power of love1    
until one asks some particular man3     

whether any love could make it pleasant 
for him1 instead of drawing his own     
income1 to be obliged to ask his wife   
for what she considered necessary for   
their joint expenditure or for his own4 
,in spite of the consciousness of having
 herself brought wealth1 or in spite of 
the knowledge of constantly making      
important contributions of work in the  
home1 the necessity of asking for money 
is the wife's unbearable torment4 ,for  
the husband in his heart has often the  
same feeling as she2 that work nowadays 
means earning money outside1 since the  
management of an income--in spite of its
 immense importance to the strength1    
health1 and comfort of the workers and  
thus indirectly to the whole national   
economy--is more and more overlooked4   
,in part this idea of the husband is due
 to the very fact that women have not   
acquired the new kind of domesticity    
which is necessary for the efficient    
conduct of expenditure1 and that the    
husband is1 therefore1 often right in   

thinking that his wife neither works nor
 saves1 but only wastes4  ,however      
touchingly idealistic a girl may be in  
this question before marriage2 however  
confidingly she allows her husband to   
handle her fortune1 after a few years of
 married life experience will turn her  
into a complete realist4 ,however happy 
she has otherwise been1 she will1       
nevertheless1 remember more than one    
occasion when she has bitterly regretted
 the absence of the freedom of action a 
separate income gives2 when1 for        
instance1 her husband has refused to    
allow her to use--for some ideal purpose
 or other--the means which in many cases
 she herself brought him1 and how       
perhaps this for the first time really  
made a division between them4  ,the     
dependence of woman can only be         
abolished through the economic          
appreciation of her domestic work4 ,this
 appreciation is an easy matter when she
 has left a salaried employment for her 
domestic duties1 for the performance of 

the latter must be regarded as worth at 
least as much as her occupation formerly
 brought her4 ,where there is no such   
measure of value1 she ought to receive  
the same amount as a stranger in        
corresponding circumstances would       
receive in salary and cost of keep4     
,the wife would thus be able to meet her
 personal expenditure1 her share in the 
joint housekeeping and in the           
maintenance of the children1 when the   
subsidy for this purpose came to an end 
but the couple were agreed that the     
wife's work at home was of such value   
that she ought rather to continue it    
than to try to earn money outside4  ,the
 carrying out of this arrangement need  
not cause any dislocation of existing   
conditions4 ,the wife would continue to 
manage the domestic funds to which each 
would contribute according to agreement1
 but she would probably be better able  
to solve the problem of making them     
suffice for their joint expenses4 ,she  
would be perfectly free to forego her   

allowance1 as her husband would be to   
increase it according to need and       
ability4 ,the direct economical         
appreciation of her domestic work would 
transform her own and her husband's     
respect for it and thus give wives1 on  
the one hand1 a sense of independence   
which even the conscientious are now    
without1 on the other1 a sense of duty  
which in the case of the less           
conscientious is doubtless in need of   
strengthening2 for the existing         
arrangement favours not only domestic   
tyranny on the part of the husbands1 but
 also inefficiency on the part of       
certain wives4 ,but the fact that a     
small number of women of the upper class
 now do no work at all in the home1 or  
that a number of others do it badly1    
must not obscure the truth that         
innumerable women are constantly        
expending in their homes great sums of  
working power1 without being able       
legally to claim any corresponding      
income of their own4 ,this applies not  

only to the wives but also to the       
daughters of the house1 who often work  
from morning till night1 but are        
nevertheless obliged to accept as gifts 
from their parents all that they        
personally need1 and thus also have to  
do without anything that their parents  
consider unnecessary4 ,the same is true 
of the wife in relation to her husband4 
,when unmarried--whether she was in     
private or public service1 a factory    
hand or a clerk--she had the chance of  
in some measure providing for her own   
interests4 ,when married1 every present 
she gives1 every contribution she makes 
for a public purpose1 every book she    
buys1 every amusement she allows        
herself1 has to be taken from her       
husband's money4 ,the wife who1 in a    
farmer's home perhaps1 saves            
thousands--both by economy and by the   
direct contribution of her              
labour--frequently has not a silver     
piece at her disposal4  ,this           
dependence1 as we have said1 now drives 

wives and daughters from their homes to 
earn a livelihood1 which often does not 
by any means compensate economically for
 the loss of their work at home4 ,but   
they simply cannot endure to be without 
the personal income1 which to them has  
become a more and more important value1 
according as their general freedom of   
movement and their needs in other       
directions have increased--above all1   
through increase of education and social
 interests4  ,woman's present unpaid    
position in domestic work is an obsolete
 survival from earlier conditions of    
housekeeping and production1 as from the
 ecclesiastical doctrine that woman was 
created to be man's helpmate and he to  
be her head4 ,women have thus often     
received worse heads than nature gave   
them--and thereby man has had less      
valuable help than life intended for    
him4  ,not until an incorruptible       
realism establishes the principle within
 the family as elsewhere1 that each     
retains his own head and that every     

labourer is worthy of his hire1 will    
idealism find there a full field for    
unforced generosity in the free will of 
mutual help4  ,while what is said above 
applies to all women who wish to work at
 home1 it need not apply to those who   
are able through the fortune they       
brought with them to meet their         
household expenses and those of the     
children and who wish in return to be   
free from the trouble of domestic work4 
,every attempt at mediation in the      
question of married women's             
property--such as an obligatory marriage
 settlement and similar proposals--only 
introduces endless complications4 ,it   
will be simple and clear only when--as  
in ,russia even from the time of        
,catherine ,,ii--the woman simply       
retains her fortune4 ,the law ought to  
express the great principle1 that either
 party owns what is his or hers1 while  
those1 on the other hand1 who desire to 
introduce another arrangement1 must     
decide by contract how much of the      

property is to be held jointly4  ,only a
 separation of property carried out as a
 principle will be able to form the new 
and clear ideas of justice that the     
present time demands4 ,a separate estate
 places two individuals side by side1   
co-operating with the freedom that is   
enjoyed by a brother and sister or two  
friends4 ,both parties retain full right
 of decision and full responsibility4   
,either leaves transactions to the other
 only in that degree that the other's   
qualities have won his confidence4 ,both
 show each other mutual consideration in
 the planning of joint undertakings and 
neither can be drawn into such without a
 personal examination4 ,the rights of a 
third party are1 in these circumstances1
 equally well protected as when brothers
 and sisters or friends work or live    
together4 ,for the mutual transactions  
of married people must to this end have 
the same publicity as all other similar 
transactions between business partners4 
,not only as regards her property1 but  

also in her full civil rights and the   
disposition of her person1 the married  
woman must be placed on an equal footing
 with the unmarried4 ,it is true that   
the law is not so favourable as many    
people believe to 8conjugal rights40    
,but this belief has survived for       
centuries and in turn influences morals2
 moreover1 it is not without a certain  
legal support1 in case such a question  
is brought into court4 ,as a rule1 of   
course1 this does not happen1 but1 on   
the other hand1 the idea of             
legality--which is further encouraged by
 the ,bible--influences the husband's   
sense of right and the wife's sense of  
duty4 ,so long as the law maintains even
 a shadow of 8rights0 in that relation  
which ought to be the most voluntary of 
all1 it involves a gross violation of   
love's freedom4  ,this--like all other  
obsolete laws--is meaningless to the    
erotically refined1 who live above the  
law's standpoint4 ,but the lower the    
level1 the more certainly does the      

husband enforce his 8right0 under       
circumstances the most repulsive or most
 dangerous to the wife1 just            
as--contrary to his present right--he   
extorts from her the earnings of her    
labour4  ,no law will be able to hinder 
the wife from continuing voluntarily to 
allow her husband to violate her person1
 squander her property1 or ruin her     
children2 for the law cannot seal up the
 sources of weakness and conflict which 
arise from the human being's own nature4
  ,but what we have a right to demand of
 the marriage law is that it shall cease
 itself to extend these sources4  ,the  
law must be so contrived that it leaves 
to happiness the greatest possible      
freedom for its own formative power1    
while1 on the other hand1 it limits as  
far as possible the consequences of     
unhappiness2 and this can be brought    
about only by each party's complete     
independence of the other4  ,it is1     
therefore1 not sufficient that the      
husband's guardianship and the wife's   

legal incapacity should cease4 ,every   
provision also which has for its object 
to bind the wife by her husband's       
condition and circumstances must be     
revoked4  ,the majority of men now      
cherish the belief that a wife who      
leaves her husband's house can be       
brought back with the aid of the law4   
,this is1 doubtless1 a mistake4 ,but    
even if the letter of the law in this   
case also is better than the popular    
idea of it1 the whole spirit of the law1
 nevertheless1 entails the obligation of
 married people to live together4  ,the 
more personality is developed1 however1 
the more uncertain it becomes that every
 person's erotic needs are answered by  
this arrangement4 ,there are1 on the    
contrary1 such natures as would have    
loved for life1 if they had not1 day    
after day1 year after year1 been forced 
to adapt their wills1 their habits1 and 
their opinions to one another4 ,nay1    
many misfortunes depend upon pure       
trifles1 which two people with courage  

and foresight might easily have dealt   
with1 if the instinct of happiness had  
not been silenced by consideration for  
convention4 ,the more a woman has       
enjoyed personal liberty before         
marriage1 the less she can endure not to
 have a moment or a corner in her home  
which she can call her own4 ,and the    
more the people of the present day      
enlarge their individual freedom of     
movement1 their need of solitude in     
other respects1 the more will both man  
and woman enlarge them in marriage4     
,but even if those desiring solitude    
remain in the minority1 they must still 
be granted both by the law and by public
 opinion full liberty to shape their    
married life according to their own     
requirements4  ,conventionality and     
mental inertness pronounce this         
unheard-of1 even immoral4 ,on the other 
hand1 it is regarded as equally natural 
and moral that the majority of sailors  
and commercial travellers should live   
for the greater part of the year apart  

from their wives2 that journeys for     
scientific or artistic purposes should  
separate married people for years1 or   
that--in exceptional cases--one of them1
 for instance1 should spend the winters 
as a gymnast in ,england while the other
 is a teacher in ,sweden4  ,all these   
things1 it is thought1 are nothing but  
external necessities4 ,and to these one 
always submits6 ,ought we not1          
nevertheless1 to find room for the      
thought that there may also be          
necessities of the soul8  ,our time1 for
 instance1 tends more and more to bring 
together artists who work at different1 
or1 still more often1 at the same art4  
,the nerves of both are worn in the same
 way2 both need the same freedom of     
movement and the same undisturbed quiet4
 ,but in the claims of everyday life for
 mutual sympathy and mutual             
consideration1 nearly all their         
spiritual energy is used up4 ,they see  
that1 if they are not to consume one    
another's mental resources1 they must   

adopt a system of spiritual separation1 
which is possible only at a certain     
distance4 ,the holiday happiness of     
these natures may be rapturous1 the     
sympathetic union of their souls richer 
than any others4 ,but each feels for the
 other what is expressed by one of      
,shakespeare's joyous young women1 when 
she calls a suitor 8too costly for every
 day's wear40 ,each is tempted at times 
to exclaim1 like another young woman in 
a modern book3 8,i want to be able to   
say1 let me now for three weeks be      
altogether free from loving you0--since 
each knows that this freedom would only 
renew the feeling4 ,but now married     
people are bound by custom to a common  
life1 which often ends in their         
separating for ever1 simply because     
conventional considerations prevented   
their living apart4  ,natures of other  
types may also feel the constraint of   
narrow dependence1 enforced association1
 the daily accommodations and constant  
considerations4 ,more people ought1     

therefore1 quietly to begin reforming   
matrimonial customs1 so that they may   
more nearly correspond to the need of   
renewal just alluded to4 ,let each1 for 
instance1 travel separately1 if he or   
she feels the desire of solitude2 let   
one visit by himself the entertainment  
the other does not care for1 but        
formerly either forced herself to1 or   
kept the other from visiting4 ,more and 
more married people have separate       
bedrooms4 ,and in another generation    
perhaps separate dwellings will have    
ceased to attract attention4            
,companionship on week-days as on       
holidays1 co-operation in the           
satisfaction of everyday claims as well 
as of life's highest purposes1 will1    
nevertheless1 continue to be the form of
 married life chosen by the majority1   
even when public opinion has left room  
for other systems of living4 ,but full  
freedom for the latter will not be won  
till the law ceases to place any limit  
to the self-determination of each       

partner in marriage4  ,another matter   
that ought to be left to personal       
decision is the degree of publicity that
 is to be given to a matrimonial union4 
,an otherwise conservative father of a  
family once put forward the weighty     
reasons which might be in favour of     
keeping secret a marriage that was1     
nevertheless1 intended to be fully      
legal4 ,amongst the reasons which now   
frequently cause the postponement of a  
marriage are1 for instance1 the         
necessity of completing studies1 or     
reluctance to hasten1 through sorrow1   
the death of parents or others4 ,the    
possibility of not having to publish the
 union in these or similar cases would  
spare the lovers unnecessary waiting    
without in any way encroaching on the   
rights of others4  ,further1 to personal
 determination belong not only free     
divorce but also new forms of divorce4  
,as divorce itself has been treated in  
the last chapter1 we will speak here    
only of the method of it4 ,the wife's   

infidelity1 as well as the husband's    
right to refuse divorce1 at present     
frequently affords an opportunity for   
blackmail on the part of the husband    
from his wife1 who1 in the latter case1 
has to buy her freedom1 and in both     
cases often has to buy permission to    
keep her children4 ,the husband1 too1   
may be exposed to blackmailing by a wife
 who refuses divorce or who can prove   
his infidelity and tries to take from   
him the children1 whom he knows to be   
exposed to corruption in her hands4     
,but1 since society and nature favour   
the man's infidelity1 while both are    
against that of the woman1 it is in the 
nature of the case that the wife often  
has difficulty in proving the husband's 
infidelity1 while he can prove hers     
easily4 ,his repeated acts of           
unfaithfulness have1 perhaps1 been the  
cause of her single one4 ,but it is1    
nevertheless1 he--since there is no     
valid evidence against him--who has the 
children assigned to him1 or1 it may be1

 sells them to his wife4  ,the same     
applies to divorce on account of 8hatred
 and ill-will40 ,before a court which   
cannot test the reasons that have most  
spiritual weight1 but only the evidence 
that has most to say1 all the details of
 married life have to be dragged forth1 
all its wounds inspected4 ,the evidence 
which1 as a rule1 is decisive is that of
 servants6 ,the profoundest spiritual   
concerns of educated people are thus    
made to depend upon the opinion of      
uneducated persons on all the           
complicated circumstances of an unhappy 
marriage4 ,and not only this3 the result
 in most cases is determined by the     
indelicacy with which the husband and   
wife have drawn their servants and their
 acquaintances into the conflict4 ,if   
husband or wife has summoned the        
servants to witness violent behaviour1  
then that party is in a much better     
position in an action for divorce than  
the one who has sought to the utmost to 
preserve the dignity of their marriage4 

,there are1 moreover1 some sufferings of
 which no proof can be produced4 ,such1 
for instance1 is misuse of 8conjugal    
rights02 another is the power of either 
party1 under forms of outward           
politeness1 to make life entirely       
worthless to the other2 a third1 the    
constant opposition of two conflicting  
views of life4  ,it is only in the case 
of the grossest and most palpable evils 
that it is now possible to furnish the  
necessary evidence without such         
difficulties as--both in the granting of
 divorce and in the disposal of the     
children--may give rise to the grossest 
injustice4 ,and all this is only a part 
of the humiliations and sufferings which
 now--especially for the wife--attend a 
divorce4 ,finally1 an action for divorce
 is sufficiently expensive to render it 
on this account alone a matter of great 
difficulty for many people in poor      
circumstances to obtain justice4  ,such 
a system of divorce--which makes either 
partner dependent on the worst qualities

 of the other2 which calls forth all    
that is indelicate in the nature of     
both2 which drags their weaknesses and  
sufferings before the eyes of strangers1
 and which1 nevertheless1 provides no   
real protection for the children--such a
 system ought to give no thoughtful     
person peace until its degrading and    
deteriorating influence is abolished and
 a new system1 which shall protect both 
personal dignity and the children1      
introduced4   ,in looking back upon the 
preceding1 it would seem to result      
clearly that nothing that has been said 
here contemplates the establishment of a
 single form--recognised as the only    
moral one--for sexual life4 ,but since  
only the fixity possessed by the law is 
capable of transforming in a profound   
and permanent manner the feelings and   
customs of the majority1 there is need1 
for the present1 of a new law to support
 the growth of the higher feelings which
 will finally render any marriage law   
unnecessary4  ,in connection with the   

course of development of sexual morality
 it was pointed out that the            
ecclesiastical and legal establishment  
of the ideal of monogamy as the only    
form of sexual morality has had for its 
result the unconditional acquiescence in
 the idea that the claims of evolution  
are in complete agreement with existing 
laws and customs2 with the further      
result that we are now--through the want
 of a recognised right to manifold      
experience--almost in the same position 
of ignorance as to the form of sexual   
morality most favourable to the         
development of the race1 as we were a   
thousand years ago1 and that1 therefore1
 the vital needs of the race as well as 
the individual's demands of happiness   
speak for a more extended right to such 
experiences4  ,no one knows whether1 at 
the end of the new paths1 we shall not  
again be confronted by the riddle of the
 sphinx3 how the parents are to avoid   
being sacrificed for the children or the
 children for the parents4 ,the one     

thing certain is that on the path we    
have hitherto followed we have arrived  
at the sphinx4 ,and all those who have  
been torn to pieces at its feet are     
witnesses that on this path mankind did 
not arrive at the solution of the       
riddle4  ,the point of view which has   
here1 throughout1 been the leading one  
is1 that in the same degree as life     
itself becomes the meaning of life human
 beings will also in all their          
sensations and all their undertakings   
become more and more conscious of regard
 for the race4 ,it is thus only a       
question of time when the respect of    
society for a sexual union shall not    
depend upon the form of cohabitation    
that makes a couple of human beings     
become parents1 but only upon the value 
of the children they thus create as new 
links in the chain of generations4 ,men 
and women will then dedicate to their   
mental and bodily fitness for the       
mission of the race the same religious  
earnestness that ,christians devote to  

the salvation of their souls4 ,instead  
of divine codes of the morality of      
sexual relations1 the desire of1 and    
responsibility for1 the enhancement of  
the race will be the support of morals4 
,but the knowledge of the parents that  
the meaning of life is also in their own
 lives1 that they thus do not exist     
solely for the sake of their children1  
may liberate them from other duties of  
conscience which at present bind them in
 respect of the children1 above all that
 of keeping up a union in which they    
themselves perish4 ,the home may then   
more than at present be synonymous with 
the mother1 which--far from excluding   
the father--contains the germ of a new  
and higher 8right of the family40  ,when
 every life is regarded as an end in    
itself from the point of view that it   
can never be lived again2 that it must1 
therefore1 be lived as completely and   
greatly as possible2 when every         
personality is valued as an asset in    
life that has never existed before and  

will never occur again1 then also the   
erotic happiness or unhappiness of a    
human being will be treated as of       
greater importance1 and not to himself  
alone4 ,no1 it will be so also to the   
whole community--through the life and   
the work his happiness may give the race
 or his unhappiness deprive it of4  ,for
 himself1 as well as for others1 the    
individual will then examine the right  
of renouncing happiness as              
conscientiously as he now submits to the
 duty of bearing unhappiness4 ,the      
importance to children of their parents'
 life together will depend upon the kind
 of life it is1 when it has been seen   
that when all is said the new generation
 has most to gain by love being always  
and everywhere set up as the condition  
of the highest worth of cohabitation4   
,this is the rich promise that the new  
path offers2 but the majority cannot see
 the promise on account of the possible 
new dangers4 ,it is this dread that     
still paralyses the courage to dare the 

untried1 in order to win the valuable4  
,it is astonishing that those who       
tremble for the future never seek       
consolation in the past4 ,they would    
there find1 for example1 that when the  
family ceased to be the match-maker1    
when the guardian could no longer keep a
 woman in a position of legal incapacity
 and prevent her marrying--then there   
were prophecies of exactly the same     
8dissolution of society and of the      
family0 as are now dreaded in freer     
forms of matrimony4 ,but the same people
 who now laugh at the former forebodings
 are convinced that the latter will be  
realised2 for man believes in nothing so
 reluctantly as in his own nature's     
power of replacing outward bonds with   
inner ones4 ,and yet1 long before the   
new forms are ready1 there is an        
abundance of the new feelings which are 
to fill them4 ,nothing is more certain  
than that1 if feelings were no better   
than laws1 we should never have new laws
 7,mill74 ,but human beings will never  

believe in the possibilities of         
development of their own feelings until 
they leave off seeking their strength   
from above4 ,they will never have faith 
in themselves as pathfinders until they 
no longer believe themselves 8guided40  
,as soon as a change has taken place1 it
 is regarded 8historically10 as a given 
consequence of 8rational0 causes and    
8divine0 guidance4 ,but to look         
historically at the future2 to trust in 
regard to what has not yet happened to  
the given consequences--for good and    
evil--of the same constantly operating  
causes1 this does not occur to the      
guardians of society4 ,their belief in  
,god's guidance is                      
always--retrospective4  ,the believers  
in ,life1 on the other hand1 know that  
vital needs were the productive soil of 
the feelings that gave the pith to those
 laws1 whereof now only the straw       
remains4 ,but the earth has not         
exhausted its powers of fertility1 any  
more than the feelings have lost their  

creative force4 ,the believers in ,life1
 therefore1 attach small importance to  
the old straw1 but consider the         
increasing of the earth's productiveness
 of supreme significance4  ,a great and 
healthy will to live is what our time   
needs in the matter of the erotic       
emotions and claims4 ,it is here that   
there is a menace of real dangers from  
the woman's side2 and it is1 amongst    
other things1 to avert these dangers    
that new forms of marriage must be      
created4  ,a human material increasing  
in value and in capacity for            
development--this is what the earth will
 produce4 ,the chances of obtaining this
 may be decreased under fixed1 but      
favoured under freer1 forms of sexual   
life4 ,it is not only because the       
present day demands more freedom that   
these claims are full of promise4 ,they 
are so because the claims are coming    
nearer and nearer to the kernel of the  
question--the certainty that love is the
 most perfect condition for the         

life-enhancement of the race and of the 
individual--and because the present time
 acknowledges the necessity of          
temporarily limiting freedom1 though    
only by means of laws which will form an
 education in love4  ,such a law must1  
for the sake of woman's liberty1 deprive
 man of certain of his present rights2  
for the sake of the children1 limit the 
present liberty both of man and woman4  
,but these limitations will all be to   
the final profit of love4   ,those who  
believe in the perfectibility of mankind
 for and through love must1 however1    
learn to reckon not in hundreds of      
years1 and still less in tens1 but in   
thousands4     ,,footnotes3     #a ,many
 of the facts in the foregoing pages are
 taken from a   detailed biographical   
pamphlet on ,ellen ,key by ,j4 ,f4 ,d4  
,mossel   in the series of ,mannen en   
,vrouwen von ,beteekenis in ,onze       
,dagen4 ,the reader may be referred to  
an interesting account   of ,ellen ,key1
 from personal knowledge1 by ,miss      

,helen ,zimmern1   in ,putnam's         
,magazine1 ,jan41 #aijh4    #b ,in      
,england1 ,tennyson1 in ,the ,princess1 
was the first to   give to 8the new     
woman0 her name and to speak of her     
objects1   and many others began in the 
middle of the last century   indirectly 
to develop the idea of love1 especially 
,elizabeth   ,barrett ,browning1 the    
sisters ,bront1 and ,miss ,muloch among 
women writers4 ,robert ,browning1       
,george ,meredith1 and other   great    
poets among the men have also furthered 
it indirectly4   ,in later days1 ,george
 ,egerton in ,rosa ,amorosa and ,edward 
,carpenter in ,love's ,coming of ,age   
have1 in their different   ways1 given a
 remarkable treatment of the evolution  
of love4   ,woman ,free by ,ellis       
,ethelmer1 ,a ,noviciate for ,marriage  
by   ,edith ,m4 ,ellis1 ,the ,woman ,who
 ,did by ,grant ,allen1 belong to   the 
same group of writings4    #c ,walt     
,whitman4    #d ,as far as ,england is  
concerned ,i will here only remind my   

readers of ,galton's contributions to   
this subject2 of ,geddes   and          
,thomson's ,evolution of ,sex2 of       
,havelock ,ellis's ,man and   ,woman1   
,sex in ,relation to ,society1 etc4     
#e ,see ,woman and ,economics and later 
works by this ,american   authoress1 who
 has many adherents in ,europe as well  
as in   ,america4    #f ,every ,english 
reader knows what ,dickens achieved in  
this   respect4 ,i will only remind them
 here of ,hannah ,lynch's   7anonymously
 published7 ,autobiography of a ,child4 
#g ,before #aheg1 no legal divorce in   
the usual meaning of   the term existed 
in ,england4 ,the ecclesiastical courts 
could   grant a sort of 8divorce from   
bed and board10 whereupon   the         
aggrieved party could get rid of his    
unfaithful half   by a special ,act of  
,parliament in each particular case4 ,as
   a consequence1 only very wealthy     
people could afford this   luxury1 for  
it cost immense sums to get a special   
motion of   this kind through           

,parliament4 ,the further injustice     
prevailed1   that in practice this      
course was open only to men1 not to     
women4    ,it was1 moreover1 with the   
greatest difficulty that ,palmerston    
succeeded in carrying the reform of     
#aheg4 ,the friends of   reform urged   
above all that the old law was unjust to
 poor   people1 and that among both rich
 and poor it had become   increasingly  
common to marry again in an illegal way1
 so that   in the eyes of the law       
thousands of people in ,england were    
living in bigamy4    ,the new law of    
#aheg introduced a separate secular     
court for   divorce causes1 divorce was 
made legal1 and the possibility of      
taking advantage of it was placed within
 the reach of others   than the         
wealthiest4    ,but the experience of   
fifty years has shown that divorce      
procedure is still altogether too costly
 for the poor1 and   entails an infinity
 of time and trouble4 ,furthermore1 a   
number   of revolting injustices remain4

    ,thus1 for instance1 a wife cannot  
obtain legal divorce from   her husband 
either because he is an habitual        
drunkard1 or an   incurable lunatic1 or 
is imprisoned for life for some grave   
crime1 or has abandoned his home and    
refused to contribute to   the support  
of his wife and children6 ,the most she 
can obtain   under such circumstances is
 a judicial separation--which makes   it
 possible for either party to enter into
 any illegitimate   connection they     
please4 ,a husband can obtain divorce   
from his   wife if he can prove a single
 case of infidelity on her part2   but  
the wife cannot obtain divorce from her 
husband even if   he can be proved to be
 living in continual adultery4 ,in order
   to get rid of him she must be able to
 prove that he has been   guilty of     
cruelty towards her or has deserted her 
for a period   of two years4    ,the    
worst thing is that the greater offence 
is punished far   more leniently than   
the less4 ,a wife can get a judicial    

separation on account of her husband's  
infidelity1 but loses   therewith the   
right of proceeding against him for     
divorce1   and neither she nor her      
husband may marry again4 ,but if the    
husband has also been guilty of cruelty 
to her1 she obtains a   divorce1 and    
then both she and her husband are at    
liberty to   remarry4 ,the man who      
deceives his wife is not free to marry  
another2 but if he both deceives her and
 beats her1 he is   divorced and may    
marry again6    ,in general the         
opponents of the existing law declare   
that   it contributes powerfully to the 
formation of illegitimate   connections4
    #h ,these details refer1 of course1 
to the ,swedish   law4--,,translator4   
,,the ,,end