,,the ,,steps ,,of ,,life ,,by ,,carl ,,hilty ,illustration ,,the ,,steps ,,of ,,life ,further ,,essays ,,on ,,happiness ,,by ,,carl ,,hilty ,,professor ,,of ,,constitutional ,,law ,,in ,,the ,,university ,,of ,,bern ,,translated ,,by ,,melvin ,,brandow ,,minister ,,of ,,the ,,church ,,of ,,our ,,father ,,in ,,lancaster1 ,,pennsylvania ,,with ,,an ,,introduction ,,by ,,francis ,,greenwood ,,peabody ,,professor ,,of ,,christian ,,morals ,,in ,,harvard ,,university ,illustration ,,new ,,york3 ,,the ,,macmillan ,,co4 ,,london3 ,,macmillan ,,co41 ,,ltd4 #aijg ,,copyright1 #aijg1 ,,by ,,the ,,macmillan ,,company4 ,set up and electrotyped4 ,published ,january1 #aijg4 ,norwood ,press ,j4 ,s4 ,cushing ,co4--,berwick ,smith ,co4 ,norwood1 ,mass41 ,u4,s4,a4 ,,introduction ,the welcome offered to the translation of ,professor ,hilty's 8,happiness0 amply justifies the translation of a second series of his essays4 ,the same notes of tranquil reflection and keen observation1 which have drawn to the earlier volumes many readers both in ,europe and ,america1 are here struck again4 ,professor ,hilty is not a preacher1 and his essays are not sermons4 ,he is a professor of ,constitutional ,law1 and the studies of life which these volumes represent are products of his leisure hours1 wrought out of his meditation and experience4 ,sin and sorrow1 culture and courage1 a just judgment of others1 a rational optimism1 and a simple ,christian faith--these are the 8,steps of ,life0 up which this wise teacher mounts1 and which he invites thoughtful readers to climb4 ,laurence ,oliphant is reported to have said that what ,england in the nineteenth century most needed was 8a spiritually minded man of the world0--a man1 that is to say1 who could live in the world without being subdued to that he worked in1 a man who could survey and judge his world with the sanity and insight of the spiritual mind4 ,professor ,hilty in a very exceptional degree meets this test4 ,his vocation is among the institutions of the political world4 ,his last professional treatise dealt with the history of the ,referendum in medival ,switzerland4 ,when in these ,essays he approaches the problems of other professions1 such as those of theology or ,biblical criticism1 it is as an amateur1 who satisfies himself with conclusions which must appear to many minds untenable4 ,it is1 however1 precisely this unprofessional character of his reflections which gives them their importance4 ,here is a learned man1 whose business is with other studies1 and who has known much both of public honor and of private affliction1 who refreshes and consoles himself with the observation and interpretation of life1 and surveys the shifting landscape of human experience from the height of a responsive mind and a chastened will4 ,it is the testimony of a spiritually minded man of the world4 ,there are signs enough at the present time that the spirit of the age is dominated by the creed of commercialism and materialism2 and there are writers enough who deplore this movement of events and who prophesy social disasters2 but something good may be believed of a generation which is so ready to welcome books like ,professor ,hilty's4 ,it may be true1 as has been cleverly said1 that many people like to read about the 8,simple ,life0 who have not the least idea of practising it2 but the inclination to such literature may be more reasonably traced to a more serious cause4 ,it indicates a survival1 beneath the boisterous prosperity of the time1 of the instincts of idealism1 which still create in great numbers of persons a profound dissatisfaction with the commercial tests of happiness and success4 ,never was a generation less contented than ours with itself1--less satiated or tranquil in spirit4 ,increase of wealth has brought with it increase of restlessness2 outward prosperity has induced nervous prostration2 expansion of opportunity has created expansion of desire4 ,the fundamental problems of sin and sorrow have become all the more baffling and mysterious as the superficial problems of subsistence and livelihood have been solved4 ,at such a time it is not surprising that thoughtful minds turn eagerly to any teacher who speaks with confidence of the realities of idealism1 who faces experience with a serene hope1 and who points out the 8,steps of ,life0 which lead toward the things which are unseen and eternal4 ,to such readers ,professor ,hilty has already brought courage and faith1 and they will gladly accept his further guidance4 ,,francis ,g4 ,,peabody4 ,harvard ,university1 ,december1 #aijf4 ,,contents ,,page ,,essay ,i ,,sin ,,and ,,sorrow #a ,,essay ,,ii 8,,comfort ,,ye ,,my ,,people0 #ce ,,essay ,,iii ,,on ,,the ,,knowledge ,,of ,,men #ec ,,essay ,,iv ,,what ,,is ,,culture8 #aji ,,essay ,v ,,noble ,,souls #ada ,,essay ,,vi ,,transcendental ,,hope #afe ,,essay ,,vii ,,the ,,prolegomena ,,of ,,christianity #ahc ,,essay ,,viii ,,the ,,steps ,,of ,,life #bac ,i4 ,,sin ,,and ,,sorrow ,i4 ,,sin ,,and ,,sorrow ,although the ,way to ,happiness is ever plain and open to all1 yet not all who have seen it succeed in really finding it4 ,like poor ,pliable in the 8,pilgrim's ,progress10 they turn back when once they have fallen into the ,slough of ,despond2 and it is they1 and not those who have never tried it1 who give the narrow path to genuine happiness the poor repute it has with so-called realists4 ,such deserters are often highly gifted and1 at first1 earnest2 and they are by no means always lacking in the courage needed to seek the truth and for its sake to give up the enticing illusions of life4 ,but on the very threshold of that better life which alone brings peace stand two dark figures1 like the guardians at the mouth of ,hell in the 8,paradise ,lost02 and before them even the stoutest heart trembles1 and they let no man by who has not first had it out with them4 ,what stands in the way of our happiness is a twofold terrible reality known to every one who has lived beyond the first half-unconscious age of childhood--,sin and ,sorrow4 ,to be set free from these is the true motive in all men's strivings after happiness2 no philosophy1 no religion1 no economics1 no politics1 that is not essentially directed to this end4 ,of these two great antagonists1 with which every man has to engage in hard conflict1 the first is ,sin4 ,it begins early in life1 for the most part earlier than sorrow1 earlier even than the common expression of 8the innocence of childhood0 implies4 8,ye lead us into life amain1 ye let poor man all sinful grow1 and then abandon him to pain20 thus ,goethe accuses the 8heavenly powers10 really meaning1 however1 an inexorable fate which1 in his view1 dominates human existence1 and against which neither ,promethean revolt avails nor the attempt 7more common since his day7 to deny the existence of sin altogether4 ,in every man there lives a relentlessly real feeling that duty and sin do exist1 and that sin not merely follows transgression1 but is lodged within it and must pour its consequences with mathematical certainty upon the head of the guilty one1 unless averted by some means or other2 and that can be by no mere philosophical train of reasoning4 ,try 7if you would be so bold7 by mere negation to declare yourself free from these realities1 rooted like granite in all human existence6 ,notwithstanding your resolution1 there is1 all the same1 in every action of yours1 yes1 in every thought1 a right way1 and if you do not pursue it1 then it is a sin4 ,or rather do not try2 it is a reef on which millions have already gone to pieces1 and on which you will go to pieces1 too4 8,beyond all ,good and ,evil0 is a place not to be found on earth outside the mad-house1 where many men1 often highly gifted1 are shut up to-day2 not merely by chance1 for the human spirit sinks into madness whenever1 in all earnestness1 it seeks to disregard these truths in its own life4 ,i am quite well aware that this does not 8explain0 the feeling of duty and sin2 besides1 it is a matter of indifference to man's welfare how this feeling is to be explained1 whether as a superstition handed down for many generations1 or as a belief wholly in accord with reason4 ,even if it be a superstition1 the champion has not yet been found who is able to set humanity free from a nightmare which has burdened it from the beginning of time2 the isolated1 weak attempts to do so have for the most part fallen out very unhappily for those who undertook them4 ,a man who1 with clear1 unclouded brow1 openly denies duty and sin1 and1 though boldly believing he may do anything he pleases1 has yet gone through his whole life glad-heartedly1 with the certainty of his inner conviction unruffled--such a man we should first like to see1 before we believe in him4 ,and though such a man were to be found1 he would stand alone and would be incomprehensible to all other men1 so differently constituted4 ,duty and sin become wholly intelligible only when we recognize a personal1 extra-mundane ,god from whose will this inner law proceeds2 while the so-called 8immanence0 of ,god is but another name for atheism or pantheism4 ,to be sure1 it would be idle to desire a reasoned explanation of the transcendental ,god2 everything transcendental by its very nature escapes our comprehension1 and for this reason the so-called 8proofs0 of the existence of ,god have no power to convince the human understanding4 ,nor do they seem as yet ever to have convinced any one who did not first want to be4 ,in so far1 therefore1 atheism has a certain right to declare itself not convinced2 but it is itself just as little in a position to prove that its own system is in any way reasonable1 or to solve the doubts which that system generates4 ,therefore so long as humanity abides1 the matter will perhaps stand simply at this1 that one can not prove there is a ,god1 but just as little1 if ,god indeed exists1 can one remove him out of the account of his own life by a mere denial4 ,the decisive question of all questions for every man 7but always a question7 will be3 whether he shall attempt such a denial and be able to attain the inward peace he expects therefrom1 or whether he shall acknowledge as binding the categorical demand of the oldest divine revelation1 8,i am the ,lord thy ,god1 and thou shalt have no other gods before me40 ,the willing recognition of this demand 7which in its second half already comprehends all morality7 by a man who has come to full deliberation over himself and his life-purpose1--this it is that first brings him out of a thoroughly ineffectual revolt against a divine order he can not change by his thoughts alone1 on into the possibility of a harmony with himself and the surrounding world4 ,and besides1 the whole history of humanity is nothing else than the gradual unfolding of such a free will of the nations toward the will of ,god4 ,whoever denies this1 and lives up to his denial1 acts against his own welfare and the end for which he was destined1 as well as against the good of mankind2 and this state of war against ,god and man1 as well as against one's own life1 is very likely the cause that calls forth the feeling of sin4 ,there is no other and better explanation for it1 in my opinion4 ,moreover1 what ,evil really is and exactly what ,christ understood by the prayer for deliverance from it will1 as long as we live on earth1 remain just as obscure to us as what ,god is4 ,we only know1 and from experience alone1 that we can yield ourselves into its power1 and further1 that it possesses no other power over us than we ourselves grant it4 ,this especially comes to pass through our disobedience to what is true and through the preponderance of the sensual1 animal life over the spiritual4 ,every more finely organized man feels this forthwith through a gradually increasing physical discomfort from which nothing else than a turn-about shall free him4 ,and likewise1 the spirit of truth in a man or a book1 in a whole household or people1 one recognizes as something beneficent1 while the spirit of falsehood he feels to be something unhealthy and poisonous1 like bad air in a room1 to which one can1 to be sure1 accustom oneself1 if one desires4 ,a man can1 of course1 try to dismiss all this matter from his thoughts2 he has perfect freedom of will to do so4 ,but whether it will let him alone is quite another and more important question4 ,we neither can nor will1 therefore1 dispute with those who assert they have never harbored any feeling of sin2 we can not look into their souls4 ,we only reply that they would in that case find themselves in an extreme minority and really at the stage of evolution of the animals2 for these also have no feeling of moral obligation and therefore no sin1 but everything is permitted them that their natural impulse demands4 ,if1 on the other hand1 such men possess the feeling of sin only now and then even1 still it must be said it is not explicable in any other way than from the standpoint of a moral order of the world which we can not change and contrary to which we may not behave1 nor even think4 ,we turn now to those who acknowledge all this4 ,for them the problem is to find a way of release from a burden which is by far the most unendurable of all earthly burdens4 ,the first thing to say to them is this3 ,do not let sin get the least foothold in your life2 you must and can not do otherwise4 ,for what afterward becomes a crushing actuality is at first1 for the most part1 merely a fleeting thought1 an arrow from one knows not whence1 shot into the unoccupied soul4 ,and if it lingers there1 if it is not at once thrust forth while it is still easy1 then there soon arises an evil propensity1 upon which mostly follows1 first the clouding of the moral consciousness1 and at last the deed4 ,after the deed comes often enough a despair that hopes for no salvation more2 or what has happened is now for the first time justified before oneself with materialistic philosophy3 in either case the death of the true spiritual life4 ,but unfortunately this counsel to 8resist the beginnings0 is only a very theoretical one1 and they who have the bold faith of being able always to do this from a voluntary disposition toward the good1 and by their own strength1 will1 in the course of their own life and in their observation of others1 be compelled bit by bit to lessen altogether too far the demands they make of human kind4 ,this is the especial weakness of the noble ,kantian philosophy4 ,a grievous passage through some ,valley of ,humiliation1 or an abatement in the clear vision of his moral consciousness inevitably comes upon the man who1 at first1 believed he was able1 with uplifted head and without any help from without1 to tread the ,path of ,virtue without wandering from the way4 ,therefore the second counsel is more important for man as he is actually constituted3 ,free thyself at any cost from every sin thou bearest1 if thou wouldst arrive at happiness4 ,this way passes the unerring road2 just as1 in ,purgatory1 ,dante could enter the portal of salvation only by passing the grave angel guardian sitting upon the diamond threshold with naked sword4 ,there is no other way to set your soul truly free4 ,goethe1 it is true1 has tried in the second part of 8,faust0 to discover a kind of natural salvation from sin2 and this1 in fact1 has remained the path which many1 still to-day1 are seeking out3 namely1 the noble enjoyment of nature1 which at least now and then can silence the accusing voices within2 with art and the charm of the beautiful1 wherein many perceive at once the consummation and the expiation of material man2 or finally1 action1 a share in the work of civilization1 which is to uplift the depressed heart and to delude itself with the applause of the multitude1 at least for the moment4 ,but1 alongside all this1 nevertheless1 sin remains inexorably standing1 a melancholy fact2 and even the great poet was unable to set it aside in any credible way4 ,a divine love that receives a man to its bosom even though he be not repentant1 but1 on the contrary1 persists to the last moment in defiantly living out his life in his own way--a divine love of this sort is a mere picture of the fancy1 an arbitrary poetical invention1 against which even ,goethe's ,promethean soul was obliged1 for its own honor1 to protest with the last breath of the body4 ,yet even repentance does not alone release from sin1 but there must be a trustful turning of the soul to ,god1 whose mighty arm of mercy 7as ,manfred says in ,dante's great poem7 receives all that turn to it2 and it will not be prevented from doing so1 even by an authoritative decree of a church4 ,and in this regard the greatness of the sin is no matter4 ,what is great and small in human sin anyway1 weighed1 not according to human notions and the penal law-books1 but in the eye of a judge who knows all and metes a perfect justice8 ,whoever finds within himself the courage to appeal to ,his mercy has already received it in all essentials1 for the disfavor of ,god consists mainly in the 8judgment of obduracy10 a judgment which lets the offender remain unbroken and defiant until his end1 and prevents him from calling upon this mercy4 ,our churches1 to be sure1 have in a measure widely strayed from this simple way of atonement and affirm a very much more positive manner of salvation from sin1 either through outward works1 or at least through definite dogmatic conceptions of reconciliation with ,god4 ,in the first case1 we hold that all outward works of penitence1 as well as all 8good works10 are valueless unless they spring spontaneously from the inner turning to ,god4 ,even then they are never meritorious although helpful and pacifying4 ,the essential thing in 8repentance0 7a great matter1 whose import1 however1 we have almost lost7 is not the sorrow of regret1 which rather1 often enough1 merely 8worketh death10 but on the one hand1 the complete turning of the will toward a change of life1 and on the other hand1 the conviction that1 for this purpose1 we stand in need of another power than our own1 a power without which the will itself often enough remains only a 8good intention40 ,quite intelligible1 therefore1 at least for the ,christian churches and their sincere adherents1 is the appeal to the help of ,christ as the ,saviour sent into the world by ,god himself1 and who for that very reason may not be ignored4 ,but the oppressed soul does not1 therefore1 need an extensive 8,christology02 indeed1 there is really no ,christology that is trustworthy1 but ,god alone knows the nature of this ,saviour and the mystery of salvation through him4 ,all that men have spoken and written about it for two centuries now has been condemned to unfruitfulness and has given real comfort to no one1 although human error in these matters1 if held in good faith1 has probably of itself never caused any one to be lost4 ,only by the practical but unfailing road of experience1 then1 will you learn that a simple 8,lord1 help me10 coming from the very depths of the heart1 shall open a way that1 to all your philosophy1 to all your submission to church1 to all your severest works of penitence1 had remained closed as with tenfold iron doors4 ,this barricade is opened for you by the one great1 unconditioned word of the gospel3 8,him that cometh to me ,i will in no wise cast out40 ,whether you are to confess to men besides1 and what reparation you have to make to them1 is to be determined only after you have experienced this salvation1 after you have taken the ,hand that lifts you out of the unstable floods of uncertainty and anxiety1 and sets you upon the firm ground of faith4 ,before1 it is quite to no purpose2 rather1 this is just the obstacle which keeps far the most men from any confession of repentance--which has perhaps to take place before a third person1 on whom one then fears to stand1 his life long1 in spiritual dependence4 ,but very possibly you will feel yourself called to go to a man for confession2 for in addition to its transcendental side ,christianity is1 after all1 a human brotherhood also4 ,and this will be especially the case when pride is in your soul4 ,in that event there enters1 perhaps1 the psychological necessity of a humbling before men also1 not alone before ,god2 and the actual expression of forgiveness1 by a man called thereto by ,god1 contains for many men a quieting influence that they can not find in a mere thought-process1 real as it may be4 ,if1 then1 you know such a man1 if you feel this inner summons1 if you can resolve to speak to him with entire sincerity as before ,god himself1 and if you are willing to accept his directions without reservations1 then simply go quietly to him2 in so doing1 it is possible you are attaining to a greater advance in the inner life1 and in shorter time than otherwise4 ,but if even a single one of these presuppositions is wanting1 then such a confession will profit you nothing at all4 ,and if you should make of it a merely human transaction1 out of regard to an existing ecclesiastical form1 or in order thereby to show honor to another1 then you dishonor what is most hallowed1 and bring upon yourself1 and upon him you honor1 the greatest harm4 ,and make up your mind to escape now1 while it is still time and while the summons still comes to you1 no matter through whom or in what way2 whether through a voice within or a voice from without1 whether by chance or of set purpose1 whether through sermon1 or book1 or newspaper1 or any other instrumentality4 ,the ,book of ,job asserts as a fact of experience that the summons comes to every one 8twice or thrice03 8,lo1 all these things doth ,god work1 ,twice1 yea1 thrice with a man1 ,to bring back his soul from the pit1 ,that he may be enlightened with the light of the living40 ,but as a rule the summons has an outward semblance no more striking than that of any other communication4 ,much more than upon its form and manner it depends upon this3 that it touch in the innermost heart of man a string still sensitive to this tone1 struck from another key than one's ordinary life and thought4 ,and so1 if the summons shall come to you once more1 then arouse yourself1 but at once1 where you are and as you are1 in business1 on the street1 in society1 even in the theatre or in any other place2 delay for not one minute the resolution to strike every sin out of your life4 ,then everything will become easier and clearer2 that gloomy spirit and those false conceptions1 which are simply the direct consequence of sin itself1 will leave you1 and a day will come at last when you also can say3 8,now am ,i become1 in ,god's sight1 a soul that findeth peace40 ,,ii ,if you should ask men which of these two great evils1 sin and sorrow1 they had rather see banished from their life1 the majority1 we fear1 would choose to see sorrow banished4 ,but wrongly2 for not only is sin very often the basal cause of sorrow1 but it is also comparatively easy to bear heavy sorrow if no feeling of guilt is bound up with it4 ,on the contrary1 even in the midst of grief one often feels a closer nearness to ,god that beatifies the human heart in its inmost depths2 one feels1 too1 the truth of the saying that the spirit of man can be joyous even in distress4 ,and so1 beyond all doubt1 the greatest of evils is sin2 and in this fact lies1 what is very often overlooked1 a tremendous equalizing force in human conditions1 which in this respect know no distinction between rich and poor4 ,on the other hand1 to be sure1 the relation of the two evils to each other is1 not rarely1 an inverted one3 the first impulse to sin comes sometimes from sorrow1 the tormenting anxiety how to get through life1 the conviction1 in troubled moments almost forcing itself upon us1 that one will not be able to carry through the hard struggle for existence if one is too painfully scrupulous1 if one may not use a little dishonesty1 deception1 and force1 8just as everybody else does1 and as seems unfortunately to be inevitable1 you know1 in human affairs40 ,without this conviction many men would be upright who now think they can not be4 ,this is really a superstition which to-day almost seems to be more prevalent than ever1 and to destroy it should be one of the chief concerns of the ,christianity of our time4 ,christianity was also much concerned therewith in the days of its beginnings1 when it gave not merely the counsel but the command1 8not to be anxious10 giving at the same time a very positive direction as to how the command might be carried out3 8,seek ye first ,his kingdom and ,his righteousness1 and all these things shall be added unto you40 ,but this counsel1 of course1 presupposes trust in ,god2 without this1 it is of no value4 ,an unconquerable anxiety is1 therefore1 in most cases evidence of a secret atheism4 ,among the most remarkable of the many remarkable things of this life is this3 that so many of the very wisest people voluntarily submit to this punishment1 their whole life through1 when they could have things so much better4 ,for ,god is faithful1 a rock on which one may rely2 this is the one thing we most surely know of him1 the one thing we can most easily ourselves experience4 ,but faithfulness is in its nature reciprocal1 and our own faithfulness consists far less in any sort of acts or confessions than in the resolute shutting out of all distrust every time it would approach us in the manifold difficulties and injustices of this life4 ,to be sure1 complete confidence in the possibility of a release from sorrows through trust in ,god comes to be a certainty only through experience2 but there is1 in the ,bible and in countless later writings and in many human lives1 such a mass of assurances and experiences of trustworthy men1 and on the other hand1 there are1 before our eyes1 so many obvious examples of the impossibility of any other release from sorrow1 that we may fittingly ask3 ,why is there so great an aversion to making this experience8 ,why1 when men are tormented with sorrow1 often to the point of despair1 why do they not at least make trial of this1 instead of seeking death8 ,the reason1 perhaps1 is mostly this3 they do not want to be dependent on ,god2 they had much rather put dependence on pitiless men4 ,indeed1 the assurances of the ,bible may be appropriated in their literal1 full meaning only by the man who has sought no alien help beside1 nor any human help at all before he has first sought ,god's4 ,but how many are there to-day who do that8 ,so long as the sun of fortune shines for them1 they believe in their 8lucky star0 with a kind of ludicrous or sacrilegious fatalism1 and therewith a secret fear often takes them unawares2 for 8happiness of this kind needs many supports1 while the happiness of those at one with the will of ,god has need of but one40 ,but when once they have misfortune and no human aid to ward it off1 they go all to pieces and fall into the manifold 8nervous affections0 of our time1 into sleeplessness and ceaseless unrest1 and these bring them to the numberless sanitariums1 for the most part vainly2 for 8the sorrow of the world worketh death10 and against that no nerve specialist nor hydropathy avails4 ,it is certain that there is a way of release from continuous sorrow2 it must be just as certain that single and even frequent sorrows belong to the necessary events of our life4 ,there can be no human life without sorrows2 but to live with sorrows1 yes1 with many sorrows1 yet free from sorrow's burden1 that is the art of life toward which we are being trained4 ,it is1 therefore1 an everyday experience that men who have too few sorrows buy themselves some2 for riches1 which in the view of most men are meant to release one from anxiety1 are not fitted to do that2 they are 8deceitfulness10 as ,christ himself calls them1 and his warnings against them1 which we are wont to take so lightly1 are surely not there for merely 8decorative effect40 ,we must have sorrows1 and for three substantial reasons3 in the first place1 in order not to become arrogant and frivolous2 sorrows are the weight in the clock1 to regulate its proper movement2 misfortune is really in most cases the only means of salvation for those who are not on the right way4 ,in the second place1 to enable us to have fellow-feeling with others2 people who are too well nourished and free from customary sorrows easily become egotists1 who at last not merely have compassion for pale faces no longer1 but regard them as a kind of offence1 a disturbing element in their ease2 they may go so far as to feel downright hatred for them4 ,and finally1 because sorrows alone effectively teach us to trust in ,god and seek his aid2 for the granting of prayer and the consequent release from sorrow is the only convincing proof of ,god1 and likewise the test of the truth of ,christianity to which ,christ himself challenges us4 ,therefore the evil days are good2 without them1 most men would never come at all to the soberer thoughts4 ,furthermore1 the deliverances from sorrow1 the triumphal days when a man beholds a mountain-load rolled away1 belong to undoubtedly the purest moments of happiness in life1 moments that ,god must grant to his own1 if he is truly merciful to them4 ,spurgeon1 therefore1 rightly says1 in one of his finest sermons1 that if we truly trust ,god1 he is1 in the beginning1 better than our fears1 then better than our hopes1 and finally better than our wishes4 ,for his people1 sorrow always lasts only so long as it still has a task to fulfil on their behalf4 ,if one wished to put the truth a little paradoxically1 then one might1 with frank directness1 say to many a man who is forever complaining of all sorts of little things1 to whom much in the world is not right1 neither weather1 nor politics1 nor social relations1 8,you have too few cares2 make yourself some1 care for others who have too many2 then you will no longer have any of that sickly1 discontented disposition1 or at least will no longer give so much heed to what now makes you unhappy40 ,people in particular who have a spiritual calling should never wish themselves freedom from sorrow1 for then they can never effectively speak with others who have sorrows2 nay1 in most cases they can not really understand them4 ,and so we repeat3 incessant sorrow there must not be2 from such there is a way of escape2 if you will not use it1 then bear your sorrow as a punishment therefor4 ,but of occasional troubles you must accept a generous share with good grace and overcome them through the power of your spirit and will4 ,and now we come to the various human remedies for sorrow4 ,the best is ,patience and ,courage4 8,whoever10 says ,bishop ,sailer1 8is able to submit to ,god in every hour of darkness will soon see the morning light again arise2 for his submission is the cock-crow that heralds and greets the coming day40 ,and indeed it is a fact remarkably true to experience1 how often all difficulty vanishes as soon as we have taken a stand in regard to it1 as soon as we have actually shouldered it4 ,our very best possessions we really possess only when we were once in our life compelled to give them up4 ,besides1 it is easy to notice1 from our own experience1 that even our judgment of things that befall us is often wrong at first4 ,again and again we discover that what was apparently unpropitious and injurious has later revealed itself as advantageous1 and that1 on the other hand1 so-called lucky events have turned out to be of uncommonly little use1 if not actually harmful4 ,and so1 one is very sensible if he can suspend his judgment in times of anxiety2 and still more help can many a time be gained from the thought that all trouble is always borne merely from moment to moment1 and that the next moment will bring a change1 or at least new strength4 ,very often trouble lasts1 in its full force1 no longer than three days2 those one may easily undertake to endure4 ,the real burden of unhappiness consists in the notion that it is going to last an unlimited while2 this is merely a delusion of the fancy4 ,but there are still some minor remedies besides1 or at least palliatives1 and it is well worth the pains for one to review them quietly and get a clear conception of them2 for what is said in the second part of 8,faust0 is only too true1 that if sorrow but breathes upon us1 she makes us blind4 ,the first and most efficacious of these remedies is ,work1 not merely for its immediate results1 but because it busies the mind and keeps it from useless brooding over things that perhaps never come at all2 for a great part of sorrow consists of unfounded fear4 ,work gives courage1 and it gives momentary forgetfulness in a legitimate way1 as unwarranted and pernicious 8distractions0 and drink do not4 ,it is the only true1 permissible1 and beneficent ,lethe-draught of the modern world4 ,the second means1 which can1 of course1 be used only by those to whom ,god is a living ,personality and not merely an idea1 is ,prayer--indeed1 to pray to ,god first of all before one speaks with men4 ,spurgeon says1 perhaps truly1 that herein lies hidden also the secret of success with men--that is1 the art of speaking rightly with men1 through whom ,god then sends help in a practical way4 ,but we do not wish to write a treatise here on prayer4 ,suffice it to say that1 in prayer1 faith is necessary on the one hand1 and on the other1 that the man should turn to ,god with his whole will1 with all his spiritual power concentrated upon a single point4 ,the result1 in any case1 is power2 and1 besides the experience of more frequent aid1 there follows the conclusion1 entirely logical1 that if ,god bestows on man the greatest of life's blessings1 he will not refuse him those minor ones also1 which serve only for the preservation of life4 ,there would really be no sense in bringing a man so far on his way as to begin to lead an upright life1 and then to let him die of hunger4 ,the expression1 so often heard1 that there are no longer any miracles in these days1 is most certainly untrue4 ,no one can bind a living ,god to 8natural laws40 ,without doubt1 however1 it often happens that one must wait for the prayer's fulfilment1 must at times1 indeed1 stand knocking for a long while2 or the prayer may never be fulfilled at all4 ,but then1 in the first case1 perhaps even this waiting is the right answer to the prayer 7as1 to be sure1 one mostly discovers only later72 and in the other case1 you perhaps receive something better than you yourself had chosen4 ,a third means1 chiefly availing in financial anxieties1 is ,contentment1 pleasure in simple things4 ,from this1 the men of our day have wandered far2 and1 for many1 an ever-heightening enjoyment passes for the only true purpose of life1 and a certain measure of luxury is regarded as a requirement and a symbol of culture4 ,it will be necessary for men to return once more to simplicity in their mode of living and to a voluntary renunciation of the philosophy of pleasure1 if they are to banish sorrow1 and often still worse from their life4 ,praying for pleasure nothing avails2 it is not for the needs of luxury that ,god is to be had1 but for daily bread4 ,in close relation to contentment stand two other great remedies against sorrow4 ,the first is a wise ,frugality4 ,this goes hand in hand1 indeed1 only with honest acquisition2 what is unjustly acquired is seldom wisely saved1 and1 according to a true proverb1 rarely descends to the third heir4 ,in such cases1 therefore1 frugality is of no use4 ,frugality can also1 in other cases1 be actually harmful4 ,excessive calculation1 and anxiety extending to the smallest minuti of expenditure1 leads to needless care1 and almost as many people come to spiritual ruin through this as through heedless improvidence4 ,and so1 the blessing 7or curse7 that rests on the actions of men has a manifest relation to the observance of the moral commandments4 ,if it were not so1 it would be truly enigmatical how so many thousands of honest men get through life without property or sure income4 ,they themselves would be least of all in a position to explain it4 ,there is one more remedy against financial anxiety1 and that1 strange to say1 is systematic ,giving4 ,this the ancient prophets of ,israel already knew2 in our day it has lately assumed prominence again1 especially through ,george ,mller and ,spurgeon4 ,whether the amount to be laid aside for this purpose should be the tenth part of one's income would seem a matter of complete indifference2 but a definite part it must be2 and it should never be allowed to remain a matter of mere intentions1 which the natural avarice of men will always find ways of evading4 ,in this way a man oftentimes acquires his first inclination toward caring for his poor fellow-men1 while otherwise they appear to him only too often as troublesome claimants for something that rightly belongs to himself alone or that he has need of for himself and for his own4 ,but when a man possesses such a fund1 no longer belonging to himself1 then he looks around more freely to see where he may put the money to good use2 then at times he even anticipates the appeal of the tongue when he sees the mute appeal of the eye4 ,this single habit1 universally adopted1 would help solve the social question more than all the talking and scribbling with which the world now resounds1 for the most part vainly4 ,a stoical remedy we will finally name1 because1 when all the others have first been tried1 in most cases it is no longer necessary4 ,it consists in picturing to ourselves the worst that could happen4 ,and1 in fact1 this does afford a certain consolation1 at least for him who is able to make use of it2 others1 on the contrary1 can be led by this path1 and without any need for it1 to despair4 ,nevertheless1 all this does not always bring immediate help4 ,the ,spirit of ,sorrow often falls upon one like an armed man 7especially in sleepless nights71 and leaves him no time for instant resistance4 ,in that case1 the first step is to discover the cause4 ,if it is sin1 it must be at once set right4 ,if there is no definite cause present1 or if it is of a physical nature1 then withstand it by physical remedies1 such as sleep1 fresh air1 exercise1 or by work2 never by mere 8distractions10 for afterward the trouble returns with doubled power4 ,often a good quotation will strengthen1 such as3 8,can a woman forget her sucking child1 that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb8 yea1 these may forget2 yet will ,i not forget thee4 ,behold1 ,i have graven thee upon the palms of my hands40 ,if the cause of sorrow is some trouble actually present1 and not one feared in the future1 then perhaps the following thought will help3 ,we must bear what ,god lays upon us2 and we must1 with all our power of will1 hold fast the conviction that nothing can possibly happen without his permission and that all is measured in accord with our strength1 whose actual resources we often do not know ourselves4 ,these two thoughts1 then1 are provisionally our support2 whoever gives up this support is like a man who clings to a rope over an abyss and lets go the rope4 ,there is no call to be overstoical2 we may give vent to our sorrow1 only not at all to ourselves and but sparingly to others2 and we should then take some action in accordance with our reason1 though not in accordance with that alone1--nor always at once1 while it is still troubled with excitement4 ,with these presuppositions1 one can endure much4 ,it is quite possible that at times even this does not seem rightly to avail4 ,in that case1 these are the periods of life when the genuine steel of character is to be formed1 that otherwise may not be brought to pass4 ,then at least make the attempt simply to hold out for a short time longer1--for a month1 a week1 three days1 or even only for a single day4 ,not rarely at the end of such a term you are stronger than at its beginning1 and frequently experience shows it to be the case that from the very moment one is preparing himself for the apparently inevitable1 and no longer seeks or expects any human aid1 at that very moment relief is already coming4 ,the suffering has then just fulfilled its purpose4 ,in conclusion1 only one thing more3 we know very well how people1 in the hours of their heaviest struggles with sorrow1 can lose faith in every ground of consolation and look upon such grounds as unsatisfying1 or as the empty talk of people who have themselves suffered nothing like4 ,that may be true1 or again it may not4 ,but1 in case you think it is1 nevertheless try to bear1 for the glory of ,god1 what you will and can no longer endure for your own sake or for the sake of those near to you4 8,when you are driven almost to despair10 says ,spurgeon1 8and are tempted to lay violent hands upon yourself or to do some other rash and evil deed1 do nothing of the kind1 but trust yourself to your ,god2 that will bring him more glory than seraphim and cherubim can give4 ,to believe the promise of ,god1 when you are ill1 or sad1 or near to death--that it is to glorify ,god40 ,this 8giving ,god the glory10 or 8praising the ,lord10 or 8hallowing his name10 is one of the many expressions of the ,bible which have now quite vanished from our real comprehension and have become an empty phrase4 ,to render glory to ,god on earth and still to live for him though one would otherwise be glad to dispense with life1 that is the highest of all life's resignations2 and he to whom this duty is finally intrusted is not to make complaint1 but to be ashamed if it come to one unwilling to accept it4 ,but if it has come to a man who has something of the heroic in his nature1 then by its means he will1 for the first time1 develop the possibilities that lay dormant within him2 and the feeling of a larger and surer nearness to ,god will then1 in the bitterest hours of his life1 so lift him above himself that these very hours will seem to his after-memory as the most beautiful--as those1 indeed1 to which he owes all his real happiness in life4 ,sin and sorrow cling close together in human life2 therefore they are also displayed here before the reader as an associated hindrance on the way to happiness4 ,the first step1 as a rule1 must be to banish sin from life2 only then may one seriously think of getting rid of sorrow4 ,for the only true freedom from sorrow lies not in a man's natural disposition1 nor is it the product of happy outward surroundings of any sort2 true freedom from sorrow is found in that higher happiness1 painfully won1 to which ,job was led1 after his earlier happiness1 dependent upon fortuitous things1 had been done away4 ,to this happiness1 henceforth secure1 we all without exception should attain and can attain1 just as soon as we have fought through the gates at which the guardians ,sin and ,sorrow stand4 ,,ii4 8,,comfort ,,ye ,,my ,,people0 ,,ii4 8,,comfort ,,ye ,,my ,,people0 ,many who are distressed over the manifold evils of our time 7but do not themselves have to suffer any too keenly under them7 comfort themselves and others in the end with a verse from one of the hymns of ,paul ,gerhardt3 8,the upper hand ,god holdeth1 and maketh all things well40 ,i do not know whether the poet put so strong a stress upon the words 8all things0 as we are wont to do1 but thus much ,i certainly do know1 that ,christianity shows scant favor to an optimism of this sort2 all things will not be well in the end in spite of human folly and baseness2 but1 until the consummation of all things human1 good and evil1 justice and injustice1 will continue to exist side by side as ,jesus1 in the parable of the wheat and the tares1 has clearly said once for all4 ,no1 the idealism of ,christianity is something quite other than a shallow optimism2 it is much rather a strong faith that everything genuinely good1 however slight compared to the tremendous power and might of the forces arrayed against it1 never can be crushed by them1 but ever maintains itself victorious against its foes4 ,that is the comfort to be given its followers1 a comfort that will take from them the fear of losing poise in the midst of the merciless actualities of daily experience2 and that is the real meaning of many a ,bible word too often explained in the sense of striving after earthly power and splendor2 and that1 too1 is the meaning of some of the finest and most familiar hymns from the fighting days of the ,reformation1 such as that hymn of ,luther1 8,a mighty fortress is our ,god1 a bulwark never-failing40 ,on the other hand1 the power of what ,christianity calls 8the world0 is very great1 and all the elements that make up that power1 from the lofty pretension of some distinguished atheistic philosophy all the way down to the basest instinct of the most brutal selfishness1 form an extremely close alliance4 ,and the human heart1 now overdaring1 now overtimid1 is so uncertain that even into the life of those who work most effectively for the good1 come hours when they despair1 not of their task only1 but even of their whole manner of thinking1 a despair that once and again ,god must dispel with a 8,be not afraid1 but speak40 ,if we look upon life from ,god's standpoint1 instead of our own as we had rather do1 we see it is not a matter of purely and simply making his people happy4 ,no1 first of all they are to be made fearless1 for all right living is a life of battling1 not of unruffled peace2 but of battling without fear1 of warring in a good cause and under sure guidance with that heroism which is the highest of all human qualities and the best of all earthly joys4 ,this is that never-ending conflict between good and evil which every single human being must fight out in his own life1 although the final issue is reached only at the end of all things and in a manner to us unknown4 8,on the advance post of a man's individual experience the question is the same as in the great battle of the hosts1 namely this3 whether a faith that is anchored in ,god is not the highest of moral forces1 able to overcome the ever-present power of evil1 especially the fundamental sin of self-seeking2 for if the victory is gained at the advance post1 it may be gained all along the line40 ,perhaps this is truer than we know1 or ever experience on earth4 ,that there is no higher power in the world than comes from association with ,god1 every single human life must by trial discover4 ,but for that very reason such association must be sought of one's own free will1 and of one's own free will always cling to2 and that makes the problem of life4 ,in order to gain1 in this warfare1 a spirit of joy quite different from the moroseness and half-despair of many ,christians1 the means closest at hand is this3 to try to battle1 not according to our own ideas1 but1 as in military service1 punctiliously as commanded4 ,such means1 however1 is external2 there is an inner basis for the right spirit of joy1 without which that joy can not be enduring1 and that inner basis is the abiding of ,god in the heart4 ,when all opposition to ,god disappears1 then appears the real joy of living and the great consolation he gives on earth4 ,this peace with ,god1 which in time may even grow1 as it were1 into an enduring and genuine friendship1 the human soul must experience1 else it shall not know what inward happiness is4 ,and outward happiness is only the easy sequence of the inward2 ,god gladly does nothing but good to men as soon as he finds it possible4 ,here1 also1 lies the real cause of the philosophical atheism that makes up the religion of many excellent people1 who suppose they can not think otherwise1 though they would gladly like to4 ,a man's simple logic will tell him that it is not consistent to say one believes in ,god1 and yet not allow ,god to dwell in him and rule him absolutely2 and it is a noble trait of many doubters that they do not dare to serve ,god with mere phrases1 but they see that if once he should be taken up into the account of life1 he would be a 8consuming fire0 for much that exists in their lives1 for much that they would be obliged to give up1 but do not want to give up4 ,faith is a matter1 not of the reason1 but of the human will2 and the difficulty lies in just this resolution to serve ,god1 with all its consequences--a resolution the man himself must make1 for no divine mercy can wholly take its place4 ,the principal things a man must surrender1 if ,god is to be able to dwell in him1 are pleasure1 riches1 glory1 and reliance upon men4 ,on the other hand1 when this renunciation has once been made1 more and more there disappear within him1 of themselves1 fear1 anger1 unrest1 and the tormenting feeling of weakness1 all of them the sure inheritance and distinguishing mark of the godless4 ,this is the road1 and they who think they can squeeze around this sharp corner with a few philosophical considerations1 or with an occasional cry of 8,lord1 ,lord10 will likely be the most deceived at last4 ,fear is perhaps the most distressing1 the most unworthy1 yet the most unavoidable of all human feelings2 for life is a battle1 and the fear that naturally arises in the presence of battle no man can banish2 he can but subdue it by uplifting his point of view4 ,whether this can be done through the ancient ,stoic or the modern ,kantian philosophy1 we will leave to one side2 ,i have no intention of making any one dissatisfied with these paths4 ,but ,i do wish to say that there is a surer and shorter path1 requiring less education and strength of character1 and open1 not merely to an aristocracy of philosophical culture1 but to every one4 ,if this had not been so1 if ,christianity had not lifted the poor and the humble up out of the dust1 a 8gentry morality0 would long ago have come into exclusive mastery in the world1 as it was in a fair way of doing at the time ,christianity was born4 ,in our day there are two common conceptions of ,christianity1 both of them overpassing the mark3 one of them makes of it a sentimental lamblike bliss that finds its pleasurable sensations solely 8in ,christ02 the other considers it a fearful vale of tears1 an unending succession of trials and sorrows4 ,but ,christianity is not so2 its path is really much easier than any other2 for it not only demands1 it also creates1 brave people--brave people who1 free from complaining1 free from overmuch seeking of even rightful pleasures1 free from any cowardly flight from the world1 in the very midst of the world hold up unshaken the banner of righteousness and never despair of its victory4 ,this is the spirit that we most need to-day2 and this is the sure mark of a genuine ,christian4 ,if we will1 we can be wholly without fear1 not only before the forces of nature1 which all stand in ,god's higher power1 but also before the cares of daily life1 and before men1 who may do nothing hostile without ,god's permission4 ,firmly to trust in ,god in all he does or allows1 even if one is ill1 or troubled1 or almost in despair of any good outcome of a matter1 that it is to serve ,god2 and in comparison with this1 all your other church 8services0 possess a distinctly subordinate worth4 ,and so ,luther1 too1 himself endowed with this bravery in high degree1 says thus3 8,the reason knows no means of making the heart contented and trustful1 in those times of need when all the good things the world can give shall fail4 ,but when ,christ comes1 the outward adversities1 indeed1 he lets remain1 but the personality he strengthens2 he makes the weak heart unterrified1 and the trembling heart he makes bold2 and he turns the restless conscience into one that is peaceful and still4 ,and1 therefore1 such a man is comforted1 courageous1 and joyous in those very matters in which all the world else stands terrified2 that is1 in death1 in terror for sin1 and in all the times of need when the world can no longer help with its good things and its consolations4 ,then there will be a real and lasting peace1 ever enduring and invincible so long as the heart shall hold to ,christ40 ,then add to this that ,god is faithful and lets no one be tried beyond his strength2 yes1 even before the greatest of physical and moral dangers he often holds his hands over our eyes1 so that we see them only when past4 ,to be sure1 all this is inconceivable to those who have not themselves experienced in evil days that even in misfortune's blackest hour a calm1 bright1 yes1 even blithe spirit can yet abide deep within the heart inclined to ,god2 and men of such experience1 therefore1 often endure incredible things1 and then1 at the slightest gleam of the sun1 quickly again lift themselves up anew1 bodily and spiritually strengthened from within2 while other men are submerged in the waters4 ,it can not be denied1 however1 that we learn a right courage only by degrees and in days of sorrow2 and it is generally only through such days that we attain to the right conception of life and grow into a larger mould4 ,so true is this that perhaps no human being of any real worth has ever yet gone through life without many sorrows1 sorrows that the ,scriptures often and quite rightly compare to a refining fire that can be made thoroughly hot only when there is much precious metal present2 but then it brings all the gold within a man to light4 ,he who is not willing to suffer renounces the greatest gifts of ,god1 and rests satisfied with smaller things1 needlessly3 for even in the greatest trouble he has no need to fear2 so long as he does fear1 there is still within him something wrong that must out4 ,with fear1 anger also disappears2 and anger in most cases is only fear in disguise4 ,the angry are not courageous1 they are afraid2 you may nearly always count upon that with entire certainty4 ,for example1 the restless zealots and agitators who think their mission is to save ,christianity from its death-bed through the might of their zeal and hate--such 8wrathful saints0 are but a kindred variety with those timid1 sweetish people who are forever accommodating themselves to things1 particularly to things that are grand and aristocratic2 for the demeanor of both these classes springs from the one same source1 their fear4 ,but what most distresses men1 often even those who are well advanced on the road of the ,christian life1 is the feeling of a constantly recurring weakness such as we know from the epistles of the bravest of all the apostles1 and such as each one of us indeed knows from his own experience2 with this almost universal singularity1 that such spells of weakness are often wont to come on when quite unlooked for1 and sometimes just after the best days of the inner life2 and then they can bow down the soul to a genuine despair4 ,as to this1 the first thing to say1 for the comfort of those thus bowed down1 is that whatever is strong and powerful in the world always bears within it ,i know not what of rough and undivine4 ,this we may ourselves observe in the case of men of exuberant force2 involuntarily1 we never have1 concerning them1 the feeling that they especially please ,god4 ,christianity1 we may be sure1 is in no way planned upon the model of such giants and demi-gods4 ,besides1 it is not hard to perceive the educative purpose in this feeling of weakness4 ,pride and its sister vanity can be torn out1 root and branch1 only after a long-unbroken succession of hard buffetings has issued in a deep and lasting humility4 ,through this purgatory1 from end to end1 the proud and the vain must pass at some time in their lives1 if anything is to be made of them4 ,for 8though the ,lord be high1 yet hath he respect unto the lowly2 but the proud he knoweth afar off20 to the proud he assuredly never comes nigh4 ,if1 then1 this sense of weakness is concerned with spiritual growth itself1 there is surely no reason that we should be disheartened4 ,rather1 it is a consolation1 in such inner doubts over the weakness of our faith1 that when the ,galatians had slipped back into an unspiritual and petty conception of religion1 the ,apostle ,paul could1 nevertheless1 assure them1 8,ye are all the children of ,god by faith in ,christ ,jesus40 ,so long as one's faith has not entirely ceased1 this time of weakness is only a transient phase1 and often bears more fruit than more resplendent days do4 ,and finally1 the weakness may actually become a source of strength2 the feeling of one's own power1 flattering as it may be to one's pride1 is rather a hindrance than a furtherance in the path of true inner progress1 and the most courageous men are not they who have the greatest confidence in themselves1 but they who have sure recourse to a power that far transcends all powers4 ,when once this inward courage finds place in a well-tried man1 then an unassailable peace and joy1 as the ,scriptures promise1 enter into the soul till now often tossed by the waves of anguish and at times indeed entirely bereft of hope4 ,but henceforth it 8shall dwell in a peaceable habitation1 and in sure dwellings1 and in quiet resting places40 ,a good life1 quite purged of dross1 is surely the highest of all things attainable2 yet1 to those who are 8comforted10 it is just this that springs from an existence full1 indeed1 of ever-changing joys and sorrows1 but where no joy estranges one from ,god and no sorrow any longer breeds impatience1 for both joy and sorrow are received from the same hand1 as are the sunshine and the rain2 and thankfully1 for both are inseparable elements in life4 ,and their lives henceforth bear blessing to others4 ,but1 as far as compatible with the true well-being of a man guided by ,god1 his outward happiness also is far higher1 and stands upon a surer basis than is possible in any other conception of life4 ,yes1 for such a man all things again and again work together for good1 even when he has suffered seeming failure4 ,such are the asseverations of the ,bible2 and are we to think that they were meant only for the human beings of an age long vanished8 ,or may we also apply them to our own use still to-day8 ,surely we may1 if the ,god of that day is still the ,god of this2 and that is but a matter of test4 ,and we may hope it will1 more commonly than hitherto1 be put to the test again1 when all other attempts to regain a calm contentment and a cheerful1 healthy spirit of labor have suffered wreck1 and when a nervous humanity longs for real tranquillity again1 and craves some better bulwark against the increasing weariness of existence than a merely materialistic conception of life affords4 ,then will religion--and without any external compelling ,authority1 which can never again in any manner be restablished--then will religion regain anew its place in the life of the nations2 whereas1 now1 it has often become nothing but a pleasant play upon the feelings of leisurely or 7in a worldly sense7 happy people1 while to such as really need it to deliver them in distress and sorrow1 it is1 through prejudice1 closed4 ,many of these latter1 however1 and perhaps at no very distant day1 will come to these old water-springs1 now all but choked with rubbish2 though such an idea is far enough from their thoughts as yet4 ,but1 wheresoever they may have tried1 nowhere else can they still their thirst for a tranquil philosophy of life4 ,for what the old chronicler said of ,israel is true to-day3 8,the days will arise when there shall be no true ,god1 no law1 and no priest to show the way2 and in those times there shall be no peace to him that goes out1 nor to him that comes in2 for there will be great vexations upon all the inhabitants of the earth2 nation will break nation1 and city city1 and ,god will vex them with all adversity40 ,but as for you1 you who find yourself upon the sure path of salvation and peace1 8be comforted1 be strong1 let not your hands be slack3 for your work shall be rewarded40 ,,iii4 ,,on ,,the ,,knowledge ,,of ,,men ,,iii4 ,,on ,,the ,,knowledge ,,of ,,men ,perhaps no one has ever seriously doubted that the ability to know and to pass an accurate judgment on men closely concerns our practical life2 but whether a knowledge of human nature brings much happiness is a question on which opinions have always differed4 ,while some declare that we really love men only so long as we do not know them1 others 7like the duke in ,goethe's 8,tasso07 believe that it is only so long as we do not know men that we stand in fear of them2 yet ,goethe himself seems partly to retreat from this conception in another expression of his1 where he says that while nothing is more interesting1 indeed1 than to learn to know men1 yet one must take care not to know oneself4 ,for our part1 we believe at the outset that all knowledge of human nature1 even one's own1 can be but superficial1 and that the real depths of the soul1 and especially the limits of its possibilities for good and evil1 ,god alone can fully know4 ,but besides this1 strange as it may sound at first1 the knowledge of men rests upon a basis of pessimism joined with a considerable degree of love for human kind4 ,if any one looks upon humanity as something great and superior 7not so much in promise as in actual performance71 he will1 if he have some measure of wisdom1 find himself in the end disillusioned by his life experiences4 ,on the other hand1 it is just as much a matter of experience1 with those who have known mankind most perfectly1 that they 7,christ himself at the head7 have always been friends to humanity2 for though they do not look upon man as quite free and nobly born1 yet they believe him destined to freedom and nobility of life4 ,this gives them their power to love him1 in spite of his faults2 yes1 we may go so far as to say1 on account of his faults1 just for the reason that love1 in this world at least1 feels within it an impelling necessity to pity1 to save1 to do good4 ,to understand men1 therefore1 we must first make sure that we love them1 and we must be1 to a very considerable degree1 independent of them so far as our necessities go2 for there must be as great an absence of self-interest as possible on our part4 ,whoever desires to get much out of men for his own advantage will always be blinded by his interests1 and whoever finds men necessary to himself will always fear them4 ,but the man who wishes to do something for them rather than receive something from them1 can alone really learn to know what they are1 and can tolerate that knowledge1 even in its worst features1 without hating men2 every one else1 who is not a weakling1 easily falls into such a hatred of human kind4 ,a thorough judge of men1 without love1 would in fact be intolerable2 the aversion against such persons1 who assert they are judges of men but who are at the same time haters of men1 is a very natural one1 for it is based on a law of self-defence4 ,and so1 you are not to use your knowledge of human nature as something on which to construct the edifice of your own happiness2 but it is only in order that you may be the better able to further the happiness of others that you are to desire to learn how rightly to judge them4 ,if you have any other purpose1 you will never come to any considerable attainments in this art4 ,the first step in the knowledge of human nature1 so far as it is at all attainable1 is 7quite contrary to ,goethe's view7 self-knowledge and self-improvement2 the second step is the resolve to learn to know men for their sake and not one's own4 ,but even so1 we are not to expect a perfect knowledge of so complicated a being as man2 he does not even succeed in understanding himself1 or at the best gets only a partial insight late in life2 and then1 too1 no one individual is quite like another4 ,rather1 we must content ourselves with a certain number of the results of experience2 some of these we will try1 later on1 to set before the reader4 ,the real secret of knowing human nature lies in possessing a pure heart innocent of self-conceit2 such people gradually acquire a keenness of vision that pierces all the outer wrappings4 ,the difficulty of understanding men does not spring from the subtleties of a science of 8psychology10 but only from the difficulty of forgetting one's own self4 ,we do not get to know men from whom we have something to hope or to fear4 ,even the prophetic gift is nothing else than a direct1 intense insight into human affairs1--their causes and effects4 ,such power resides in every man who in large measure has set himself free from himself4 ,but self-seeking is like a veil of mist to hinder this power of vision1 which would otherwise be present4 ,an intercourse with men that rests upon a correct judgment of them is therefore learned1 not so much by frequent association with the men themselves 7as many believe71 as through fellowship with ,god4 ,if we have this1 then for the first time we begin to look upon men1 both the good and the evil1 more with the just eyes of ,god2 while1 without trust in ,him1 we must always rely more or less on men and so suffer the disillusionments that will always follow4 ,in men1 especially of the better sort1 there is furthermore a necessity that they shall worship something4 ,those who are not able to worship anything transcendental throw a halo of fancy about certain men1 and in this self-deception not only lose all ability really to understand men1 but also work harm to those they reverence--if these are yet living and are themselves poor judges of men4 ,wherever belief in ,god is lacking1 hero-worship1 with all its detriments to the inner and outer freedom of humanity1 is unavoidable4 ,every one can test this for himself4 ,whenever he finds himself fully at peace with ,god1 he at once becomes more indifferent toward men in that very particular in which men are ordinarily most valued2 for he no longer cares for them for the sake of gaining some advantage4 ,indeed1 if the desire of conferring advantage upon them did not remain1 he feels that he could easily do without them altogether4 ,for this reason all ancient and medival monachism1 as well as all modern pessimism1 are always somewhat suspicious in motive2 for back of them lurks1 for the most part1 either chagrin at not receiving1 or disinclination to give4 ,others1 too1 feel that this is so and are therefore1 on the whole1 none too well disposed to men who thus hold aloof4 ,for there is nothing that men have a more instinctive discernment and a greater aversion for than for self-seeking4 ,even the simplest1 even little children1 yes1 even animals1 quickly find the selfish out1 in spite of all the pretence with which they surround themselves4 ,whoever would acquire a strong influence over men must give up thoughts of self-advantage4 ,that is the surest way4 ,for this reason children often like grandparents more than parents1 because they feel that in their love is less of self2 the parents are too much wrapped up in their own concerns4 ,even the worst pessimists seek love1 and no egotist is earnest at bottom in his praise of egotism4 ,but they despair of men's ability to be other than selfish1 and they may be taught otherwise only by repeated deeds2 the mere phrases of love have long been familiar to them1 and they estimate them at about their correct value4 ,it does no good1 therefore1 to speak to them much of love2 that will only be misunderstood4 ,at the most1 speak of friendliness and public benevolence2 it seems to be less1 yet is really more4 ,this spirit1 then1 is absolutely necessary if you would live in the world without disgust at it2 therefore acquire this spirit at any cost4 ,to understand the nature of any individual it is important to know his derivation4 ,women in especial follow1 almost without exception1 the character of their family1 sons as a rule that of the mother or the mother's father1 daughters oftener the paternal side4 ,the proverb that 8the apple falls not far from its stem0 indicates1 therefore1 a strong presumption4 ,only1 we often do not know the derivation sufficiently well1 and besides1 with ,god's mercy1 a man can even break away from a bad ancestry4 ,as a matter of fact1 there are no 8hereditary encumbrances0 that can not be shaken off by ,god's mercy and man's will4 ,the assumption of such an unalterable fate is one of the greatest sacrileges a man can make himself guilty of4 ,on the other hand1 in the same limited sense1 a certain aristocratic tendency is warranted4 ,noteworthy individual characteristics1 such as courage1 proper self-confidence1 a natural fearlessness of men1 fineness of taste in all the matters of life1 do not develop1 as a rule1 in the first generation after breaking the yoke of slavery and oppression2 for these are largely transmitted qualities4 ,for this reason the great pioneers of political and spiritual freedom rarely spring from the lowest stratum of the people1 but from a middle stratum already trained in these things1 or even1 often enough1 from aristocracy itself4 ,it is1 therefore1 a great misfortune1 almost a transgression against one's posterity1 when a highly cultured man marries below his plane of culture2 for thus he takes a step back again4 ,in this connection1 there is due to oneself and to others a certain right which parents and teachers often forget4 ,no one can easily change his whole natural disposition2 one can much more easily bring that disposition to a higher perfection in its own kind4 ,that is to say1 the phlegmatic man can attain to the noble calm of wisdom1 the sanguine man to a self-sacrificing activity for others1 the choleric man to a strong championship for whatever is great4 ,a false estimate of this natural temperament1 or attempts to break it1 usually lead to deplorable half-results1 where something complete might have been attained4 ,we rightly learn to understand people only in their activities1 the men at their work1 the women in their house affairs2 best in their difficulties and sorrows1 least in social intercourse1 especially at hotels and summer resorts4 ,the acquaintances made there often turn out disappointing afterward4 ,it is1 generally speaking1 an unwholesome feature of human intercourse nowadays4 ,people become acquainted with one another1 and yet not acquainted1 when they live and eat together day after day4 ,one can not keep aloof altogether without appearing supercilious1 and one can not be too intimate without the risk of making connections that would otherwise have been avoided4 ,it is easiest to know people by what they regard as their real aim in life2 if this aim is power or pleasure1 they are not wholly to be trusted4 ,in his later years1 the outlines of a man's character ordinarily come out much more clearly than in his earlier4 ,real piety reveals itself in the patient bearing of the manifold burdens of age1 fictitious piety in impatience and in a religion that becomes more and more formal4 ,avarice1 envy1 covetousness1 anger1 the love of honor and praise1 and even1 at times1 the desire of secret1 sensual pleasure1 come with elementary1 unmistakable force to light as the ruling passions of life2 and the man pronounces his own judgment in the sight of his fellows4 ,rarely does any one1 like ,augustus1 carry a rle through to the end1 and even this great actor was not successful4 ,on the other hand1 no one can read ,cromwell's last prayer and think him a hypocrite1 unless he is one himself4 ,and finally1 sorrows play their part in revealing human nature4 ,in any great sorrow the thoughts of men are disclosed4 ,envy comes to light to rejoice2 generosity1 to help2 and indifference1 to pass by on the other side4 ,whoever has had no thorough experience of this in person1 does not know men4 ,in the first part of life1 when experience is still small1 the greatest danger in one's attitude to men is that of considering them of too much importance2 in the second1 that of becoming too indifferent to them4 ,there is yet another and quite different source of the knowledge of human nature1 but a source not to be desired for any one not already acquainted with it2 ,i mean the power possessed by the nervously disordered4 ,in such cases there is a very clear physical intuition as to the kind of nature there is in other people1 of whom the one may have as quieting and refreshing an influence upon the sick man as clear1 cool water1 while the other only excites and frets4 ,such is the knowledge of men the ,bible ascribes to those 8possessed of evil spirits40 ,but these are diseased conditions which ought not to be1 and which should not be needlessly meddled with4 99 99 99 99 99 ,experience has established some of the following principles in the art of reading men3 ,as with courtesy1 so it is with a man's probity2 if it is genuine1 it shows itself in his conduct in the small things4 ,probity in small matters springs from a moral foundation1 while probity on the large scale is often only habit or prudence and gives no clew as to a man's real character4 ,vanity and the lust for honors are always a bad symptom1 for both rest at bottom upon a self-condemnation which tries to supply the missing inner contentment by outward show or the approving judgment of others4 ,thoroughgoing pessimists are always vain4 ,by their pessimism they give us to understand more or less clearly that they themselves would really be an exception to this base human rabble if they could count on understanding their nature4 ,an overmodest nature1 especially if given to self-irony1 is never to be trusted2 in most cases a strong dose of vanity and the love of praise hides behind4 ,truly modest men usually speak neither good nor bad of themselves1 and do not want people to concern themselves about them4 ,vain persons1 on the other hand1 by the apparently modest method of self-depreciation1 often seek to draw attention to themselves1 or to catch out-and-out compliments4 ,a kind-hearted readiness to help is the sure sign of a good character1 while cruelty to animals and ridicule of men is a sure sign of a bad character4 ,one of the best tests of real kind-heartedness is the conduct of men in the presence of long-persisting or altogether hopeless misfortune3 those who possess but little of that quality grow weary and soon abandon the unfortunate one to his fate1 perhaps with the fine sentiment1 8one must leave him alone with his ,god02 others1 who with a true sympathy persevere1 stand the highest test of the unselfish love of humanity4 ,such are ordinarily simple1 poor people1 while the cultured and the rich far more rarely show themselves equal to the test4 ,this natural nobility of character1 the most valuable of all the natural endowments of men1 is far more generally found in the lower classes1 and the 8noblest of the nations0 are to be sought elsewhere than where we are wont1 in the usual manner of speaking1 to assume them to be4 ,the basest human characteristic is innate faithlessness4 ,when this is present1 all the other so-called good qualities do not countervail2 they but make the man the more dangerous1 while faithfulness makes some expiation for the worst failings4 ,a sure mark of an essentially mean man is ingratitude4 ,it sets him below the nobler animals1 all of which are grateful4 ,an especially hateful form of ingratitude is that which1 in order to escape the necessity of showing gratitude1 treats the acceptance of benefits as a favor shown by the receiver and therefore an honor conferred upon the giver for which he must feel under obligation4 ,benefits received generally make only the noble-minded thankful4 ,others as soon as possible seek a pretext to avoid this feeling1 to them oppressive4 ,the paying back of borrowed money1 particularly1 is regarded as a merit on their part for which the creditor owes them lifelong gratitude4 ,in the correct estimation of men1 the most important consideration is the caliber they possess4 ,but caliber can not be given a man even by the best of education and the highest of culture4 ,caliber is a gift of nature2 a baby cat will never become a lion1 similar as they may at first appear to be4 ,the caliber present in a man can be but enlarged1 not changed1 through the great happenings of life1 through severe sorrows1 or through a very good environment1 particularly if one have faithful and very well-disposed friends1 or if one make the right marriage4 ,we must1 therefore1 be careful not to wrong men by rating them too high and so requiring too much of them2 it is not in their power to do it1 but after their fashion1 perhaps1 they may be good1 faithful men1 on whom we may count for something1 and who often accomplish more than they would if they imagined themselves to be of more consequence than they are4 ,we must never seek for an intimate personal knowledge of the people to whom we want to surrender ourselves unconditionally1 or to whom we intend to remain unconditionally hostile2 for in both instances we shall become easily disconcerted by finding characteristics in them which will contradict our preconceived opinions4 ,for a like reason1 one ought to learn to know one's enemies in person1 and on the other hand1 not to see one's friends too often4 ,a man's reputation is not absolutely determinative in forming an estimate of him4 ,men of note1 especially1 are often different from what we had fancied them to be4 ,on the whole1 however1 the public judgment passed on a man seldom goes altogether astray and is a very important factor in making up our estimate4 ,in particular1 there is no such thing as a complete misappreciation of a good man all his life through4 ,the public judgment as to men who are much exposed to such judgment is generally subject1 indeed1 to continual fluctuation1 like the surface of water1 but it1 nevertheless1 has the tendency 7not to be deflected7 of ever returning again to its proper level4 ,in the case of all good men1 we can count on their having an aristocratic nature4 ,democracy is correct1 as a political conviction1 but as an ingrained characteristic it has no worth4 ,men who are fundamentally good we learn best to know in their time of trouble1 for then the possibilities that lie within them come more clearly to light2 but men of mediocre worth we learn best to know in their time of prosperity and by their manner of enjoying pleasures4 ,all who hate men on principle are themselves egotists4 ,on the other hand1 it is certainly a matter of experience that we do have disillusionments even as to the best men1 and as to educated people even more than simple folk4 ,as a general thing1 one should not put absolute trust in men1 and the best and most trustworthy friendships are those which have either sprung from a previous enmity1 or have been once 7but not twice7 broken off4 ,for then alone does one see the shadow side of his friend1 and so can henceforth discount it4 ,on the other hand1 a frequent vacillation between friendship and hostility is a mark of a weak character4 ,that we learn to know our real friends only in time of need1 and that we should quietly let those go who are then unfaithful1 is a truth almost too trifling to be once more expressed4 ,why it is that1 when misfortune comes1 we suddenly possess friends so startlingly few1 is to be explained psychologically thus3 the less generous natures are afraid they will be obliged to give actual help1 while the more generous often think they see the impossibility of rendering any help at all and are ashamed1 wrongly1 to offer only sympathy4 ,in many cases even very well-wishing men fall into the mistake of ,job's friends and involuntarily assume that every misfortune is more or less one's own fault1 so that pity must be tempered by censure and admonitions4 ,then the more thoughtless ones speak out their mind1 while men of finer feelings rather draw back1 so as not to be obliged to do it4 ,and all this is still oftener true in the case of relatives4 ,to be envied is a very disagreeable thing to have accompany one through life1 and it usually ceases only toward life's end4 ,but it is1 for all persons of real consequence1 a very necessary protection against too great a veneration on the part of others4 ,such veneration would do much more harm if it were unmixed with envy4 ,and it is generally of little value4 ,a dram of real friendship is worth much more than a whole wagon-load of veneration4 ,one great rule for finding out men is this3 give yourself out to be frankly just what you are2 above all1 frankly hate wrong things on principle1 and let no opportunity of showing it pass by4 ,then men will show their own cards more openly to you4 ,public personages1 in particular1 must in their whole life be clear as glass and transparent as crystal1 so that men may see everything without reserve4 ,in general1 as to good qualities1 men like best to speak of those they do not possess2 while1 as to evil qualities1 the proverb speaks truly3 8,with what the heart is full1 with that the mouth runs over40 ,people who take pleasure in speaking often of impure things and the dangers of the world in this regard1 although they may do so with the most earnest show of disapprobation1 always feel a strong secret inclination thereto4 ,others1 whose every third word is 8benevolence0 and 8good works10 have to struggle with a disposition toward avarice or covetousness4 ,the worst are those who are forever talking of 8uprightness0 and 8loyalty40 ,most fanatics for some specialty have become such because they knew very well in the beginning that without such a heightening of their feeling they would not persevere in it4 ,in most cases1 therefore1 they are not wholly sincere4 ,it is one of the best signs for a man if humble people feel confidence and good-will toward him--little children1 above all1 but also simple-hearted poor folks1 and even animals4 ,the man whom children and animals can not endure is not to be trusted4 ,women1 too1 are good judges--that is1 if they themselves are good2 otherwise they are just the opposite4 ,to be much with unpretending people contributes greatly to one's contentment with life4 ,all great pessimists have despised them1 yet have found no satisfaction in the people of more importance whose companionship they have sought4 ,pessimism and the detestation of one's fellow-men1 when displayed by young people1 point 7if they are not merely talking for effect7 to irregular habits of living4 ,but they who keep their youth clean have a source of unfailing delight in life4 ,we are not upright because men praise us2 we are upright if we receive the praise of ,god4 ,any one who has ever experienced this will also know that1 however unreliable and cheap the praise of men may be1 it always makes us a little proud and leads us away from the truth1 but the praise of ,god never has any such result4 ,of pious people who are proud the assertion can quite safely be made that ,god has never praised them2 they praise themselves and let others praise them4 ,pride is always mixed with a portion of stupidity4 ,vanity makes us ridiculous to people1 but not odious2 pride1 on the other hand1 so works upon others as to call out defiance mingled with contempt4 ,as the proverb says1 pride always goes immediately before a fall4 ,when a man becomes proud1 he has lost his game1 and it may be safely counted on that he is approaching a downfall4 ,as soon as ,god forsakes us1 our own heart is lifted up4 ,on the other hand1 the faults which have become clear to ourselves and which have bred humility within us are often not so very perceptible to others4 ,they no longer put themselves so noticeably in evidence as do the faults we will not or can not yet see4 ,this is the first striking reward of battling against oneself4 ,every one stands in need of straight-forward but kindly criticism4 ,this is the reason progress is made by the simple people who1 when they make a mistake1 are censured and admonished by everybody1 without any beating around the bush2 while people of higher standing1 after their school years are over1 seldom have the advantage of being judiciously censured4 ,even their critics often only wish to show them how important and indispensable they are to them1 and attack some minor defeat of little moment one way or the other4 ,it is an important thing to acquire the art of speaking of one's own doings in a quiet and matter-of-fact manner1 if1 indeed1 they have to be spoken of at all4 ,it usually happens that some men show themselves too vain of their accomplishments1 and thereby arouse open or secret opposition2 while others speak of them with a certain off-hand disparagement1 as much as to say that they have plenty more in stock4 ,it is the best way to speak of one's performances as little as possible1 and1 in any case1 never to introduce the subject oneself4 ,vanity is always recognized1 even by the simplest4 ,the only sure means of not passing for a vain man is--not to be vain4 ,if a young man is forward or even only very confident1 if there is not a little of shyness about him1 he has a defective character and little real merit2 or at least he has ripened very early and will develop no further4 ,the widespread prepossession that1 without plenty of assurance1 one can not get through the world is incorrect1 unless one is thinking of momentary success4 ,a very suspicious1 at any rate imprudent1 propensity of many people is that of being the bearers of bad news4 ,the motives1 indeed1 may be very different2 but in most cases there is mingled with it a kind of self-elevation which takes pleasure in seeing others deeply shaken and humbled1 an ungenerous feeling that often comes very near to being malice4 ,this is instinctively felt on the other side1 and something of the unpleasant remembrance is ever afterward associated with the one who caused it4 ,those persons are of no worth who have never been broken by a great sorrow or by a thorough humiliation of their self-esteem4 ,they retain something small1 or arrogantly self-righteous1 or unkind about them which1 in spite of their probity 7which they ordinarily think a great deal of71 makes them disagreeable to ,god and man4 ,one must always be on one's guard before people who do not have a kindly nature4 ,a natural disposition to maliciousness is very hard to be overcome4 ,it shows itself most easily in a tendency to making sport of others4 ,it is an uncommonly pleasant thing1 on the other hand1 to have to do with people who make their fellow-men feel comfortable in their presence1 who are always even-tempered1 always friendly and ready to help1 never nervously unquiet or intrusive1 rejoicing in the welfare of others1 sympathetic and consolatory in trouble4 ,this does not necessitate a clever mind2 on the contrary1 the very clever people often lack just this quality1 which1 for the first time1 would make all their other qualities really useful and valuable4 ,at ordinary times it is very difficult to recognize real bravery4 ,yet there is one unfailing sign4 ,brave people never enter a fight with arrogance and are less afraid after a defeat than after a victory1 since every victory works some injustice to the opposing side2 while cowards show themselves arrogant after every victory4 ,as to this characteristic1 a man best learns to know himself in his dreams4 ,there he sees himself as he is1 being beyond the control of a better will that does not depend upon merely physical and mental emotions4 ,a crafty shrewdness always lowers a man in our regard4 ,we think of the possibility of its being used against us4 ,therefore1 as a proverb says1 8all foxes come to be skinned at last40 ,no one likes them1 and in the long run they lose their game4 ,every man should perfect his own national type4 ,when a man no longer knows to which nation he belongs1 he becomes an unedifying phenomenon4 ,therefore dwellers on the border are often vacillating in their nature1 and polyglot speech is1 as a rule1 a mark neither of genius nor of character4 ,the most questionable people are those who mingle different languages in a single sentence and who lack education besides4 ,not very much1 on the whole1 is to be learned from the external features of a man2 the science of physiognomy is a deceptive one1 generally speaking4 ,yet a strong development of the lower part of the face as contrasted with the upper1 an insignificant chin1 expressionless eyes1 an ever uneasy glance of the eye1 and a habit of speaking very loud in the case of women1 portend nothing favorable4 ,happily1 these latter are never able to imitate the expression of innocence4 ,the wide diffusion of photography has been very injurious for the knowledge of human nature1 since they usually make the photograph a deceptive portrait1 and one who sees it is1 therefore1 favorably prepossessed4 ,as to human efficiency1 it mostly depends upon a certain confidence a man has with his contemporaries4 ,god alone can give this1 and1 as a rule1 it appears late1 in the case of men of real note4 ,all the stones must first be rejected by the builders before they can become the head of the corner4 ,this is the only right course for a man's life to take1 and no sort of exertion can supply its place4 ,with men of original qualities one usually goes through three stages of acquaintanceship4 ,in the first stage1 they please one absolutely2 in the second1 they rather repel1 on account of the angularities and singularities of all sorts in their nature2 in the third1 however1 the whole man again pleases4 ,but in the case of more ordinary men1 one's first impression is slight1 the second is often better1 on account of various good individual qualities1 but the final impression1 again1 is unsatisfying4 ,take it all in all1 one may perhaps say that the first impression one has of a man1 provided one is himself quite unprejudiced1 is the right one4 ,hardest of all it is to read human nature from the point of view of religion4 ,it is easiest to do so along the lines of the first epistle of ,john1 the first six verses of the fourth chapter1 and the first five verses of the fifth chapter4 ,but1 along with this1 we must not exclude a certain human excellence which rests upon philosophical culture1 or upon great sagacity and experience of life4 ,all piety must make one more friendly1 or it is not genuine4 ,who are to be preferred1 the nice people who are not religious1 or the religious people 7and there are really such7 who are not 7at least not always7 nice8 ,i am afraid this is the point where our view does not always coincide with ,god's4 7,luke v4 #cb47 ,to do things on generous lines often seems1 especially to the man still young1 easier than to do things along the lines of duty4 ,well1 then1 do so at first4 ,but when you can once do the one1 then you must learn to do the other also1 else your life remains beautiful--but incomplete4 ,the visitation of sins unto the third and fourth generation may be regarded from this point of view3 that for so long a period ,god is yet laboring with these generations4 ,the worst that can happen to men is not this visitation1 but that ,god may leave them henceforth quite to their own way and will4 ,for the wicked1 visitation is1 therefore1 always a tender of amnesty1 but lasting good fortune means rejection4 ,a temperament always equable1 somewhat cool but not selfish1 and sympathetic and friendly to every one1 is perhaps the happiest if one wishes to be generally liked4 ,such men pass for especially amiable people and are universally esteemed1 without their often contributing anything important and solid to the advance of the world4 ,there are actually people1 therefore1 who assume this manner from policy4 ,but whether these amiable people have not1 after all1 buried their talent1 is another question4 99 99 99 99 99 ,that intercourse with men which is the art of life is necessarily based1 if it is to be brought under rational rules at all1 upon a correct knowledge of men4 ,for whoever voluntarily seeks the companionship of men whom he knows to be bad or false is1 with all his knowledge of human nature1 a fool and a suicide besides4 ,in this point we have departed widely from the conceptions of our grandfathers2 human intercourse has to-day become much less sentimental and much more serious than a hundred years ago4 ,in this matter the ever-recurring question whether the men are by nature good or bad is beside the mark4 ,as a matter of fact1 men have the disposition to be both1 and it is our concern1 therefore1 as ,paul says1 not to be overcome of the evil we can not avoid meeting1 but to overcome evil with good4 ,if one does not always keep this before his eyes as a fundamental rule of life1 then all intercourse with the bad and weak 7which is never to be wholly evaded7 will be1 for men of the better sort1 an evil that may lead at last to a contempt for humanity and a desire for isolation1 or else to an indifference toward all true principles4 ,here1 also1 there are a number of maxims taught by experience1 whose observation will make one's intercourse with men at least more easy4 ,they are as follows3 ,one gets into the best relations with men1 on the whole1 if he feels a simple1 natural1 sincere friendliness toward every one he meets1 in much the same manner as unspoiled children do before they have experienced the meanness of men4 ,this manner1 after many painful experiences1 can be again acquired1--at least at a certain period in later life which may then be called1 in this good sense1 a second childhood4 ,when one has this attitude1 it may even happen that he treats evil men as if good1 as they could be if they would1 and as1 in their better moments1 they would really like to be4 ,and the result is that these men forget their evil nature for a time and feel better and happier4 ,that1 and not 8the destruction of the wicked10 is a true man's greatest victory in this world4 ,at the same time it must not be forgotten that one should not put too great stress upon a man's behavior at the moment2 for every one can tell from his own experience how easily our moods alter1 and how changeable and uncertain our judgments of others are1 so long as the heart has not yet become constant in kindness4 ,all lasting human relationships rest upon reciprocity4 ,we must never be willing only to receive1 nor must we ever be willing only to give2 that always ends in dissatisfaction4 ,the opportunity of rendering great favors to men is not very frequent4 ,on the other hand1 one can quietly do any one some small pleasure1 though it be nothing more than a friendly greeting to light up1 like a sunbeam1 some lonely and joyless existence4 ,we should not begin a day of our life without proposing to ourselves to make use of every opportunity in this way4 ,this friendliness is merely a matter of habit that even men essentially kind-hearted now and then do not have1 to their great loss4 ,quite ordinary natures1 of course1 understand only fear1 not love4 ,as soon as they no longer fear1 they become forward and intractable4 ,for these the proverb holds good3 8,be always kind1 yet not too kindly2 else the wolves will quickly grow bold40 ,for others1 however1 the proverb is not true4 ,on the other hand1 real kindness is the ripest fruit of a well-lived life4 ,many men1 by doing things in a large style1 wish to compel their fellow-men to recognize it4 ,but they seldom succeed1 since the other man marks this purpose2 and after all1 egotism 7though of a somewhat different kind than usual7 hides behind4 ,they would attain their goal far better if they paid less heed to outward show and did things more quietly4 ,many people who are really good-hearted at bottom have a way of always finding something to blame or demur to even in matters that fall in with their wishes4 ,thus they bring it about that other persons1 hearing only their 8,no1 no10 prefer the company of more easy-going1 if also more unprincipled1 people of the world4 ,nor should one always be contradicting men1 even where they are in the wrong2 silence often accomplishes more and does not embitter4 ,now and then their assertions are not wholly in earnest1 but if they experience opposition1 then they become fortified in their notions and say something that they can no longer retract4 ,but if one ought to contradict for the truth's sake1 then a single contradiction is enough2 when opinions are once acknowledged and firmly fixed1 continued disputation about them is entirely fruitless4 8,whoever wishes to have his opinion find approval should express it coldly and without passion10 says ,schopenhauer1 if ,i am not mistaken4 ,the word 8coldly0 is somewhat too strong2 but to parler sans accent1 that is1 to speak in the positive and not always in the superlative degree1 is a good custom4 ,of one's neighbor one should--so ,st4 ,maddalena dei ,pazzi tells us--8speak as little as possible1 for one begins with good things1 but usually ends up with bad things4 ,our neighbor is a glass that easily breaks if we take it into our hands too often40 ,it is a great art in human intercourse to be able to show friendly opposition on occasion4 ,we should1 among other things1 give our reasons--not merely for convenience simply say ,no1 but try to convince the other with good arguments rather than be dictatorial4 ,all men see1 in such an appeal to their understanding1 a proof of respect which gratifies them and often quite reconciles them to the negative outcome4 ,a suspension of judgment is often very useful4 ,with a 8,we will consider it10 or 8,let us think it over10 good-will is shown for the time being1 while the decision is put off2 and with that1 often enough1 the whole matter is discharged4 ,the other man will in the mean time change his mind2 or the matter will seem to him of less importance2 while1 at the moment1 his desire was his very kingdom of heaven4 ,but all this does not apply in things indubitably wrong4 ,then we must not give rise to the conception that we might finally be able to come to an agreement in the matter or regard it as at least feasible2 but on the contrary1 we must 8resist the beginnings40 ,the most unfortunate method of all is to yield in an unfriendly spirit2 by so doing we lose the game twice over4 ,but with weak men this is the usual course2 they wish to hide their weakness by a little blustering and scolding4 ,in matters of indifference 7and they are infinitely many71 we must always do the will of others2 that makes living easy and brings good friends without any attending difficulties4 ,with dependent people it is best to be short1 but always friendly and good-mannered1 if they themselves know their place2 otherwise 8parcere subjectis et debellare superbos40 ,it is always difficult to know how to conduct oneself rightly toward very wealthy or very distinguished people2 for to be with them means either a kind of dependent relationship1 or a constant watchfulness against receiving favors that is inconsistent with real friendship4 ,real friendship gladly gives and gladly receives1 without keeping any account4 ,besides1 wealth and distinction very often make men insensible to life's true riches1 and limit them in their views of men and life4 ,it is not pleasant to have to do with people who do not think out their own problems1 but are always seeking advice and never following it4 ,one should especially avoid lightly advising one to marry or not to marry1 nor should one ever express his opinion to authors about their yet unpublished works4 ,it is very hard1 too1 to fellowship with those who are 8persecuted by fate10 and have no conception of their own failings4 ,christ himself on one occasion curtly dismissed such a man1 who wished to make him a 8judge and a divider40 ,those who are always reflecting over themselves or others1 likewise make companions in whom is no reliance nor peace4 ,they are always vain1 besides weak and forever vacillating in their judgment of others1 as well as in their estimation of themselves4 ,they love no one1 not always themselves even1 and are loved by no one4 ,shun them4 ,against navely shameless people there are three kinds of self-defence3 roughness1 which1 however1 is somewhat lowering2 coldness1 which is not human and leaves a reproach on the conscience2 and humor4 ,the last alone shows true superiority4 ,selfish men who have quite lost the sense of shame have a way1 when they want something of another man1 of insinuating to him that it will be for his own advantage1 so that they may be exempt from showing gratitude or from resting under any other obligation in return4 ,this is something one must not1 even tacitly1 ignore1 but first set the matter quietly upon its proper footing1 if he intends to respond to the request4 ,should one always give to those who beg8 ,i believe1 generally speaking1 yes2 the commands of ,christianity in this regard are too positive2 in most cases the question is rather 8,how much80 and this depends upon the good-will of the giver4 ,one should at least turn beggars away in a friendly spirit2 a kind word is also a gift and many a time of more real value than a small bit of money4 ,but that is something to be learnt1 and is really a very great art4 ,to give cheerfully is1 on the other hand1 partly a habit4 ,children ought to be accustomed to it from childhood1 instead of being one-sidedly trained to mere frugality1 as more commonly happens4 ,they should be frugal as regards themselves1 but not as regards others4 ,an outward expedient is to carry no purse2 it is easier to thrust the hand into the pocket than to open a purse4 ,very much that is not the proper thing in human intercourse springs from simple inertness toward the good1 or from a desire for personal comfort4 ,many men1 whom everybody knows by sight and praises1 are quiet and tolerably dutiful--egotists1--whose ways one must not follow4 ,the really noble men1 the aristocracy of the spirit as opposed to this mere bourgeoisie1 have always1 on the other hand1 found enemies4 ,perhaps the most useful1 though by no means the pleasantest1 intercourse is with our enemies2 not only because they are often future friends1 but especially because we receive from them1 more than from any other1 a candid disclosure as to our own faults and a strong impulse to amend them2 because1 too1 they possess1 on the whole1 the truest judgment as to the weak points of a man's nature4 ,finally1 we also learn1 simply by living under their sharp eyes1 how to know and practise the important virtues of self-control1 of a strict love for the right1 and of a constant attention to oneself4 ,that is1 therefore1 a foolish expression 7which is often used with intent to praise7 when it is said of a man1 perhaps in an obituary notice1 that 8he had no enemies40 ,a man of the right sort does not go through life without making enemies2 but it is a fine thing1 of course1 if at the end of his life he no longer has any4 ,by this ,i do not mean to imply that this intercourse with enemies is an easy matter2 on the contrary1 it belongs to the most difficult tasks of a rightly conducted life4 ,it is particularly hard to endure a long series of injustices which seem to have success on their side4 ,here comes the need of faith in a just ,god1 who can employ even the wicked as his instruments1 but can hold them so firmly in hand that they may go no farther than he wills4 ,otherwise we should not go through these things without harm4 ,surely no one who has learned to know himself will make the assertion that he is already a past-master in this art4 ,trust in ,god is the first essential2 after that1 the best means for acquiring this art is seriously to resolve that we will1 as much as possible1 avoid useless anger1 and take care not to judge our opponents unjustly2 and in any case never to allow real hatred to settle in the soul4 ,this can easily be done at the very first moment of the affront2 it is harder later1 when hate is once established in the heart4 ,it is very helpful1 besides1 to fix clearly in mind1 from the beginning1 that we absolutely must forgive1 even to 8seventy times seven40 ,this thought makes it much easier to determine from the outset to keep collected1 and thus we are better disposed to shut out hatred from the start4 ,here are some other helpful considerations3 ,the truth is not always victorious on this earth2 that is1 not the truth as it is embodied in a man1 mixed with all his weaknesses and errors2 for which very reason it is impossible for it always to conquer4 ,but ,god is victorious1 and nothing happens against his will2 this alone is the true consolation when enemies assault us4 ,the enemies ,god sends a man he also takes away1 as soon as they have fulfilled their purpose4 8,when a man's ways please the ,lord1 then he sets even his enemies at peace with him40 ,that is a very sure sign that one stands in ,god's grace4 ,it is much better to forget the evil one receives than to forgive it4 ,it is easy for a remnant of bitterness to cling about forgiveness1 or a kind of haughtiness1 a kind of holding oneself superior to offenders 8beneath one's notice40 ,bearing a grudge1 feeling resentment1 taking things ill is always a mark of a rather small nature4 ,better take revenge2 impotent hate is quite worthless and injures only yourself1 not your adversary4 ,in the criticisms made by one's enemies there is in most cases a grain of truth1 though put in a light too sharp and one-sided4 ,therefore it is always well to listen to an enemy's criticisms1 but not to rate them too high nor to feel them too keenly4 ,above all1 one should never let them impose upon him2 that is always a mistake4 ,that men speak evil of us is hard1 but it preserves us1 as ,thomas ,kempis says1 8from the magic mist of vainglory10 and compels us to seek ,god1 who knows our innermost heart1 as our witness and judge4 ,then for the first time he becomes indispensable and fast bound to us4 ,such a passage through ignominy is therefore especially needful for men who afterward are to bear great honors without harm4 ,one may accordingly be induced not to hate his enemies1 not merely through motives of religion1 but also through motives of prudence2 for enemies not only often become friends later1 but one is likewise indebted to them for very many correct views2 on the other hand1 those who at first are very amiable often speak a different language later on4 ,those who oppose one in important matters are always particularly easy to come to terms with2 for they are people who have serious scruples and are open to reason4 ,the indifferent1 who interpose no objections1 but also do not listen1 are far more dangerous opponents4 ,the right programme for one's demeanor toward enemies is not1 generally speaking1 that they must be crushed 7as would be quite impossible in most cases71 but that they are to be reconciled4 ,whoever keeps this constantly before his eyes will never hate too violently and will suffer much to pass by in silence that discussion would make only worse4 ,wherever possible1 then1 we must deal with our enemies in our best and calmest frame of mind2 for if we are inwardly ruffled1 we are also much more inclined to an unfavorable and unjust judgment of others4 ,nor should we lower ourselves before them in order to gain their good-will2 that seldom succeeds4 ,many men1 many nations in fact1 will not at all tolerate too much kindness4 ,thus it is a great point of prudence not to come frequently1 and never unnecessarily1 into the company of those who are radically opposed to our conception of life4 ,for we either suffer some loss in character1 or there results a widening of the chasm4 ,but what1 then1 is there left for us to hate8 or are we to explain everything away8 ,i am far from asserting that4 ,there is still enough left in the world worth hating1 and with this1 war can and must be waged4 ,above all1 there is the spirit of being bad on principle1 the spirit that purposely contends against the spirit of ,god1 and that persecutes the good because it is good and endeavors to overthrow it4 ,to this spirit give your vigorous and outspoken hate1 wherever and in whatever form it appears2 but in most cases it dies out in the men who embody it1 in the third or fourth generation at the very latest4 ,very often it changes1 in their descendants1 to the opposite spirit of good4 ,to give help to evil men of this stripe1 or to stand 8impartially0 between them and good men1 instead of standing by the latter in every such conflict1 is a serious fault that will be avenged on every one who is guilty of it4 99 99 99 99 99 ,a very difficult chapter to write is that on companionship with women1 for they are the instruments of both the best and the worst that can be awakened in a man3 on the one hand1 unbridled self-gratification and alienation from all that is higher and nobler1 qualities which they awaken especially in young people and which are the chief cause of the downfall of entire nations2 on the other hand1 a most efficacious uplift away from a man's natural tendencies1 to a wholly different1 freer1 and better conception of life4 ,most critics of women accordingly err in speaking of them as of a uniform mass similar in character1 while1 on the contrary1 in this part of humanity there is a far more marked division into two distinct classes1 and a much more constant retention and transmission of good as well as bad characteristics4 ,in a very peculiar passage of the ,old ,testament the same distinction is made1 even in that very early stage of humanity1 between the 8sons of ,god0 and the 8daughters of men10 who are not lacking in outward charm1 indeed1 but through their very charms become a curse4 ,this difference in women is still to be found in our day1 and so the first counsel is this3 ,have no unnecessary association with the 8daughters of men0 and guard against every closer alliance with them1 no matter what may be sung by the poets1 for they themselves are often led astray by just this peculiar charm of women4 ,in other respects1 however1 the difference between women and men would not be so great if their education and especially their legal position were more alike1 and toward this the politics and pedagogy of to-day are striving4 ,christianity at any rate makes no distinction1 and even the ,old ,testament already knows of women 7even married ones7 who filled the highest state offices1 not of hereditary right as to-day1 forsooth1 but solely by virtue of their own worth1 of the spirit which dwelt within4 ,the 8spirit of ,god0 can surely dwell in every human being1 and this is the thing that decides1 and not the structure of the body4 ,women are in general more easy to understand than men4 ,they deceive no man for long1 in the sense that he really holds the bad in them for good1 but only in the sense that he prefers the bad to the good because of its sensual charm1 in the false hope that this charm may be a lasting and happy one4 ,for women1 therefore1 there is surely but one means of lastingly appearing to be something that they desire2 and that is1 to be it4 ,yet it is harder1 though by so much the more meritorious1 for them to be spiritual1 good1 and noble1 since1 instead of reaping recognition for it1 they are often obliged to see exactly the opposite qualities valued and sought4 ,a truly noble woman1 therefore1 stands on a higher level of moral perfection than the best man4 ,furthermore1 what is generally true of humanity is especially applicable to women1 that those who have not experienced trouble1 but have only been fed upon the pleasures of life1 remain superficial and mediocre4 ,with women the latter experience is found in even special measure1 because their whole present training1 in the so-called cultured circles1 tends to give them the impression that a finer enjoyment of life is the real aim of their existence4 ,from this conception of life there results a nave and thoughtless egotism which conceives the whole world to be only a beautiful meadow1 where the women have all the flowers to gather to adorn themselves with and to please themselves with4 ,in this egotism they often far surpass men in selfishness2 the more amiable outer side of this navet may not blind us to this4 ,the character of women can very well be judged from their treatment of flowers4 ,a girl that on her walk pulls as many flowers as possible for herself and has no desire to leave any behind for others has a tendency to greediness and pleasure-seeking4 ,a lady who1 after looking at a beautiful flower or bouquet for a short time1 will permit it to lie and wither1 instead of putting it in water or of making some poor child happy with it1 has no warm heart4 ,but if she pulls flowers quite to pieces1 she will some day no less unconcernedly deal with men who have put their trust in her4 ,it is naturally still worse with the hearts of those tender creatures who with their fingers crush a harmless gnat sunning itself at the window1 or purposely tread upon a little worm or beetle crawling over their path4 ,it is well to keep oneself at a good distance from them4 ,likewise from all those who wear conspicuous dresses2 the clothing of a true lady should never attract attention1 either by being too striking or too plain4 ,women do rightly1 on the whole1 when they act with warmth and feeling2 they are rarely fitted for a merely intellectual companionship1 and those who are1 are not very lovable1 as a rule1 and have no inward peace4 ,even a very clever woman brings unqualified happiness only to a man at least as clever1 and she is herself never happy if she has the constant feeling that she far surpasses the man4 ,ardent feminine natures are a great happiness for him who understands how to enjoy their companionship without blame2 otherwise they are like a fire that diffuses light and warmth indeed1 but may consume their own house and the houses of others4 ,very quiet women1 on the other hand1 easily grow to be somewhat insipid4 ,what women value most in men is power1 whose complete absence they never pardon4 ,therefore adorers like poor ,brackenburg1 in ,goethe's 8,egmont10 never get their deserts from them2 they actually think more of the men who slight them or treat them badly than they do of men who are weak4 ,most unhappy are the feelings of a noble woman when1 through her own bad choice1 or through the folly of her relations1 she has fallen to a weakling who seeks compensation for his unmanliness in the outer world by a constant and petty mastery in the house4 ,dante would have had to invent yet another special punishment for these house-tyrants1 against whom it is just the best women that are defenceless1 and who may be governed only by a woman of strong egotism4 ,with this1 we have come to the question of marriage4 ,the best relationship with women not already in the family is marriage1 and it is one of the chief causes of the deterioration of our age that 7and in large measure on account of the pleasure-seeking and the false education of the women themselves7 marriage is made difficult to a large proportion of educated men1 so that they do not marry at all1 or do not marry at the right age4 ,indeed1 among the 8civilized0 nations1 it has actually resulted in the circumstance1 unfavorable for the position of women1 that they are no longer valued for their own sake1 but only for what they 8bring along0 with them4 ,who in fact could wish to torment himself with cares his life long1 just to support a vain creature fond of dress and pleasure1 while he might1 with the same means1 procure a far pleasanter mode of life8 ,this is the word pretty generally current now among the younger lords of creation1 who have none too much of the spirit of sacrifice4 ,it is often rather doubtful whether marriage always deserves to be called a 8divine0 institution under present-day conditions1 when the husband very commonly seeks in this way a betterment of his financial situation1 or1 if he belongs to the less 8cultured0 classes1 seeks a slave to do his work without pay1 while the parents of the wife wish to secure1 in marriage1 a life-insurance policy for their daughter1 however wretched a one it may prove to be1 and the daughter herself1 in the momentary triumph of this social promotion1 forgets the sad ensuing loss of her rights4 ,it is one of the saddest yet commonest tragedies to see a fine1 highly educated girl in the almost unlimited power of a mediocre young man1 solely because many mothers still regard it as a kind of shame to keep their daughters unmarried4 ,we can understand why most women are glad to marry1 because it is only in a good marriage that they have the opportunity of independently unfolding all the powers that lie within them4 ,but that the selfish ones1 who know how to put themselves at the right time upon a proper footing of defence1 have often a better lot than the good wives1 who lavish a vast amount of love1 fidelity1 self-sacrifice1 thought1 and vitality upon a questionable man of whom they have made for themselves an incorrect picture in their fancy--this is one of life's most melancholy experiences1 and one that might most make us doubt ,god's justice4 ,a woman1 therefore1 should never marry entirely below her station1 never marry a man who is morally not entirely above suspicion1 or is pettily egotistic1 or is not a man of thoroughly good disposition2 nor1 as a rule1 should she marry out of her country and nationality4 ,but for men who are seriously struggling upward1 an alliance with a high-minded woman from the better ranks of life is the method best of all suited to get quickly forward4 ,it will always be disputed whether it is better1 in a good marriage1 to seek and to find ardent love1 or quiet esteem and friendship4 ,i would decide for the latter1 as a general rule2 but--he who does not know the former knows not what life is4 ,the true and unselfish companionship of a man with a worthy woman of his home circle--wife1 mother1 sister1 daughter1 and not least1 grandmother and granddaughter--undoubtedly belongs to the highest1 the tenderest1 the purest joys of this life1 and brings out qualities in him that otherwise would always lie fallow4 ,a marriage is not by a long way always to be called a stroke of good fortune1 but an old bachelor1 too1 is never the man that could and should be made of him4 99 99 99 99 99 ,on the whole do not seek to know men by relying overmuch on theories4 ,the greater part of that knowledge is attained through one's own experiences1 mostly sad ones4 ,only1 resolve to experience nothing twice over4 ,they who do so are the truly wise2 not those1 if there are any such1 who make no mistakes4 ,besides1 our knowledge of men must not serve merely to help us separate the goats from the sheep and henceforth concern ourselves only with the latter2 but it should serve to keep us from being deceived1 and to enable us to work for the improvement of ourselves and of all with whom our lot brings us in touch1 with a better understanding of their character4 ,for when a man once abandons the belief that every single human soul has an infinite value and that it is worth any trouble taken to save it1 then he finds himself upon an inclined plane on which he gradually slips back again into complete selfishness4 ,the final word as to the knowledge of men must be--love to all4 ,love alone enables us to know a man exactly as he is1 and yet not to flee him4 ,to know men1 without love1 has always been a misfortune and the cause of the profound melancholy of many wise men in all ages2 it has driven them to renounce the society of their fellows1 or to take refuge in the theory of absolute government4 ,for there are only two ways of dealing with men1 when one has once learned to know them--through fear1 or through love4 ,all intermediate methods are delusions4 ,but if any one appeals to fear1 or if love is to any one only lip-service1 let him hear ,brother ,jacopone da ,todi3 8,that ,i love my neighbor ,i really know only when1 after he has injured me1 ,i love him no less than before4 ,for if ,i then loved him less1 ,i should thereby prove that1 before1 it was not he ,i loved1 but myself40 ,,iv4 ,,what ,,is ,,culture8 ,,iv4 ,,what ,,is ,,culture8#a ,a prophet of ,israel of the latter days of the ,kings1 who himself seems to have been1 in a way1 self-taught1 announces to his nation the oncoming of a new era in about the following words3 8,behold1 the days come1 saith the ,lord ,god1 that ,i will send a famine in the land1 not a famine of bread1 but of the hearing of the truth4 ,in that day shall the fair youths and maidens faint1 who now are relying upon the god at ,dan and the way of ,beer-sheba4 ,for they shall so fall therewith that they shall not be able to rise again40 ,what ,amos meant by the god at ,dan and the 8way of ,beer-sheba0 is hardly to be discovered now with exactness1 and indeed1 for our purposes1 we may leave it undetermined4 ,only thus much is clear from the context1 that they were for the time elements of culture whose insufficiency should later come to light--as actually happened at the beginning of the ,christian era4 ,widely recognized phenomena of our own days fittingly remind us again of these ancient1 half-forgotten words4 ,on the other hand1 a struggle that may almost be called violent is passing through the broad masses of the nations4 ,they are striving to win culture for themselves as quickly as possible1 so that they may elevate themselves to the power which1 in their view1 goes hand in hand with this culture1 or1 as they mostly conceive it1 with the acquisition of certain kinds of knowledge4 ,on the other hand1 the upper circles of the classes hitherto known as cultured are being gripped with a kind of despair over the already attained and still attainable results of this search for knowledge for its own sake1 as a renowned scientist has already plainly expressed with his well-known saying1 8,ignoramus1 ignorabimus10 and as is becoming actually manifest in the ever-growing specializing of the sciences4 ,for this specializing means1 at bottom1 nothing less than that there is no universal knowledge any more1 still less a universal culture which comprehends all that men have achieved and thought2 it means that there are only isolated departments of knowledge1 behind which the abyss of ignorance yawns1 for the most learned specialist1 no less than for the most commonplace layman4 ,in the young generation of the civilized nations which is growing up under such auspices1 there is prevailing a certain physical and mental weariness1 which makes one seriously doubt whether the whole of modern education must not be on the wrong track if1 instead of producing mental and physical power and joy in the lifelong acquisition of new and newer knowledge1 it only prematurely dulls and destroys all these capacities1 and if it is bringing on a too weakly organized and nervous race which would as little prove a match for the onset of some horde of healthy barbarians as did1 once upon a time1 the ,roman or ,greek cosmopolitan culture1 outwardly brilliant1 but likewise undermined by just such over-civilization as ours4 ,with this1 we have arrived at once at the heart of our question4 ,by culture we must understand something greater1 something other than knowledge1 or learnedness in special subjects1 if it is at all to be something beneficial and desirable4 ,relatively speaking1 the most striking result of general culture must be the healthy and vigorous development of every man's personality into a full and rounded human life1 inwardly at peace4 ,otherwise it will be of no very definite value1 either to himself or to his state4 ,if it does not effect this it does not justify the hopes that have1 for so long a time1 been set upon it1 and there may stand before us a time such as humanity has already more than once experienced1 when the most highly civilized peoples have been overpowered by barbarians1 simply by virtue of greater physical strength and greater mental freshness and originality1 and when too delicately constituted republics have not been in a condition to withstand the momentum of such onslaughts1 directed by some single powerful will4 ,therefore the question 8,what is ,culture80 is a question of the life of our whole present race1 as well as1 in a special degree1 of our native land and the nature of its government4 ,i ,by this very ambiguous and therefore often misunderstood word 8culture0 we must understand ourselves to mean an evolving from an originally formless1 rough condition into a condition in which the development into the best of which the material is capable is completed1 or at least is in the process of unfolding without hindrance4 ,every man at the beginning is a rough block that can only be fashioned into a true human form and a true work of art partly by the formative power of life itself with its manifold influences1 and partly by the hand and sagacity of men4 ,and as an unskilful sculptor may so misshape and spoil a stone intrusted to him that no real work of art can any longer be made of it1 or may carve it so delicately that it loses the massiveness and strength necessary to resist all outer influences1 so also1 in the art of human culture1 we often speak from painful experience of a man's culture as neglected1 or distorted1 or too excessive and refined4 ,in true culture 7one that does not injure but benefits men71 three things seem to be essential3 the conquering of natural sensuality and natural selfishness through higher interests1 the wholesome and symmetrical training of the physical and mental faculties1 and a correct philosophical and religious conception of life4 ,where one of these three is lacking1 there is a drying up in the man of something that had been capable of a better development4 #a4 ,the final goal of all true culture is the liberation of man from the 8sensual gravitation0 which every one experiences in himself1 and from the selfishness which1 though it rests in the final analysis upon man's impulse to self-preservation1 stands nevertheless in opposition to the purpose of his life4 ,essentially as a creature of the senses man begins his course in this world1 essentially as a creature of the spirit he should finish it here1 and1 as we hope1 continue it in another world under more favorable conditions4 ,thus there lies already in his nature a conflict between that which is and therefore would naturally like to persist1 and that which is undoubtedly demanded by his deepest and best feelings and which is meant to grow and develop4 ,if he does not stay as he is1 then the ground seems at times to give way under his feet2 but if he does stay as he is1 then his better self is always grievously reproving him1 and saying that he is not fulfilling his duty and is not becoming what he could and should become4 ,this is the battle that every man begins with himself as soon as he comes to consciousness about himself1 and in this battle he must at any cost carry off the victory4 ,all inward dissatisfaction springs from sensuality or selfishness2 these two never fail to show themselves as the primal causes1 when the matter is run to the ground4 ,any genuine happiness is not conceivable where the spiritual nature has not gained the day over the sensual1 and where a disposition toward liberality1 humanity1 and kindliness has not won the victory over a disposition to narrow selfishness--a victory already decided in one's innermost tendency1 and1 as a matter of practical life1 to be daily gained anew4 ,whoever has not been able thus to subdue himself will never be a match for the world around him1 which fights him with the same though thousand fold greater powers of selfishness4 ,all that is left for him is to defend himself in this struggle for existence by continually injuring and destroying others and by uniting himself with others into groups with mutual interests1 groups that are likewise of a purely selfish nature4 ,to try to suppress this struggle for existence which now threatens to destroy all the nobility that is in man and to make us like beasts of prey1 is the chiefest task of all the truly cultured men of our time4 ,they must first show by their own example that this struggle is not necessary1 and that there is a way out of the labyrinths of this life other than the sad one of who shall be strongest in his selfishness4 ,after all1 the man who proves strongest in this struggle1 even in the most favorable case1 only makes the existence of many fellow-men the heavier1 and his own better self1 besides1 has suffered harm4 ,the first step is1 that one shall no longer be recognized as a truly cultured man who has any trace of such a conception of life4 ,and it must and will come to that1 before long1 in our civilized states4 ,on the one hand1 selfish solicitude for self and as much as possible of sensual enjoyment during a short life--on the other1 human kindness1 care for others1 mental advancement1 and the development of the nobler powers of the soul3 these are the two great armies which now stand over against each other1 ready for battle1 and in one or the other you will be obliged to take your place4 #b4 ,the second point is the proper and healthy physical and mental development of all our faculties1 in the interest of these higher aims4 ,we are not to live with this better conception of life in cloisters or studies1 but as far as possible to bring it into use in our ordinary life and in every calling--but not1 of course1 in any calling that stands in radical opposition to this better conception of life4 ,here is the point where oftentimes a somewhat morbid and exaggerated philosophical1 religious1 or scientific tendency stands likewise opposed to true culture4 ,there is no profit in a philosophy that does not hold its own in the full current of life1 and there is little help in a religion which exists only in the church on ,sundays and has no value in the market or in business4 ,and even knowledge1 in itself1 has no great worth if it does not serve1 somehow1 to build up a more worthy kind of life for oneself or for others4 ,in a sickly1 overfatigued body1 with nerves continually overexcited1 no quite healthy soul can live and work unimpeded4 ,it is one of the chief mistakes in the culture of our day that a kind of misunderstanding has arisen between body and mind1 whereby the body is harmed directly and1 through the body1 the mind4 ,besides1 our whole modern education is much more directed toward the mechanical acquisition of things to be remembered than to the attainment of real convictions and of true knowledge4 #c4 ,but all these things1 the pursuit of ideals1 the search for true knowledge1 and the maintenance of bodily tone1 do not yet help a man toward true culture1 unless they rest upon the conviction of the existence of a transcendental world whose forces can effectively come to his help4 ,his sensual tendency and his natural selfishness are far too strong for him to subdue them wholly by his own expedients and without the help of such a ,power residing outside himself4 ,and the motives for doing it are too weak4 ,what indeed should impel him to fight a hard and at first apparently almost fruitless battle with himself and the surrounding world his life long1 if this life is only a transitory animal existence with no further destination8 ,the strength of a merely natural nobility1 which for a time1 perhaps1 may lift itself above these things1 does not1 under all circumstances1 hold out in the presence of this conception of life1 but easily despairs of itself when trials1 continuing and great1 draw nigh4 ,there must therefore be the introduction into human existence of a power which is mightier than all a man's natural forces and which makes it possible for him to master himself and no longer to fear all external evils1 in comparison with the evil of high treason to his better self4 ,that there is such a power1 which one can not indeed logically prove1 but which he can put to the test and himself experience1--this is the mysterious truth of religion2 and it would be much less of a mystery if all men1 if but once in their life1 would venture the trial whether there is such a power4 ,to be sure1 if any one does not want to let quite go of his pleasure-seeking and selfishness1 or does not altogether yet desire to attain1 at any cost1 to something better than the ordinary life1 then1 in spite of his trial1 he will not have a perfect experience of this power1 and in that case the mere outward profession of a religion does not help him much4 ,he remains on the whole as he is1 even though he go to church every day4 ,but if he has this will1 then he receives this power1 then he infallibly becomes another man1 to such a degree that one may truthfully call it a new birth4 ,then only will all his natural gifts and knowledge become really alive in him and productive for the welfare of himself and others4 ,the highest step is complete self-renunciation1 in which a man is only the receptacle of divine thoughts and impulses2 but it is very dangerous to work oneself into such a condition by the fantasy1 before it comes of itself and is really at hand4 ,the main thing in religion is not its immediate perfect attainment1 but that every one who will may enter on the way and pass from a joyless existence to a gradually ascending life4 ,this is the way to true culture1 and every one must try to travel it by himself4 ,it can not be taught2 it can only be shown4 ,the evidence that one has true culture is1 first1 a gradually increasing mental health and power1 then a certain higher sagacity that comes in1 and finally a peculiar1 larger caliber of spirit which one can bring about in no other way1 which one can not imitate1 and which really forms the chief element in culture4 ,yet these thoroughly cultured men are1 for all that1 entirely natural human beings1 but free from all pretence and vanity2 free also from all struggling1 from all seeking for life's good things1 on which human happiness does not have to depend1 and in whose incessant pursuit men only lose their souls2 free from all unhealthy pessimism1 or monkish seclusion2 free from fear or nervousness or impatience2 cheerful and quiet in the innermost centre of their being1 and continuing in their mental and spiritual soundness up to the highest goal of human life4 8,as their days1 so is their strength10 as the ,old ,testament says with great beauty and truth4 ,the highest imaginable degree of this culture is a complete devotion to all that is good and great1 a devotion that no sort of trouble any longer clouds1 or can cloud2 it is that condition of the soul1 mentally conceivable but seemingly rarely attained1 in which there is no longer any battle with the sensual and the transitory1 and the struggle of nature against the law of the spirit is completely at end4 ,this is that condition of perfection which we ascribe1 in its consummate development1 to the ,divine ,being alone1 but toward which we also are called to strive2 and the gradual winning of all men to this goal is the task in particular of all true education1 and looked at in the whole1 it is the end to which all history is moving4 ,,ii ,no false culture nor half-culture is therefore to be compared with this true culture1 which is unmistakable in its effects upon the whole nature of men1 and upon their manner of intercourse with others4 ,even in the very simple relations of life it will always reveal itself by a certain greatness of spirit it confers1 a spirit that distinguishes its possessor from the ordinary man in the like ranks of life4 ,and along with this there is a quiet sense of peace with oneself and with others such as no other philosophy of life can assure1 and which1 by its contagious serenity1 is apparent to every one who has ever been with such people4 ,however1 it is not wholly unnecessary1 particularly at the present time1 to set down the chief characteristics of a false or insufficient culture1 characteristics which one meets very often and can not help but notice4 ,they are particularly the following3 #a4 ,great extravagance in living4 ,a man of genuine culture will never set a very high value either upon his outward personal appearance1 or upon where he lives1 or what he eats and drinks1 or the like things3 and so he will carefully avoid luxury1 as improper for himself and unjust toward others4 ,excessive finery1 golden rings on all the fingers1 watch chains with which one might1 if necessary1 tie a calf1 houses in which one can not move for the furniture1 banquets at which one risks undermining even a robust constitution--these are all quite sure signs of a lack of culture and things that one must guard against4 ,for whoever has intelligence sees through all this2 it is only the fools who are blinded by it4 ,the surest mark of culture in all these things is a certain noble1 easy simplicity in one's whole personal appearance and manner of life4 ,the love of display and pleasure is always a sign of lacking culture1 and culture alone can thoroughly guard against it4 ,even a general raising of the standard of life in a country is desirable only in so far as a rough1 half-animal1 unworthy mode of living is by its means done away with2 otherwise a continual increase in men's needs is a misfortune for any country1 and the cultured classes must earnestly strive against it and set a better example4 ,a noble simplicity of living has also the advantage that it can always remain the same under any circumstances1 while people inclined to luxury usually have two modes of living1 one before people1 and the other for themselves4 #b4 ,an external1 but also very easily recognizable and characteristic mark of culture is the possession or absence of books2 especially with persons who have the most ample means of procuring them4 ,a fine lady who reads a soiled volume from a lending library you may safely set down as but half-cultured at best1 and if she slips an embroidered cover over the volume1 it does not remedy the matter2 it only shows that she is conscious of her fault4 ,an elegant home in which but a dozen books stand unread on an ornamental whatnot you may quietly regard as uncultured1 with all its inmates2 especially if1 as usual1 the books are only novels4 ,much reading still remains1 in our day as always1 a necessity of general culture4 ,of a thoroughly cultured man one can properly require that in the course of a moderately long life he shall have read all of the very best in literature1 and shall have gained1 besides1 a tolerably general and correct idea of all the branches of human knowledge1 so that 8nothing of human is to him quite alien40 ,but if you ask how one can get time for this1 outside of one's business or occupation1 the answer is this3 ,break away from all unnecessary things1 from the hotel1 from societies1 clubs1 and social pleasures1 from the useless reading of a great portion of the newspapers1 from the theatre1 where you learn little that is worth knowing in these days1 from the too frequent concerts1 from skating for whole afternoons1 and from much else besides that every one can easily charge against himself as his special manner of squandering time4 ,one can not be very cultured and at the same time enjoy all the possible pleasures going4 ,but1 if necessary1 you may even break away somewhat from business4 ,that pays1 and you will soon see what a difference there is1 even as regards business success1 between a cultured merchant and a merely clever manager4 #c4 ,a further sign of defective culture is a loud1 rude nature3 talking very loud1 in public localities1 in cars1 in restaurants1 etc42 acting as if one were the only person there2 and conducting oneself discourteously in places where many men gather4 ,our age is less cultured in this respect than some earlier ones have been4 ,on the same footing stands everything that savors of advertising and boasting1 all showy pretence and braggadocio4 ,a merchant1 for example1 who greatly exaggerates the importance of his business1 or puts very boastful advertisements in the papers2 or a lady who wears a silk dress without quite immaculate undergarments--those surely you would not take for people of sufficient culture4 #d4 ,work also belongs to culture4 ,it is not only a quite indispensable means of attaining thereto1 but idleness1 even if one can 8afford0 it1 is always the mark of a disposition with low ideals2 and that is directly opposed to culture4 ,such a man will seek his pleasure in something else1 something less fine1 or will possess a foolish pride in not being obliged to work1 or finally he is a fellow of coarse sensibilities to whom it is a matter of indifference whether others perish by his side whom he could have helped by his exertions4 ,an idler by profession is therefore surely a man without ideals and without real culture1 however elegant may be the external forms of culture he has gathered round him4 ,they are empty forms without real substance1 and every man of better culture is bound not to allow himself to be deceived thereby and not to respect such people4 #e4 ,but not much less harmful is the inordinate passion for work4 ,when it is voluntary1 it nearly always springs from ambition or greed1 two of the worst enemies of true culture2 they always show that one sets the highest value upon something else than culture4 ,or this passion for work is only a bad habit and the imitation of a bad example1 or finally it may spring from a want of inner peace and control1 which are themselves the fruit of culture4 ,whoever works on ,sundays just the same as on week-days1 when he is not compelled to1 you may quietly consider as little cultured as the man who does nothing any day4 #f4 ,a very necessary element in culture is an absolute trustworthiness and an upright conduct in all money-matters4 ,to the cultured man it is not permitted to display prodigality1 or an aristocratic contempt for money2 a disposition like that always indicates lack of culture1 and is unjust toward one's needy fellow-men1 besides being mostly pretence4 ,nor is it permitted him1 on the other hand1 to show undue parsimony1 nor dishonesty even in the smallest particulars4 ,on this point1 the ,scriptures say quite truly3 8,he that is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much40 ,an absolutely rightful employment of money1 with the strictest honesty1 with complete disregard for money as the goal of life1 and yet with a proper valuation of it as the means of attaining higher ends1 is perhaps the surest of all signs of a man of genuine culture2 as the chase after gains and the worship of money most surely betrays the uncultured man4 #g4 ,another sufficient indication of defective culture is arrogance toward inferiors or toward those who are poorer off1 and this is usually combined with subservience toward superiors and toward the wealthy4 ,this is the special characteristic of parvenus who spring from uncultured surroundings4 ,a man of the best culture will always be polite and friendly1 but the more so1 the more he has to do with those who stand below him1 with the dependent or the oppressed2 and the less so1 even to the bare edge of politeness1 the more he has to do with some one who makes pretensions1 or wants to treat him as an inferior4 ,to show deep respect for the mere wealth of another is1 as said before1 the most unmistakable mark of a man completely lacking in any culture of his own4 #h4 ,there are still a number of minor signs of lack of culture1 which may1 however1 be in part only bad habits or the result of defective bringing up2 they do not always point conclusively to a general lack of culture4 ,among these minor signs one may rightly reckon3 much talking about oneself2 gossip and scandal over the personal affairs of others2 a great tendency to talkativeness on all occasions2 a hasty1 uncertain1 violent temperament2 making many excuses for oneself where it is not necessary or has already been done2 to accuse or disparage oneself in the hope that others will then assert the contrary2 a too-zealous officiousness2 or a too-effusive politeness4 ,the thoroughly fine aristocratic temperament1 such as the ,english especially prefer1 demands a very great self-possession and preciseness2 but this can easily degenerate into indifference and coldness1 and is then a fault4 ,enthusiasm and eagerness for whatever is good a cultured man always possesses2 where this is lacking1 there is also a lack of true culture1 in spite of fine pretences4 ,but this is also certain3 when the enthusiasm is genuine and is not merely manufactured or the zeal of a beginner in the noble art of life1 then it will never be too forward and loud in expressing itself4 ,a noisy virtue is always a little suspicious1 or at least is still in its infancy4 ,culture1 therefore1 is essentially the gradual development of inner power toward what is right and true1 with the purpose of elevating and liberating one's own higher nature from the bonds of the ordinary animal sensuality with which it came into the world1 and of training it up to a higher level of life in complete soundness of mind and body4 ,wherever it does not do this1 it is of very subordinate value2 and this it must always above all things do in the so-called cultured classes1 for whom this is a primal duty4 ,it noway suffices to be always talking of the 8elevation of the lower classes10 who are often superior now to the upper in particular elements of true culture4 ,the chief need of our present day is much rather the vigorous rehabilitation of this upper class1 which is deeply sunk in pleasure-seeking and the materialistic conception of things1 and has turned aside from the higher ends of life4 ,,iii ,now if you should resolve to try in this manner to attain to true culture1 you must have great patience with yourself4 ,it is not the matter of a single day or of a single resolution1 although a great part is played by making1 once for all1 a firm and binding resolve1 to which one always comes back again as often as one has in some particular departed from it4 ,true culture1 like true virtue in the main1 is a matter of growth4 ,by degrees it grows in strength and insight1 but can not be suddenly and forcibly won by any kind of magic process2 one must make some definite beginning and then persevere in it for life4 ,but this is the only true purpose of living1 never to be laid aside1 and the only outcome of life wholly to be wished4 ,a beginning can be made in different ways3 in a purely practical way by the acquisition of good habits2 or philosophically1 by meditating upon1 and coming to know1 and discriminating between1 the true and the untrue in the conduct of life2 or1 through religion1 at once seeking the infinite and the power that thence springs4 ,the easiest way is undoubtedly the last1 and to this1 even though one takes the other ways1 one is finally led4 ,for the secret of true culture1 its beginning and its real key1 lies in the conquering of selfishness and especially of the inordinate desire for pleasure4 ,thus it comes about that often a very simple man1 who possesses little knowledge and has had little contact with so-called good society1 is nevertheless more truly cultured than some aristocratic or learned gentleman4 ,he has the real essentials of culture before they have1 and has taken the easiest way to acquire it4 ,only when a man is no longer constantly busied about himself and no longer thinks of himself alone does he receive his freedom of spirit and the full use of the forces that lie in his mental and spiritual power4 ,the spirit1 then for the first1 becomes in some sort free from an occupation not worthy of itself1 and becomes capable of taking up and quietly working at things which otherwise had remained forever concealed under personal cares and pleasures4 ,to be sure--and this also must be said--these things are hard so long as the youthful man is in the full tide of his physical and mental unfolding4 ,such young people as have already attained to these things very early in life usually do not live very long4 ,it appears that man1 like the animal1 and like the plant before it bears fruit1 needs a time of self-seeking activity1 in order first to obtain a sufficient growth and strength as a natural creature4 ,in the case of man1 however1 there surely and naturally comes a moment when an exclusive or preminent occupation about one's own self becomes unnatural1 and in every larger nature--and1 it may perhaps be said1 in every existence at all worthy of men--there comes the impulse to free oneself from oneself and to live for an idea4 ,this is the most decisive moment of existence4 ,it is1 with some men1 comparable to a sudden1 violent death1 and a new birth to another life4 ,with others1 it is more like the gradual and quiet sinking of the former things into slumber1 and the awakening and slow fashioning of a new nature4 ,but if this change has once taken place1 in one way or the other1 then all the real questions of human existence appear in another light1 clear and solved4 ,but if this change does not take place in a man who is not wholly animal in his nature1 then there always stays with him a never-quieted thirst for such a change2 and likewise a feeling of guilt1 which clearly says to him that he could and should have become something better1 a voice within him he can not drown1 however great his seeming success4 ,,iv ,with this we have also solved the last question you will put3 8,what shall we get out of it8 ,what real gain has a man from true culture80 ,to this is to be answered that every great inward advancement a man makes rests first upon a faith4 ,he must forsake something he knows1 and seek something toward which only a presentiment is leading him1 something he can not understand yet fully1 because the capacity is for the present lacking4 ,but if he possesses the courage to will it1 he attains it2 and of those who have attained this goal1 not one has yet found the cost too high1 or the toil too hard4 ,the reward of virtue in this world is just this1 that virtue is1 and that it can be overcome by no power of the world1 but itself is the only real power and force that will completely fill life full and satisfy4 ,tennyson has expressed this very beautifully in his poem 8,wages03 8,glory of warrior1 glory of orator1 glory of song1 ,paid with a voice flying by to be lost on an endless sea-- ,glory of ,virtue1 to fight1 to struggle1 to right the wrong-- ,nay1 but she aim'd not at glory1 no lover of glory she3 ,give her the glory of going on1 and still to be4 8,the wages of sin is death3 if the wages of ,virtue be dust1 ,would she have heart to endure for the life of the worm and the fly8 ,she desires no isles of the blest1 no quiet seats of the just1 ,to rest in a golden grove1 or to bask in a summer sky3 ,give her the wages of going on1 and not to die40 ,it is therefore1 in the judgment of the best even of our own day1 fully worth the trouble to strive for true culture1 and all attain who really desire--rich or poor1 learned or unlearned4 ,indeed1 what ,christ first said for his own generation is also very appropriate for ours1 that simple souls and modest lives stand much more intimately near to true culture1 and on the way to it do not meet so many and so great hindrances as do the wise and the prudent1 and especially the rich1 who must first strip off infinitely many prejudices and attachments to outward things1 all of which are irreconcilable with true culture4 ,it is therefore harder for some and easier for others to attain to culture1 but for none impossible1 save those whose mind is wholly bound up with material things1 and are satisfied besides with a merely external culture that is rather form and show than reality1 however much it may claim to be real4 ,an ancient ,chinese philosopher has already expressed this very well in the following verses1 somewhat navely translated3 8,men who win the highest prize ,are quick to learn and quickly wise2 ,men in the second rank belong ,who're wise1 but in the learning long2 ,those people must be classed as thirds ,who stupid stay1 and learn--but words40 ,it scarcely lies within the will of every one of us whether his lot shall assign him to the first of these classes1 and happily it is not a matter of very much concern4 ,they are the great exceptions1 the moral geniuses of humanity4 ,but to the second rank every one of us is called1 yes1 emphatically challenged1 when once the way has been shown4 ,and the saddest thing that can happen to him in life is1 if he nevertheless remains among the third sort of men1 whose existence1 at the end1 has had no real worth1 either for themselves1 or for others4 8,happy is the man that findeth wisdom1 and the man that getteth understanding2 for the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver1 and the gain thereof than fine gold4 8,wisdom is more precious than rubies3 and none of the things thou canst desire are to be compared unto her4 8,length of days is in her right hand2 in her left hand are riches and honor4 8,her ways are ways of pleasantness1 and all her paths are peace40 ,v4 ,,noble ,,souls ,v4 ,,noble ,,souls ,kant somewhere suggests that all the natural capacities of a being were intended completely to unfold1 at some time1 along the line of some definite purpose1 but that in man 7the only reasonable being on earth7 the capacities intended for the use of the reason can be unfolded completely only in the race1 and not in every particular individual4 ,but since this does not come about quite of itself1 the conclusion would necessarily follow that there must always be separate individuals who are specially called1 to bring about for the whole of humanity this development to a higher stage of its existence--with the proviso that they shall also have willed to devote themselves to this purpose and1 to this end1 to set aside all other personal aims4 ,and even the further conclusion would seem to be justified that no single human life would fully suffice for this1 but that rather a certain bequeathal of this mission from hand to hand would be possible and fitting4 ,with this intent1 the ,mosaic legislation cherished the magnificent plan of lifting a whole tribe out of the ordinary conditions of the life of the nation1 and devoting it to this1 the noblest of the activities4 ,very significantly1 this tribe was forbidden the possession of property2 the ,lord alone should be their inheritance1 and every pious ,israelite was obliged1 in the interest of the whole1 to help support them with the tenth part of his income 7which1 however1 he could bestow on any ,levite he chose74 ,whether such an arrangement could be realized in any of our modern states1 and whether 7and this is the important point7 it could be kept up indefinitely as established1 might be very questionable4 ,but the certainty remains that every human society needs1 for its preservation1 some such kind of salt1 without which it would the more easily fall into corruption4 ,this salt is--the 8noble souls40 ,doubtless ,christianity1 at the beginning1 had the intention of requiring such a temper of soul of every one of its followers4 ,but we have since become much more modest in our demands on ,christendom in its entirety2 we have been driven to say that there exist certain higher claims than the ordinary ones laid on everybody1 but that these higher claims shall never require1 so long as the world stands1 an artificial1 castelike order of men1 but rather men who will accept them in a spirit of perfect freedom and even joy2 and all thoughts of a specially privileged position resting on these claims1 and all consequent feelings of superiority1 must be completely shut out4 ,thus this aristocracy has the advantage over all others in that it is immediately accessible to all and that every one may become the founder of an aristocratic family after this sort4 ,nor will there ever be much crowding to get into this aristocracy1 but nearly every one will be ready to yield this place to the modern ,levites1 if only they1 in return1 will give up the eager competition for other advantages4 ,noble souls1 therefore1 are those who completely renounce the chief aim of ordinary souls1 the personal enjoyment of life1 in order that they may devote themselves the more effectively to the elevation of the whole race4 ,the ready objection1 that both can perhaps be combined1 may well be disputed4 ,unless one purposely closes his eyes1 his experience will rather show that this is not the case2 and any proof other than experience will convince no one on this point4 ,nor can we yet really believe in any transformation and elevation of the whole of ,christendom through anything that may happen in the future4 ,christendom1 at least at first1 can be regenerated only by the gradual formation once more of such a band of volunteers within it as will earnestly and literally accept the demands of the ,christian faith--more earnestly than 7in a purely practical sense7 is possible to the majority of the souls comprising ,christendom1 or than1 at least for the present1 can be expected of them4 ,the danger lurking therein1 that a new ,pharisaism might spring from it1 is a real one2 but the danger is lessened because this conception of life could remain on a purely individual basis1 without taking any outward or organized form4 ,it appears in general to be a characteristic mark of the present evolution of ,christianity that1 apart from all essential improvements in its outward form1 it is going first to develop again from within into an 8invisible church10 into a kingdom that truly is not of this world4 ,to explain this1 however1 is not the purpose of this chapter2 it would rather contradict this chapter's leading thought1 that it is first of all a duty for the individual to proceed to his own transformation4 ,the question for us here1 therefore1 is only this3 ,what are the necessary characteristics of a truly noble soul8 ,what are the chief obstacles that stand in the way of this extraordinary guidance of the spirit8 ,and finally1 is it possible in our day1 and is it worth the trouble1 to strive after this goal8 ,what will they1 who do thus1 receive8 ,the opposite to 8noble0 is not 8bad0 or 8vicious0 7though these are not noble71 but 8little1 narrow-hearted1 provincial1 thinking only of small aims in life and only of oneself or of one's immediate surroundings40 ,a broad vision1 a large heart for all1 indifference for one's own self1 care for others--all these are noble4 ,fearlessness is an essential element2 also the not allowing oneself to be imposed upon by anything in the world1 under any circumstances4 ,this latter characteristic the genuine nobility has in common with the false1 though in a pleasanter form and united with a sincere esteem for what is truly honorable1 an esteem that the spurious nobility lacks4 ,another element is a certain finer cleanliness of spirit4 ,no longer to be an animal in any direction1 no longer in any way to favor the merely physical being--this is our real calling1 which we are to learn here on earth that we may pursue it hereafter4 ,when the soul stands firmly upon this level 7and it seldom reaches it in one generation71 what is vulgar becomes1 to noble souls1 unnatural and therefore physically repugnant2 while1 at the lower level of development1 it still charms and entices1 though it may spiritually be already overcome4 ,the following particular qualities1 then1 are not noble3 first1 all vanity2 this is a quite certain mark of a soul still small2 therefore1 second1 all boasting1 all self-praise in general1 and all pretensions of even 7so to speak7 the most permissible nature4 ,these last are not unmoral1 perhaps1 but they are at any rate common and small4 ,then we must add1 further1 all immoderate pleasure in any kind of enjoyment1 even when not purely physical2 in eating and drinking1 in music and the drama1 or what not4 ,the noble man must always stand above his pleasure and never yield himself into its power4 ,only one step farther in the very common though often innocent gratification of pleasure is the finding of delight in luxury2 a stain of injustice is already associated with luxury1 which infallibly means depriving another man of his own1 and creates and maintains a dividing-line among men such as ought not to exist4 ,a noble simplicity of living which does not degenerate into the cynicism of the ,stoic is a certain mark of a soul by right of heredity already nobly born2 but the love of luxury is the characteristic trait of the upstart4 ,luxury1 with debts besides and one's consequent dependence upon men1 is the acme of commonness and leads very often on into wrong-doing4 ,it is quite the contrary of noble to speak much of oneself1 and particularly to boast of one's deeds or philanthropy--the latter1 because one is scarcely justified in making much of a stir about it2 for very few people give away what they themselves can make good use of1 but only a part of their superfluity1 which1 because it is a superfluity1 they do not even quite rightfully own4 ,those who are charitable in a really large-hearted fashion are1 for the most part1 only the poor1 who regard it as a matter of course that they should help one another with everything they possess4 ,with them1 giving is not associated with glory1 nor is receiving associated with shame2 while the higher classes often seek to balance accounts with their ,christianity on the cheapest terms1 by bringing their philanthropy well forward into men's notice4 ,to be sure1 there is a way of concealing one's deeds in such a fashion that they are meant to be discovered and thus win double praise4 ,and it is not wholly right1 and particularly not wholly ,christian to free oneself altogether from personal contact with poverty by means of contributions to benevolent institutions4 ,the ,gospel knows nothing of such societies as yet 7perhaps it even excludes them71 but simply says1 8,give to him that asketh thee02 one might at most add1 8unless it will manifestly do him harm10--as really happens in some cases4 ,the anxious avoidance of any contact with a callous or not quite cleanly hand is anything but truly noble4 ,it is not noble to feel disdain toward inferiors1 toward poor people who are often the truly noble of this world1 toward children1 toward the oppressed of every sort1 and even toward animals4 ,the chase especially1 much as it may belong to the pleasures of noble or would-be noble people1 can not be regarded as anything truly noble1 and particularly if it is connected with no danger1 but is simply a pleasure in the killing of defenceless creatures4 ,frederick the ,great has a sharp passage about this in his writings1 while the last ,french ,bourbons were zealous huntsmen4 ,to be ever sincerely friendly with servants1 never domineering or condescending1 never familiar1 but always generous and careful1 is a great art which is rarely learned in a single generation1 but is always a sure mark of nobility4 ,the moods of a noble soul are not based on pessimistic lines4 ,the pessimists are those who have somehow fallen short and are incapable of struggling with courage for the highest things of life and of gaining them by the power and endurance necessary4 ,therefore they give out that they disclaim them1 or represent the renunciation of them as the highest attainable goal4 ,when their pessimism is not merely a passing phase in development1 pessimists are always egotistical men of a narrow range of ideas1 to whom one must not pay the honor of admiration4 ,thorough faultfinders1 constant critics of everything1 tormentors of women1 overexacting1 capable of falling into painful agitation over a misplaced article or over a train they have missed1--such are the least noble among them4 ,the noblest thing of all is the love of one's enemies4 ,to be kind to one's friends1 or to be friendly and fair toward everybody1 is socially excellent1 but a long way still from being noble4 ,but they who take injuries quietly1 and can always be just even to enemies1 are the genuine aristocrats of the spirit4 ,the perfect pattern of nobility is ,christ2 many of his biographers give quite a false impression in depicting him too much from the humble and outwardly meek point of view1 and thus carry many conceptions of our own bit of sky over into the oriental world1 with its different ways of thought4 ,it is just that unattainably perfect combination of the tenderest affection for the little ones1 the poor1 the oppressed1 and the guilty1 with that large and calm self-consciousness before all the high1 the rich1 and the mighty of that day 7which nevertheless is never defiance or pride71--it is just that combination that lends to this personality a stamp it would be hard to declare purely human4 ,to follow this type has since been the task of all who strive after perfection1 and whoever turns away from it will always run the risk of chasing after a false ideal and not attaining the goal4 ,as one of these false ideals has himself truly said1 8,in the breast of every man two souls inhabit3 the one1 in the strong joy of love1 holds to the world with clinging organs2 the other lifts itself forcefully away from the mist to the fields of high surmise40 ,a force exerted to subdue oneself1 and a faith in these fields1 will always in truth belong to the truly noble2 and if the great poet1 who never completely subdued the lesser of these souls in himself1 says1 in the second part of his most famous work1 8,fool1 whoever lifts yonder his blinking eyes1 and fancies himself above the masses of his equals1 let him stand fast and look about him here1 for to him that can hear1 this world is not mute10--if he says this1 then it is to be answered that to nobility there also belongs something of a foolishness that is yet wiser than all the wisdom of men4 ,the chief obstacles in the way of genuine nobility are the nobility that is not genuine and the fear of men4 ,the presence of some sort of 8aristocracy0 in every human society of long continuance is a proof of the need of something such1 and at the same time the chief cause of its decay4 ,one might say1 somewhat paradoxically1 that an aristocracy is at its purest and best where it has no right to exist2 and at its worst where it possesses the greatest 8rights40 ,those who belong to these higher classes live now1 for the most part1 in the vain delusion 7to which they are systematically brought up1 and by which they are debarred from any better conception7 that they owe to humanity nothing further than their mere existence1 or that there is in general no other society for them but the 8upper ten thousand10 as they are called in ,england4 ,they deem it quite sufficient if they in a certain measure stand as representatives of 8the beautiful0 in the life of humanity1 somewhat in the sense of the tasteless expression1 8,the rose that doth itself adorn1 adorneth1 too1 the garden10 or in accordance with the better expression1 not always rightly applied1 that common natures count for what they do1 noble natures for what they are4 ,taken in the right sense1 this last is true2 for from nobly living1 nobly doing necessarily follows of itself1 while it is but hypocrisy without it4 ,one of the surest marks of men with noble natures is that the unfortunate are dearer to them than the fortunate4 ,where this is not so there is no genuine aristocratic nature of ,god's grace1 but only an ordinary man1 however showy his station in life4 ,a certain haughty inaccessibility is very pleasant to the proud1 and passes with them for noble4 ,with ,god1 however1 this is not the case1 and the man to whom he is merciful he transfers to conditions of life where that must be given up4 ,for no one has any feeling for such distant demi-gods who do not share in the common human lot4 ,they purchase their 8exceptional position0 much too dearly1 since by it they are shut out from knowing what real love is4 ,then1 too1 it is strange that the most useless of these birds-of-paradise of human society 7and proud1 too1 of their uselessness7 very often deport themselves as zealous followers of ,christianity1 while their whole mode of existence and their whole conception of the world stand in contradiction with the most elementary ,christian principles4 ,it will therefore remain on the whole as ,cromwell said1 8,the cause of ,christ goes hand in hand with the cause of the people40 ,the spirit of nobility in the ordinary sense goes no further than a curious hearing of the gospel1 or than the attempt to use the gospel for quite other ends than it was meant4 ,still less noble than this aristocracy of birth 7unless it is also inwardly noble7 are1 as a rule1 the new arrivals into it from the lower classes1 who mostly bring with them their inborn servile nature1 or the arrogant money-aristocrats who have made themselves rich1 but to whom the feeling of the rightfulness of their possessions must be wanting4 ,of such a man ,demosthenes1 in one of his finest speeches1 asseverates that he was surely the child of some slave spuriously substituted in the place of the real child1 and was not in the least fitted to belong in a free state4 ,all arrogance 7even that over one's talents or success7 is an unfailing sign of a small soul4 ,of pride1 however1 one can not say quite the same4 ,in ,dante's great poem it is very noteworthy that it is only inside the gate of grace that release from pride1 that is1 humility1 is imparted to the man who is purifying himself from all his faults2 before1 he employs his pride in overcoming other and lower sins that conflict yet more with the nobility of the soul4 ,we can not1 then1 change this fact1 that every genuine aristocracy rests upon the appointment of ,god1 who is the only rightful 8lord0 upon earth1 beside whom there is no other 8right of lordship10 and who accepts those as his 8vassals of the crown0 whom he deems qualified4 ,on the other hand1 it is just as undoubted that individualism1 the right of mastery over one's own nature and over one's free will so far as it is employed for good ends1 is the most inalienable of all human rights1 and one that no political democracy can or will ever set aside4 ,to lower this individualism to a mere class or mass consciousness and to a common average of culture is barbarism2 to develop it partially and selfishly only for oneself is criminal or insane4 ,beauty of form has its value and its right in the training of individual men and of whole generations1 provided it is developed on the sound basis of the good--as if its blossom4 ,but then it is the most perfect expression of manliness1 of virtue in the ancient sense1 of that chivalrous spirit of the ,middle ,ages which to-day is expressed in the word 8gentlemanlike10 though this word often stands only for an empty mould without real contents4 8,gentleness1 when it weds to manhood1 makes a man40 ,otherwise not4 8,the fear of man bringeth a fall10 says the wise ,hebrew proverb-writer2 8but whoso putteth his trust in the ,lord shall be safe40 ,that is very much in accordance with experience4 ,the fear of man leads always into by-paths and is ever somewhat petty and ignoble4 ,yet no one1 even the highest and strongest1 can forever remain without fear1 if he knows no invisible ,lord above him on whose protection he may absolutely rely1 so long as he acts rightly4 ,with the fear of men is allied a crowd of other petty vices which all take their origin therefrom4 ,hate1 envy1 jealousy1 vengeance1 resentment1 readiness to take offence1 malice1 injustice in the judgment of others1 all as little noble as possible1 are nothing but the consequences of fear4 ,even covetousness1 the restless struggle for money and property1 often springs not so much from a mad propensity to scrape everything together for oneself alone1 as from the necessity 7justified if there were no ,god7 of winning and maintaining in the 8struggle for existence0 a place which never can be sufficiently assured against all mischances1 and against all the assaults of a like-minded overwhelming number of enviers and haters of every individual prosperity4 ,looking at the matter just from the standpoint of covetousness alone 7which has its own great inconveniences71 if this fear were not present1 there would very likely be no men wholly dispossessed and no social question4 ,if one would remedy these conditions1 otherwise so hopeless1 then some must be freed from the fear of being obliged to spend a short life without a just share in the happiness earth has to offer1 whereby they are necessarily driven to half-insane exertions to win it by force2 and others must be freed from the apprehension lest they shall see all become poor and wretched on account of a new distribution of property equally among all4 ,to desire to mediate between these two opposites by means of palliatives is the fruitless exertion of the hour4 ,neither attitude of mind1 however1 has anything noble about it4 ,a soul that has attained complete nobility1 free from fear and resting upon a firm ground of faith1 is the most beautiful but also the rarest thing there is now4 ,very few will arrive at this goal to-day otherwise than by roundabout paths1 be it through great doubts or through great sorrows2 though to some the way thereto is made easier because of their parentage and ancestry1 so that they can already begin to strive after it with the advantage of a better footing4 ,yet it remains a sad fact that every child that is born clearly bears upon it the stamp of such a destiny1 whose attainability is1 with most1 more and more lost with advancing age1 although a heavy curse hangs over the head of him who draws away from this destiny a single one of the millions endowed with a nature called to the highest things4 ,nevertheless1 this is actually so1 and1 as was said at the beginning1 it is impossible that there should be none but noble souls on earth2 that would be at once the 8state of eternal rest40 ,such a noble and 8exclusive0 society we picture for the future life1 so far as we can imagine that life at all4 ,but there must always be at least a number of people who will not bow the knee to the 8,baal0 of the hour and just as little desire to live out their lives on a merely natural basis 7for this is of the nature of animals72 but their only care is1 that ,god may continually dwell upon the earth4 ,to this1 all are called1 especially those who belong to the fellowship of ,christianity2 and if few are actually 8chosen10 yet they form an lite to which every man has access4 ,this kind of aristocracy will never pass out of existence1 and to it undoubtedly belongs the immediate future1 the more the democratic reform wins the upper hand in the life of the nations4 ,but it will also1 wherever it is genuine1 be ever confirmed and upheld by ,god4 ,an aristocracy1 on the other hand1 that no longer has any basis in its nation1 is certainly a false or degenerate aristocracy that rightfully falls into decay4 ,for the genuine aristocracy there is another and a sterner privilege than what are commonly considered privileges4 ,something more is demanded of it than the continuous longing ordinary souls have for happiness and pleasure4 ,and it is not good for it if it is ever quite absolved of the sorrows which alone keep it in this disposition1 or if it succeeds or is disappointed in something that sprang from ordinary motives4 ,the belief in the purifying power of sorrow and therefore in its necessity is always the kernel and centre of all true ethics1 whether based upon philosophy or upon religion4 ,the noblest of all earthly lots is sorrow cheerfully borne1 and the blessing that springs therefrom for many4 ,and herein lies the key to an otherwise perplexing riddle2 and on this account many men1 who will have nothing to do with religion1 nevertheless stand nearer to it than many who are loud in their religious professions4 ,whoever can accept sorrow with a good-will and turn it victoriously to the building up of a better nature within him1 is and will remain a noble man1 with a nature fundamentally religious1 much as his reason may resist any positive confession of religious faith4 ,and in this one point lies the unity1 which1 silently surmounting all limitations1 binds the nobler men of every faith and confession4 ,and so1 a noble soul must be able to endure a considerable amount of injustice as it now exists in the world1 apparently never to cease2 nor will it find a cause of offence either in its own misfortunes or in those of others2 nor must it try too carefully to escape a reputation for being somewhat foolish4 ,it is not always the greatest talents that are adapted to the greatest things4 ,it is very significant that ,isaiah says1 8,who is blind1 saith the ,lord1 but my servant8 or deaf1 as my messenger that ,i send80 ,in the same manner ,christ often says that1 to be fit for the ,kingdom of ,heaven1 one needs a childlike nature which the unwise are closer to than the wise4 ,and the same thing was shown during the ,reformation in the case of many who were the wisest of their time1 but could not decide to surrender a certain 8cultured0 attitude of open-mindedness and impartiality toward questions of which the learned know1 of course1 that one can1 in any event1 8look at it from another point of view40 ,this is yet to-day the narrow defile which very many of the cultured shun to whom ,christianity would be quite right1 if it only fitted in a little more with the demands of the time1 if it only would give up something of its uncompromising attitude in regard to ethics1 and something of its absolute demand for faith in respect to things that are transcendental and not to be proved4 ,christ himself would undoubtedly in his day have been able to conceive his calling in another way than he did4 ,the story of the temptation was an event such as1 once in his life1 has happened to every highly gifted man1 and for which he could assign place and date4 ,happy if he then struck the right road and no longer let himself be misled because the whole world was against him4 ,again and again it has finally been obliged to yield1 this 8whole world10 before a single soul2 and we often experience yet to-day1 in the smallest as in the greatest questions1 the truth of the bold saying1 8,who firmly holds to his mind1 will fashion the world to himself40 ,there is therefore always a place and a need in the world for this kind of people1 and in this fact they find their modest portion4 ,they have their difficulties1 to be sure2 but to be without them is neither necessary nor good for them4 ,finally1 that is a very true word a wise man once spoke1 though from an opposite point of view1 8,in the struggle for existence there is always room above40 ,only the lower and middle places are overfilled4 ,therefore1 you who are young or are dissatisfied with your search thus far for happiness1 strike at once for the highest goal4 ,in the first place1 that is the surest and best way because it is ,god's will and because he expressly calls you to it4 ,in the second place1 it is1 of all goals1 the one that most brings peace1 while all the others bring many disillusionments and bitternesses in their train4 ,and lastly1 it is the only one where the race with those contending for the same prize of victory is one with friends and helpers1 and where you will not be received at the goal by enviers and secret opponents1 but by sincere friends and men of the same high intent--just noble souls1 with whom alone it is easy and good to live4 ,,vi4 ,,transcendental ,,hope ,,vi4 ,,transcendental ,,hope ,this earthly life can not be the end of all life2 it can not be the final word concerning our destinies1 unless they are1 even in the most favorable cases1 to close with an enigmatic deficit1 and with an unexplainable divergence between capacity and accomplishment1 between task and performance3 this must be evident to every one who carefully reflects upon it1 to every one who is unwilling to dismiss such questions curtly1 unwilling to accept of death as an all-conclusive1 comfortless fate4 ,the life of every thinking man who does not believe in its continuance after death1 ends1 therefore1 in deep sadness4 ,the decline of all the powers1 bodily and mental1 fills the heart that knows no further hope with dejection1 and with a terror1 at times1 that no circumstances of earthly fortune can save him from4 ,even the consideration that the works of a man survive him1 or that 8when the body shall fall to dust the great name shall still live on10 gives him no adequate comfort for the passing away of life itself4 ,some then forcibly rouse themselves and seek in feverish activity to use up the last moments of vanishing existence in making sure that others will have something to remember them by1 or feel a momentary regret over their loss4 ,in other aging men1 on the other hand1 once more there awakens with almost elementary force the long-slumbering desire for pleasure in every direction1 seeking again to blow into flame the pitiful spark of the fire of life4 ,the end in both cases1 however1 is a helpless breaking-down in the face of the constantly approaching ,unknown1 or the banishment of all thoughts on the subject as far as possible1 or finally1 in the bravest cases1 a stoical surrender to an unavoidable fate--unless there is a hope that life will continue beyond4 ,only where such hope is present is ,death the friendly-earnest messenger who heralds to the tired wanderer the end of his journey and the soon impending prospect1 from a slowly and toilsomely mounted hilltop1 into a broad new world2 for all others he is the ugly skeleton as represented in the medival ,dance of ,death1 or at least the inexorable1 cruel ,reaper of the very beautiful1 but very melancholy poem of ,clemens ,brentano1 8,there is a reaper whose name is ,death40 ,now1 for the first1 there comes to light the most remarkable of all the differences between men2 now1 at the end of life1 the 8simple fool0 comes to a victorious vindication4 ,for while to all others every autumnal falling leaf awakens the feeling of a hopeless passing away1 he sees1 even in the tree stripped bare1 the buds already of a new and gracious spring1 and he hears1 in his last days1 not only the unalterable judgment of death1 8,dust thou art1 and unto dust thou shalt return10 but at the same time likewise the word of life1 8,arise1 shine1 for thy light is come1 and the glory of the ,lord is risen upon thee40 ,,ii ,the attitude of men toward the question of death1 the most important of life's questions1 is that which best characterizes each one of them1 and if one always knew their thoughts about it1 one would be able to draw therefrom the most definite conclusions as to their whole conception of life4 ,the fear of death is also the best test-stone for every philosophy4 ,a philosophy that does not overcome this fear1 or at best leads to sad reflections upon the transitoriness of life1 is in the first place of not very much practical value1 and in any case does not completely fulfil its purpose4 ,nor is it even quite consonant with reason2 for how could we picture a reasonable condition of man and society1 if there were no death8 ,for when the lives of prominent persons have been too prolonged1 it has been a manifest misfortune to their fellow-men4 ,far from being an evil that makes a shrill discord in the universe1 death is rather an advantage1 the only conceivably possible arrangement under which a world such as ours1 in which the good must contend with the evil1 can exist4 ,this at least is certain1 that even upon those whose 8heart is fortified0 against any event1 the incompleteness and trouble of life often lies heavily1 and that to them this earthly existence seems merely a transitory state from which there must some day be release4 ,even the happiest life knows such moods1 and though one might be entirely satisfied with his own lot1 he could not possibly be so for his nation and for the millions of men whose life seems only one long chain of deprivations and blunders that mock at all attempts to help4 ,an old ,german poet1 ,heinrich von ,laufenburg 7#adde71 already gives expression to this mood in the following verses3 8,i would ,i were at home on high1 ,and all my worldly toil laid by2 ,at home above is life deathless1 ,and all is joy without distress2 ,a thousand year make there one day1 ,and pain and strife are gone for aye4 ,then up6 my heart and hardihood1 ,seek ye the good above all good2 ,ye may not stay for long below1 ,to-day1 to-morrow1 ye must go4 ,farewell1 ,o world6 may ,god thee bless2 ,i fare to ,heaven's happiness40 ,but neither is this yet the right conception of death4 ,one can also die 8full of days10 and age is not necessarily a tedious1 ever-increasing1 hopelessly incurable disease1 but it can also be a continuous advancing1 an evolving of oneself toward a nobler and a purer life than is possible on this earth4 ,death is then but the wholly natural and by no means violent and illogical transition into an analogous kind of existence that only needs to be continued2 the fruit is ripe1 and falls1 not to be destroyed1 but for a useful harvest4 ,moreover1 if there is no awakening after death1 then those who believe in an awakening will suffer naught from such a delusion1 but1 without ever being conscious of it1 will share the common human fate of extinction2 while1 if there is an awakening after death1 such an awakening can not be a pleasant thing for those who did not believe in it4 ,this1 indeed1 is where faith has the advantage1 to speak quite practically2 for if it should be mistaken1 it will fare no worse1 in this life or later1 than the opposite view2 but if it shall find itself on the right path1 it will fare better4 ,,iii ,still1 our hope in a further life is only a hope and not a demonstrable certainty4 ,yet perhaps it is a well-grounded assurance1 resting first of all on the fact that capacities and powers are placed in men for whose complete development human life is too short1 and which would therefore be pointless if they did not attain to a further evolution4 ,this is particularly manifest in the case of all men who die young4 ,again1 we have the very definite testimony of ,christ1 whose whole conception of life would otherwise rest upon a huge error4 ,the resurrection of the personality is one of the most indubitable and the most definite promises of ,christianity1 and without it ,christianity would have a very dubious amount of truth and a very doubtful value for life2 no 8resurrection of the body10 of course1 in the literal sense of the ,christian confession of faith1 as many conceive it1 but in the sense in which ,christ1 and ,paul too on occasion1 announced it and in which alone it can satisfy us also4 ,for though we do not wish to lose our individuality1 nor rise again1 as ,job rightly says1 as 8a stranger to ourselves0 7in which case there is no continuation of our life and the whole question no longer has any meaning71 yet we shall surely not desire to live on with all 8the weaknesses of the flesh02 and under any circumstances there is need of a thorough transformation1 laying deep hold upon the whole nature of man1 a transformation for which the ,catholic church1 indeed1 assumes a special preparatory stage4 ,the details of this transformed continued life we do not know at all2 nor do we know1 in particular1 how far those who are in that life have any consciousness of their former condition 7as1 indeed1 logically belongs to a continued life1 else it is none71 nor how far they are in a position to maintain a connection with their kinsmen here4 ,moreover1 we could not apprehend it with our present organs of perception1 even if it were to be disclosed to us4 ,likewise all descriptions of 8eternal glory0 7with which the fantasy of men has taken so much pleasure in busying itself71 as well as the notion of an 8everlasting rest0 7which1 with our present ideas of rest1 we could not endure71 are nothing further than fantasy1 expressed in impossible1 or at any rate in quite imperfect pictures4 ,it is surely possible1 we may hope1 for the nature of the life to come to be1 far beyond all human understanding1 greater than all these pictures represent2 but it will quite surely be intelligible only for those whose spiritual nature is suited for it and sufficiently purified from everything that tends to decay4 ,that is1 in other words1 if there is a continued life for all1 and if they who have lived for nullities and have not developed their capabilities toward the attainment of things eternal1 do not sink into nothingness1 then every one surely continues to live in the element to which he truly belongs4 ,whether there is then an endless duration of this new state under all circumstances1 or whether there are still many separate steps of life1 as in our life1 and a final purification for all men 7the so-called 8restoration of all things07--these are questions that no one will ever be able to answer satisfactorily4 ,whether there is an eternal punishment of the wicked does not seem to be so very important--less important1 at least1 than the unending advance of the good2 and whether the wicked believe this1 or do not believe1 it has no very real influence upon their conduct4 ,the punishment of the resolutely wicked 7which many do not see brought about1 and so become easily dubious of the existence of divine justice in the world7 is particularly this1 that they are unable to become better even if in their better moments they wish to do so4 ,they are obliged to remain slaves to their lower nature1 and to lose their life without any results worth while and without the hope of an immortality which they could only fear4 ,if that still seems to you to be no satisfactory compensation for the sorrows and deprivations of the good upon earth1 then add this fact to the account1 that evil men do not experience the love and fidelity of men1 the best of all outward things the world has to offer1 and without which all their other possessions might well appear worthless1 even to him who has them in the greatest fulness4 ,he who loves no one1 and whom no one loves1 is a poor1 lonely man1 though he may1 in the common belief1 be sitting in the lap of fortune4 ,and things are so arranged that these unhappy men can not understand or value the love which perhaps is still tendered them1 but must infallibly lose it again through their own folly4 ,to the things of highest value in human existence1 the nearness of ,god1 an inward trust in the good ending of a brave life1 and that love and fidelity which can not exist without reciprocal esteem1--to these the evil man never attains4 ,the other things let him enjoy in uneasiness and in the continual fear of the envy and hate of thousands 7if that can be called 8enjoyment071 and do not begrudge him a happiness that1 for much the greater part1 exists only in the mistaken idea that others have of it4 8,non ragionam di lor1 ma guarda e passa10--speak not of them1 but look1 and pass them by4 ,as far as concerns our present life and nature1 what is necessary 7and therefore conceivable7 as a reason for our faith1 is only this3 that without faith 7that is1 a trust in the transcendental1 in what we can not grasp with the senses71 we can not carry out the purpose of life in its entirety1 nor can we lift ourselves to that plane which1 with this faith1 lies in our power of attainment and therefore becomes our task2 that1 further1 for the attainment of this plane we need a power of love which is stronger than that which rests on human affections1 and which is also very likely the element that creates life and sustains it and that possesses the power to overcome death2 and that finally neither this faith nor this love would endure in the face of the enormous obstacles which oppose them on every hand in our earthly existence1 if it were not for the glad hope that 8there remaineth a rest to the people of ,god40 ,,iv ,the most positive fact we really know as to an existence after death is the resurrection of ,christ4 ,this is evidence not only historically vouched for 7better1 indeed1 than most so-called 8historical facts0 of equal antiquity71 but also a necessary postulate from a philosophical and ethical point of view1 unless the whole history of the world for two thousand years past is to rest upon a delusion1 or even1 one may say1 upon an intentional falsehood4 ,the resurrection is1 and will remain1 therefore1 the foundation both of all true ,christianity and of all transcendental hope4 ,judging by this resurrection of ,jesus1 the future life would seem to be somewhat similar to our present existence1 and death accordingly an event of much less importance and1 one might properly say1 much more a matter of indifference than we usually assume it to be4 ,at any rate1 the future life will be an evolution2 neither an everlasting rest in the literal sense1 nor everlasting enjoyment4 ,the latter would not be noble enough1 and the former appears to us as beautiful only in moments of weariness and not when we are endued with new vigor4 ,on the contrary1 indestructible power of work and joy in work1 joined with true depth and clearness of vision as to the ends of life one should pursue1 enter1 in the case of all divinely guided men1 only toward the end of their life1 when all seeking for pleasure has ceased2 and this is a very safe indication1 both as to the continuation of life itself 7that it can not suddenly cease at this stage of development71 and as to the nature of that continuation 7that it can only be a heightening of the best of our present activities74 ,this is often so clear to the reason that the assumption of a sudden extinction of this activity1 just when it has become full of vitality1 seems thoroughly unmeaning1 and unworthy of the order of the universe unless it rests upon mere chance2 and a cosmical order resting upon chance alone1 yet existing for thousands of years1 would be a simple impossibility4 ,banish from your life1 therefore1 the melancholy fancy of a helpless sinking beneath the waters1 for that is foolishness2 but banish likewise too great a contempt of life4 ,life is no mere vale of sorrow that must be escaped from as soon as possible1 but an important1 perhaps the most important1 part of our whole existence1 in which we make our decision for advancing life1 or for a gradual and real death4 ,even the many weak-hearted men of our day who only want to die quickly and 8go to heaven0 without a struggle1 may well find themselves deceived1 and that the struggle will yet meet them1 but under less favorable conditions4 ,nor are we to envy the 8innocent0 children and young people who1 in the view of the ,greeks1 have died early by a special favor of the gods2 for they must none the less begin from the beginning4 ,it is through conflict and many troubles of every sort that we must attain to the perfection which is our present task4 ,this perfecting process alone opens the hard and unreceptive heart sufficiently to receive the noble seed of a higher conception of life1 a seed that must be sown in the heart1 and first spring up1 then grow1 then blossom1 and at last bear fruit4 ,this life-process may neither be hastened nor avoided1 but it must be gone through4 ,it is therefore reasonable that we should not be eager for death1 even if we do not fear it1 but we may justly rejoice only over what we have already happily gone through and now1 for all eternity1 no longer need to experience and endure4 ,when one once believes firmly in a continuation of existence that alone supplies our present life with an intelligible solution of all its questions and riddles1 then a bit more or less enjoyment or pain during this short span of imperfect existence becomes more a matter of indifference1 and much that was important before falls away from us as a form without meaning2 while1 if these thoughts are untrue1 and if this is the only world1 full as it is of injustices1 sorrows1 and passions1 it is a simple impossibility to believe in a just and almighty ,god4 ,upon this single point1 therefore1 hangs our entire philosophy of life4 ,to me1 the continuation of existence is a certainty1 but its form inconceivable2 only it will be similar to our present life in its purest moments1 and will surely be no sudden leap into a quite different spiritual condition1 but a continuation1 in which each man can receive only that for which he has become ripe here4 ,the difference will therefore1 perhaps1 be smaller than is commonly thought4 ,but the scientists are quite right in denying immortality to a soul that is simply a function of physical organs4 ,whatever in our nature can be comprehended by the methods of natural science can not possibly be immortal1 but passes into annihilation1 or rather into dissolution and change1 just as surely as any other object in the physical world4 ,but there is apparently something else in man besides bones1 muscles1 sinews1 veins1 and nerves1 and this something else can be embodied again in some other form4 ,and this seems to me relatively more conceivable than a sudden and complete annihilation of the spiritual life4 ,death1 in itself1 is therefore nothing terrible1 nor even something undesirable1 and whoever still fears it is certainly not yet upon the right path of life4 ,the only fearful thing is the backward glance1 when one is old1 upon a life quite perverted and useless1 or upon a great accumulation of guilt unforgiven4 ,not we shall pass away1 but the present world shall pass away3 this is the one great thought which must lift us above all the terrors of uncertainty4 ,the other bright point in this darkness which the understanding alone can not illumine1 is the thought that the ,lord of all existence1 whom we have already learned to know here as a sure friend1 must be quite the same for us there also as he was here1 only still nearer joined to us and still clearer known4 ,his voice--and this all know who have once stood near the dark exit-gate of this life--his voice we shall be able to hear at last1 when all else has already sunk away behind us4 ,then1 only one step further1 and 8,i hope to see my pilot face to face1 ,when ,i have crossed the bar40 ,,vii4 ,,the ,,prolegomena ,,of ,,christianity ,,vii4 ,,the ,,prolegomena ,,of ,,christianity ,the cardinal fault of ,christianity1 which has persisted from generation to generation for centuries1 is perhaps this3 that ,christianity has for long been no genuine1 vigorous conviction of all those who bear its name1 but only a general notion of somewhat the same meaning as 8humanity0 or 8civilization40 ,thus year after year many thousands are received into its formal constituency without ever in their lives receiving a correct idea of its demands1 or a firm trust in its promises1 or1 least of all1 any definite resolution and will to hold themselves in duty bound by these demands and promises4 ,the 8,christian0 nations distinguish themselves from the non-,christian in much the same way as the ancient 8,greeks0 distinguished themselves from the 8,barbarians02 and the ,christian faith has grown to be a special confession within the borders of ,christendom2 while quite other convictions1 never shared by ,christ and his first confessors1 and conceptions of the world which claim an equal right in a 8,christian0 state1 venture to stand opposed to ,christianity4 ,we may leave it undecided whether this is a fate that overtakes every religion which ripens into a 8world-religion10 but may nevertheless doubt whether the formation of such a world-religion by means of a great attenuation of all religious demands ever lay in the original meaning and task of ,christianity2 even if one may grant that1 even in this form it has been a magnificent tool of civilization and1 in fact1 is still such4 ,yet it is certain that this course of evolution was dimly felt1 even by the first generation of ,christians1 as an unavoidable though deplorable fate1 and that the formal victory of the ,christian religion over the heathen cults in the ,roman ,empire1 and the consequent transformation into a ,roman state religion1 brought into it an element that ,christ himself1 before ,pilate1 the ,roman governor of ,juda1 had disavowed in the most distinct manner4 ,all which has since been called 8the ,church10 or 8the relations between the ,church and the ,state10 and which has taken up so great a space in the thoughts of the nations1 has1 as an organization1 no support in the original records of ,christianity2 indeed1 it often almost seems as though the attainment of a definite goal of human development and the consequent end of the present age of the world were dimly surmised by the early ,christians to be nearer than proved possible1 in the sequel4 ,the ,kingdom of ,god is wholly founded upon the freedom of the human will1 and it depends on that with what speed and intensity ,christianity will or can come to realization in an individual1 or in a nation1 or in an epoch4 ,it is a serious article of belief with the ,protestant group of churches1 that not merely in a general way1 but for every single individual during his earthly life1 ,christianity is to be realized through a 8church02 this 8church0 stands for the continuous visible embodiment of ,christianity1 and accordingly it receives the individual into its constituency as a mere unit in the totality1 in order that it may furnish him a safe passage through the judgment that shall finally take place on all the deeds of men4 ,and this does not prevent many men1 in all the ,christian communions1 from believing that membership in these communions is the chief matter2 and they busy themselves about the fundamental conditions of such a membership only for a couple of hours on ,sundays4 ,this accounts for the title of this chapter4 ,for we are going to ask1 not what belongs dogmatically to the ,christian doctrine1 but what kind of preliminary dispositions are required in the human intellect and will before we can accept and understand the teachings of ,christianity4 ,in this sense they are 8prolegomena40 ,if some reader1 after going through this chapter1 should say that the very substance of ,christianity itself lies therein1 ,i shall not disturb him in his conception2 for his conception would at any rate do him less harm than the other view1 which would declare these preliminaries to be too difficult1 or not necessary1 for entrance into the church of ,christ4 ,these first steps are quite easily outlined in a few words3 first1 to regard ,god as an actual existence and not as a mere philosophical idea of the schools1--and then1 in consequence1 to fear him alone and to serve him alone--to have no other idols beside him1 neither men1 nor possessions1 nor glory2 secondly1 to love the men among whom one is placed 8as oneself10 as ,christ says1 in practical words we can understand--not often more than oneself apparently1 and as a matter of fact1 in most cases less2 thirdly1 not to devote one's life to pleasure even of the so-called 8noblest0 sorts1 nor1 on the other hand1 to suffering1 to mere asceticism1--but to surrender oneself to the doing of the will of ,god1 in the firm confidence that this must be practicable1 though not through one's own moral power1 yet through the divine help and grace2 and1 fourthly1 if any one should at first doubt whether all this is possible for man1 to believe that1 so far as concerns himself1 the matter lies only in his will1 the only thing he can1 but must1 contribute thereto4 ,these are the 8prolegomena0 of ,christianity which every one must consider1 before he resolves1 upon reaching his years of discretion1 to make a real entrance into the ,christian life1 instead of going forward upon the broader way1 easier at the first1 but sure to be unsatisfactory in the end4 ,if he does not consider these things1 or if he relies upon his own strength in the conduct of life because he trusts in the possibility of an ethical uplifting tendency already present in human nature and does not think he needs any transcendental support1 then he is either like the man in the ,gospel who built a house upon the sand which stood only as long as the weather was fair1 or like that other who began to build a tower which afterward he could not finish4 ,or if he finds these demands too high-pitched1 then1 even under the best conditions1 there springs up in him that consumptive1 anmic1 half-hearted ,christianity which is forever evading the urgings of conscience and is consequently always dissatisfied--that hypocritical and unlovely ,christianity which we all know only too well4 ,it is not necessary to say much in 8explanation0 of these demands4 ,the requirements of the ,christian religion are not usually lacking in clearness2 it is the human will that is lacking in the resoluteness to accept them4 ,it much prefers to have them explained away4 ,belief in ,god is naturally the first and the most necessary preliminary stipulation of ,christianity1 without which it does not exist1 or is but an empty dissembling name for an entirely different way of thinking4 ,this is also the case when the word 8,god0 is accepted as a designation for the totality of all things1 or the ,absolute ,being1 or1 as with most adherents of 8deism10 as an expression for a something that exercises no influence upon worldly things1 but somehow exists only as the law that in the beginning created the universe1 but is now forever unchangeable2 where it itself came from and why it no longer continues vital and active1 no one can tell4 ,to be sure1 we can not explain a 8living0 ,god1 as we have often already said4 ,all explanations or so-called proofs of ,god are defective1 both the positive and the negative4 ,it is not worth the trouble to linger over them4 ,god is something that can not be explained1 but he is not something that can not be experienced4 ,but he is to be experienced only by those who 8keep his laws10 and one may be practically quite sure that those people who will not do this are atheists at bottom1 in spite of all their asseverations2 just as there are men1 on the other hand1 whom ,god probably still regards as his followers1 though we have ourselves long given up regarding them as such4 ,the experience of ,god expresses itself thus3 first1 in spiritual tranquillity1 satisfaction1 quieting of the thirst for truth 7as ,christ calls it71 a sort of strengthening of the spirit and of the inner life such as is vainly to be attained in any other way1 whether through philosophy1 or through a refusal to think at all about such things2 second1 in inward serenity which1 gained in any other way1 is not so long-enduring2 and finally1 in a general deeper intensity of life1 the effective cause of physical and spiritual health and so of the manifold blessing which springs from this belief in ,god1 both for individuals and for nations4 ,it is this blessing that is showing itself when all one's circumstances1 apparently of their own motion1 so shape themselves that what is truly excellent 7the furthering of the inner1 the protection of the outer life7 always prevails1 and danger is averted2 on the other hand1 no travelling in byways1 no wrong actions1 are attended with good results4 ,the latter is the usual punishment of evil men1 whereby they are hardened and kept from turning to a better life4 ,it is also the ever-visible means of distinguishing between the divine blessing and that outwardly similar worldly 8good fortune0 in which even the shrewdest of men often put an inconceivable and quite groundless confidence1 until1 some time or other1 it leaves them in the midst of dire difficulties2 for the most part at the very moment when they believed they had definitely secured it and had attained to the proud summit of their desires4 ,men are never faithful to the mere 8children of fortune10 but only to their fortune2 while they can not1 if they wanted to1 oppose those endowed with the divine blessing4 ,on this point the ,old ,testament contains many positive assurances and many actual examples1 and it may in general be said that for the presentation of the ,laws of ,god the ,new ,testament alone would not suffice2 nor is that its purpose1 for it always implies a knowledge of the ,old ,testament4 8,the man who keepeth my laws shall thereby live10 is the sum of these promises4 ,for these laws are the principle of life itself1 and to ignore them is to come within the jurisdiction of death4 ,that may be put to the test1 and ought to be put to the test1 if it is done with a sincere desire to know what to believe1 and if it is not continually repeated after one has once gained a sufficiently clear knowledge4 ,but for those who will not do even that there is nothing left save to make for themselves other gods 8to go before them40 ,these gods are1 as a rule1 human beings or the products of their mind in some form1--once again to-day1 as in the period of the so-called ,renaissance1 preminently in the form of art4 ,great crudeness of morals and the absence indeed of all ethical conceptions may go hand in hand with the finest and highest culture in this special direction1 thus showing that art can not be the highest goal men can strive for and attain4 ,we ought not to have had to experience this for the second time1 though it is often to be feared that we are now doing so4 ,we should never make idols for ourselves of even the dearest and best men1 not to speak of those who are highly gifted or hold a high place in the world's esteem4 ,not only the ,new ,testament1 but even the ,old1 lays down in a very practical way the proper and easily recognized limit2 for they prescribe that we are to love ,god 8above all10 and men 8as ourselves10 no more and no less4 ,even the simplest person can easily compute this2 and if in certain exuberant1 8heavenly0 moments of life it seems too little1 yet1 taking one's whole life into account1 it is really more than any of us perform1 and at any rate is much more salutary for our neighbor4 ,the opposite quality to 8reliance upon men0 is 7what at first seems unlikely7 sympathetic compassion2 when reliance departs1 compassion enters to heal4 ,this is something quite different from what is ordinarily called 8love to men10 and is much more4 ,it is something1 too1 that does not naturally lie within us2 we have to learn it1 usually late in life and through troublous paths4 ,but when a man has it1 then it is henceforth sure that he is 8fit for the ,kingdom of ,god40 ,if it is not men and their works1 then it is possessions1 ambition1 or the continuous search for enjoyment that stands most in the way of that sincere union of the human soul with the divine spirit which necessarily forms the foundation of all ,christianity2--above all1 it is the 8deceitfulness of riches10 as the ,gospel well calls it1 the very common delusion that possession and happiness are identical1 a delusion from which the man first awakes when he holds in his hands that for which he was striving and for which he had often sacrificed body and soul2 and now for the first he discovers that1 looked at closely1 it was not1 even on the best interpretation1 worth all this exertion4 ,in the ,gospel are found these words of ,jesus3 ,lay not up for yourselves treasures upon the earth2 ye can not serve ,god and ,mammon2 whosoever he be of you that renounces not all that he hath1 he can not be my disciple4 ,if ,i were an adherent of the atheistic ,socialism of our day1 ,i would constantly hold up these sayings of their ,lord and ,master before the sincere followers of ,christianity1 who are by far the most dangerous opponents of ,socialism2 for if they should obey these sayings1 without any further effort the solution of the social question would follow4 ,but there are many passages of the ,bible which are almost divested of their value because of a kind of disqualifying law of customary usage2 or they are at least not spoken of in religious circles1 because they have little that is 8edifying0 for many of those present4 ,if we must admit that such passages designate the goal or ideal toward which we should strive1 rather than that to which every one can at once attain1 we should1 nevertheless1 keep our eyes continually upon it and have the earnest will to make our way thither2 else all the other messages of the ,gospel profit us nothing and are for us as if they were not there4 ,to speak practically1 then1 one must never fix his heart upon possessions1 nor regard them as the most important thing to be lived and striven for1 nor make them the measure of his valuation of men and circumstances1 nor be unready or disinclined to diminish them at any time for the sake of ,god or the common good1 and if necessary even to give them up altogether4 ,they who can do this when it is required of them are the only men who are free and worthy of ,god's kingdom4 ,at different times in life they will often be put to this test1 and if this has never yet happened1 it is no good sign for their inner life or for their standing in ,god's grace4 ,often it goes no farther than the testing of their will1 and when the will has surrendered1 ,god does not require of them the actual deed1 or he lets the trial so shape itself that in the end it is the more easily endurable4 ,sometimes1 however1 as with ,job1 it comes to a real loss of all one's goods2 and not always is there finally a double compensation therefor1 but there always is a complete consolation for what one has done1 provided one will seek for it and not merely helplessly and weakly bewail4 ,in order always to have the mastery of oneself and to put this to the proof1 it may often be a good thing1 even before one resolves upon ,christianity1 to make the test of ,polycrates1 who cast a much-treasured ring into the sea4 ,try it once1 this surrender of your dearest possession2 though1 to be sure1 the test will in most cases come to you unbidden1 if it is your lot to become a free man by ,god's grace instead of a slave to ,mammon4 ,but no matter how it comes to you1 if you have shown yourself able to make this surrender1 you will be set free from the strongest fetter with which the spirit of the world keeps man bound2 the rest of your possessions will henceforth become more a matter of indifference to you4 ,of course1 in this question of possessions1 the concern is rather with the spirit and the will than with the mere deed4 ,one can also 8possess as though he possessed not0 7though the possibility of deception here is very great71 and if one no longer spends anything for mere enjoyment or luxury1 but applies everything to useful ends1 not counting among such ends the mere senseless heaping up of possessions for heirs and successors down to the remotest ages1 then one may believe his actions respond to the real meaning of the words of ,christ4 ,we at least will not cast the first stone at those who so comport themselves4 ,one good help in this1 besides the firm resolve to forego all luxury1 is1 as already explained in a former chapter1 systematic giving2 another is1 to reckon and calculate as little as possible1 and to busy oneself as little with money as is compatible with a necessary order in one's business and private affairs4 ,for money has an evil charm about it like that of philosophical heresy2 neither will easily let a man go again when once he has become much involved in them4 ,glory is for many just as strong a fetter as mammonism--not only the excessive eagerness for the ordinary human and civic honors 7exposed though they always are to the judgment of contemporaries or1 in the greater instances1 of posterity7 but also the anxiety for respectability4 ,as to the former1 ,paul1 one of the most abused of men1 has left us a very good statement in #a ,cor4 iv4 #c ff42 and that any one loses the regard of his citizens quite without blame is really much rarer than is commonly supposed4 ,on the other hand1 ,god often enough makes one's former enemies to be those who become the most satisfied with him1 and the prophetic words of ,isaiah come splendidly to take the place of the earlier underestimation3 8,and the sons of them that afflicted thee shall come bending unto thee2 and all they that despised thee shall bow themselves down at the soles of thy feet40 ,but one must be able to endure things if he is to adopt ,christianity2 those too-sensitive ,christians who crave the esteem of even those they do not themselves esteem only show that the world and its praise are still far from being enough a matter of indifference to them4 ,the real positions of honor are1 after riches1 the most dangerous thing there is for faith2 on this point the ,gospel leaves not the least doubt4 ,whoever runs into this danger quite of his own free will1 even perhaps with eager zeal1 quite commonly perishes therein1 so far as concerns his better and only worthful life4 ,but whoever1 by his calling or by his lot1 is compelled to accept such positions and yet would like to become or remain a ,christian1 has every cause to be watchful1 and to be thankful for occasional humiliations1 an article in which1 happily1 the world seldom lets him be lacking4 ,for the greater number of men in the ordinary situations of life the hardest part in the prolegomena of ,christianity is perhaps the conquering of one's desire for pleasure4 ,the humbler classes often escape this desire with still less success than do the wealthy and the aristocratic1 who may have learned1 through experience1 to place a better estimate upon the worth or worthlessness of the pleasures of the material life4 ,one often finds in the lower classes a much more unrestrained passion for pleasure1 which1 joined with the atheistic mood they purposely cultivate1 sometimes degenerates into a true savagery and makes them like animals1 and animals not of the noblest sort1 either4 ,but unfortunately the upper strata of society often enough lead the way by their own bad example4 ,they often complain of the love of pleasure and the frivolity of the serving classes2 but things would go better if the servants did not perceive in their masters the same propensities that restlessly agitate them4 ,pleasure set up as a rule of life1 sensuousness 7taken in the widest sense7 established as the controlling power in the life of a man--this is the infallible death of all faith in transcendent things4 ,these two powers1 pleasure and faith1 do not long exist side by side in a man1 but the one or the other must leave the field4 ,happy he in whom it is the power of the sensual element that retreats before that of the spiritual1 vigorously striving for the mastery4 ,for every victory over the love of pleasure 7what is not otherwise always the case on the so-called path of virtue7 brings at once its own reward in an increased vigor of the ideal life1 and often in a broad spiritual progress in the wider sense4 ,we can truthfully say that the most of the great advances in the inner life are ushered in by some renunciation which brings its own compensation4 ,that to the love of pleasure all sorts of attractive names are given and that it in truth assumes now finer1 now coarser1 forms1 should not lead us astray4 ,it is1 nevertheless1 under all circumstances1 that trait in us which most resembles animal nature and forthwith reveals its ignoble character in the fact that it is always united with egotism and the exploitation of others for our own selfish inclinations4 ,the partial navet of the ancient world is wanting in humanity now1 for their eyes have been opened to its meaning2 and a universal failure to conquer the love of pleasure through higher interests would1 in these days1 be an unprecedented and quite impossible relapse of humanity into an earlier age4 ,with the pursuit of pleasure dies the inclination for riches and honor1 which are partly only means in that pursuit and not ends in themselves2 and instead there springs up joy in work1 the best salvation from all evil1 that otherwise always surrounds and tempts a man in one way or another4 ,for when the pursuit of pleasure disappears as a rule of life1 then a man must work1 or the world is too dreary4 ,on the other hand1 with the pursuit of pleasure as his innermost spring of action1 a man will always look upon work as only a means1 and a disagreeable one1 to the attainment of pleasure4 ,that one may1 nevertheless1 find an artless enjoyment in the beauty of nature1 in the serene succession of the days and the years1 in one's family and in true friendship1 in uplifting art and science1 in the life and welfare of his nation1 even in the inoffensive animal and plant worlds1 and1 above all1 in all the great and good activities that are going on in the whole realm of humanity--all this is to be taken entirely for granted4 ,indeed1 a keen sensitiveness to such things is a sure mark of an unspoiled temperament1 and especially of years of youth purely spent1 a youth that has not1 by poisonous pleasures1 prematurely deadened its feeling for the true and harmless joys of life4 ,furthermore1 an excessive repression of the life of the body is certainly not advantageous for spiritual progress--still less is it a divine command1 but it is rather1 whenever it appears1 merely a human device with no decisive value4 ,on this point a thoughtful commentator of the oldest biblical records says1 very truly1 that men always have a tendency to heighten the commands of ,god1 which are themselves properly meted and adapted to men's capabilities2 and that1 in the ,old ,testament narrative of the first trial of obedience1 ,god did not say that ,adam and ,eve should not touch the tree of the knowledge of good and evil1 but only that they should not eat of its fruit2 it was ,eve herself who added the further prohibition1 8neither shall ye touch it10 and by so doing placed the ,tempter in the desired position of making an alleged divine command manifestly untrue on its face1 because the mere touch of the tree did not cause death4 7,genesis ii4 #ag1 and iii4 #c1 #d47 ,thus it is1 indeed1 with many exaggerated and unnecessary commands which parents lay upon their children or churches upon their adherents1 the non-fulfilment of which they then with equal facility overlook4 ,an exact and literal obedience to all the real divine commands1 which are all practicable1 and a thorough scorn and disregard for all the 8commandments of men0--this is the only way by which our ,christian confessions could now bring themselves new life4 ,even the inclination to undergo suffering and renunciation is somewhat dangerous1 and the more so because it is often joined with a secret desire for praise1 in which case one devil is but supplanted by another1 perhaps still more powerful4 ,a man should not throw away his life1 not even by a lingering neglect of his powers2 only1 he should not overvalue his body's well-being nor put it too much in the foreground4 ,christ himself is in this respect an inimitable example of a simple moderation which1 at times1 allowed itself to enjoy an almost luxurious homage1 as in the case of the box of precious ointment1 which evidently made ,judas1 the apostle of literal asceticism1 to lose faith in him4 ,even the most advanced ,christian should live quite like a natural man1 not like a hermit or a pillar-saint1 and should seek the worth and purpose of life neither in pleasure nor in suffering and renunciation1 but only in the carrying out of the will and commission of ,god4 ,a wise saying of ,blumhardt's1 often quoted1 declares that one must be twice converted1 once from the natural to the spiritual life1 and then back again from the spiritual to the natural so far as is justified2 but that this is1 perhaps1 accomplished in some cases at a single stroke1 without a preliminary exaggeration of the spiritual nature4 ,many linger too long in this double mutation1 and during this period afford no very agreeable spectacle4 ,finally1 one's own power can never set the upward-striving man free from all those enemies of his real happiness which keep him1 in a very genuine sense1 from entering into true ,christianity4 ,the 8old ,adam0 is still to-day1 as at the time when the expression was first used1 8too strong for the young ,melanchthon10 and all good resolutions give as good as no help1 so long as the man will not lay hold on the aid sent us by ,god himself to that end4 ,but even he can not help unless the man completely surrenders his will4 ,this is the man's share in the work of his liberation from the fetters of the natural1 selfish life2 everything else is done to him4 ,dante1 in particular1 explains this very clearly in the twenty-first canto of the ,purgatorio1 where the joyous trembling of the mountain of purification1 when a soul finally rises into its higher region1 is portrayed in the following verses3 8,it trembles when any spirit feels itself ,so purified that it may rise1 or move ,for rising2 and such loud acclaim ensues4 ,purification by the will alone ,is proved1 that1 free to change society1 ,seizes the soul rejoicing in her will4 ,desire of bliss is present from the first2 ,but strong propension hinders1 to that wish ,by the just ordinance of heaven opposed-- ,propension now as eager to fulfil ,the allotted torment as erewhile to sin4 ,and ,i1 who in this punishment had lain ,five hundred years and more1 but now have felt ,free wish for happier clime40 ,every one acquainted with his inner life will confirm that for a long time at first a partial will toward the good fought in him with inclinations of which he very well knew that they would bring him just suffering4 ,so long as the soul is1 nevertheless1 unable to conquer this desire1 it will remain in essentially its former state4 ,but if it holds on to the impulse to freedom notwithstanding1 by ,god's grace there will come a memorable day on which it will at last feel in itself the fully determined will to move forward1 and then forthwith it is free1 and afterward does not understand how it could have delayed so long4 ,yet it would not be right to wait inactive till the will is thus fully determined4 ,christianity1 like many another thing1 is learned only through trial1 not through study4 ,on the contrary1 idly talking about it is most foreign to its spirit1 and so-called learned explanations easily make it but darker and more dubious2 that is a 8science0 which1 like every other1 one may leave entirely in the hands of those who are called thereto1 and which very often contributes nothing of moment to their spiritual advancement4 ,christianity is surely completely understood only through that spirit which the ,gospel calls the ,holy ,spirit4 ,what that is1 we do not know2 we can only know that it is a very real phenomenon which becomes manifest in its effects upon our life1 and which can gradually make us more and more indifferent toward everything that the world considers as the greatest possessions and the most indispensable pleasures4 ,to this freedom we are called1 and it has been made possible through ,christianity--what before might well seem very doubtful4 ,but we are not done when we have found ,christianity 8interesting0--often because of its extravagances rather than because of its real sobriety in the conception of man and his natural powers2 we must above all things make a beginning1 and then progress therein comes quite of itself4 ,therefore1 ,o soul1 thou who1 from the mazy gardens of the common life of the world that no longer wholly satisfy1 hast arrived at happiness by this simplest and best of all roads1 but nevertheless still standest1 somewhat trembling1 before the actual entry into the forecourts of ,christianity itself 7perhaps because thou seest there a company that does not fully awaken thy confidence71 take thy resolution notwithstanding1 and dare6 ,it will not be long before thou seest at least enough to have made thy daring seem worth while4 ,it is but rarely that any one turns back again from this road1 and never yet1 for thousands of years1 has any one who has travelled it quite to the end1 lifted up complaints of a wasted life1 or even of an existence too hard to be borne4 ,but how many there are to-day who complain1 on the other roads to happiness6 ,no one who is willing to confess the truth can deny that in every human soul1 even in one already resolutely set toward faith in transcendental things1 serious doubts can now and then arise as to the reality of all its conceptions and hopes4 ,they who most vehemently condemn such temporary doubts in others are not the ones who are the best confirmed in the faith1 for by such zeal they are often only seeking forcibly to suppress their own doubts4 ,but in such moments1 thus much remains sure1 that there is no certainty anywhere to be found as to the great questions of the present and future life1 better than that which ,christianity affords1 and that there is no adequate satisfaction to be found in trying to content oneself with only the results of 8natural science10 many of which are still very uncertain2 while one simply banishes from his thoughts all further questions1 as to the interrelation of all things in a higher sense1 and as to the moral laws of the universe1--questions on which the life and welfare of humanity most of all depend4 ,that will never succeed for long2 after every such period of a bare realism which limits itself to a smaller aim1 in all men not wholly superficial1 not wholly submerged in the world of sense1 there arises with irresistible power the impulse to investigate anew whether and how far the high pretension of ,christianity to be the real1 the unique truth1 and the only truth that brings happiness1 is a just pretension4 ,this impulse you also will more or less experience2 otherwise you would not have taken in your hand this book1 which had its origin in that same impulse4 ,in no case thrust the impulse back from the threshold2 for it springs from the better part of your nature4 ,accept1 rather1 one more bit of counsel3 ,first consider more closely the 8prolegomena0 of ,christianity--those preliminary truths which it considers to be self-evident2 its dogmas take account of only afterward1 when you have already been able to resolve to live up to these preliminary truths with all the power you have4 ,the reverse way is1 to be sure1 the more usual one1 and it is the one to which we are wont to be directed in our schools and churches4 ,but if this more usual course is taken1 now and then there lies 8a lion in the way0 which does not appear upon the path proposed in this chapter4 ,the power of resolve1 of course1 you will always be obliged to have1 for only 8he who overcometh shall inherit all things20 for the irresolute1 as well as for those completely without faith1 even in the most favorable case only the decay of their personal life stands in near and certain prospect4 ,,viii4 ,,the ,,steps ,,of ,,life ,,viii4 ,,the ,,steps ,,of ,,life ,it is an old and obvious fancy1 that of dividing the inner life into a series of steps1 or of describing it in the allegorical form of a pilgrimage with its various stages and halts and hindrances of one sort or another4 ,yet ,i do not know of any such description that suits the needs of our own day1 especially the needs of people of culture2 indeed1 it is1 and has ever been1 a fault of most sermons that while they depict life's attainable ideal with more or less exactness1 they are noways able to give as plain an account of the way thither4 ,yet this is just the service 7and the directions should be quite specific1 too7 which the church1 it would seem1 is called upon to perform for the present generation4 ,what is known by the somewhat distasteful name of 8the cure of souls10 so far as it exists at all1 has become too professional 7not to say too commercial7 a matter with the churches3 in the things of the spirit there is nothing if not freedom and individuality2 yet it is just here that a kind of rigid technical nomenclature has been devised1 with expressions that once may have been justified1 but are now meaningless to many men and at some future time will have to be replaced1 perhaps1 by others4 ,of the writings we possess on the unfolding of the inner life by steps1 only one has come down to us from classical times2 this is an essay of ,plutarch1 the ,greek professor of philosophy 7as we should now call him71 who was born at ,chronea in ,botia about #ej ,a4,d41 and died between #abj and #acj ,a4,d4 at ,rome1 where1 among other things1 he is said to have been the teacher of the future emperor ,hadrian4 ,of his hundred and more writings1 some shorter1 some longer1 the 8,parallel ,lives0 are now almost the only ones read1 and even these are less read in the schools than is perhaps proper4 ,of the rest1 which are usually comprised under the general title of 8,plutarch's ,ethical ,writings10 one of the most readable is that dedicated to ,sosius ,senecio1 consul under ,trajan1--8,how ,one may be ,conscious of his ,progress in ,goodness40 ,on the whole1 it exhibits the ,eclectic view 7in the sense of ,ciceronian ,eclecticism7 as contrasted with the teachings of the ,stoics1 who only recognize the perfect wise man who observes their principles1 on the one hand1 and on the other1 the man addicted to vice1 without intervening transitional grades4 ,in this treatise1 as each reader will at once notice1 there is a special lack of the depth which first came into morals through ,christianity 7then but little known as yet71 and which will always come into morals only by that path2 but it possesses in considerable degree a sound and natural human good sense1 which is directed toward the nobler things of life1 and whose development in youthful temperaments is an indispensable purpose in so-called classical culture4 ,of the later writings of this kind the best are ,bunyan's 8,pilgrim's ,progress10 a book from the great ,puritan days in ,england1 and the 8,homesickness0 of ,jung-,stilling1 written about a hundred years ago4 ,in reality1 the biographies of distinguished men should render this service of pointing out the way to their contemporaries and successors2 but there are1 unhappily1 but few good and really true writings of this sort4 ,for the biographers do not always understand the inmost experiences of those whose lives they are describing1 many of which experiences really can not be made comprehensible to them in their full significance1 since they were small occurrences with great consequences4 ,yet the autobiographies1 which could tell all this1 are usually marred with vanity and are sometimes the least true of biographies4 ,it will therefore be well1 on the whole1 to recognize that in all these writings the individual character preponderates and that there is no 8method0 that reveals the proper course of life4 ,the most useful thing about them1 perhaps1 is the very practical observations that might serve to encourage the wanderer on this much-travelled1 yet universally unknown1 way when he is likely to become weary1 or to enlighten him when the continuation of the journey appears too uncertain or too much deflected from the presumably proper direction4 ,it is first of all to be said that every life has steps1 and that no life runs from beginning to end in unchanging uniformity like a clear1 murmuring meadow-brook1 or in a straight direction1 like an artificially contrived canal4 ,but no life perfectly resembles another in its course1 and even the apparently most natural steps often happen in the reverse order1 so that there are men who in their youth are preternaturally wise1 and have their youthful qualities only when old4 ,yet there is never an inwardly healthy human life that shows no visible development at all1 or that has spurts or pauses in it that are wholly arbitrary4 ,a life that proceeds in a perfectly normal way is just as rare1 but in every life there are mistakes that could have been avoided1 and gaps that later it is no longer possible to fill out4 ,for every period in life has its purpose and its task4 ,in spring the tree must do little more than grow and blossom1 but not bear fruit as yet4 ,the fruits one produces on the modern dwarfed trees1 purposely hindered in their natural growth and designed merely for a speedy production of fruit1 acquire neither the good quality nor1 apparently1 the soundness of fruits ripened on trees that have attained their natural full growth4 ,the various periods of life1 then1 must deposit and store away in the human being each a product peculiar to itself2 in childhood the childlike nature1 without which a man never becomes a well-rounded man1 exerting a kindly influence upon other men2 in youth that freshness and enthusiasm of spirit which begets the power of doing things2 in manhood and womanhood the fulness and ripeness of all the thoughts and feelings1 and the firmness that springs from a character steeled by deeds already achieved4 ,only thus can age also do its worthy task1 not in falling into disconsolate decay1 but in the quiet possession and contemplation of what life was and should be1 and in the preparation for a greater and broader development4 ,whoever skips any such period1 or1 as is more frequently the case1 hastens over it and makes no use of its peculiar advantages1 will seldom or never be in a position to retrieve it later1 but will always have a very perceptible deficiency in his make-up4 ,to prevent this in younger years is a matter of education1 of which ,i will not speak here1 but in later life it is one of the chief aspects of that self-training to which a man is indebted for the real acquisitions of life more than to all the things that others can do for him4 ,in reference to its general character1 in the aspect which one usually calls happiness or unhappiness1 or a hard or easy lot1 experience shows 7and in most cases very plainly7 that every life consists of three divisions1 of which the first and the third are alike and the second unlike4 ,whoever has had a hard1 unhappy youth is more likely to have a more favorable and successful manhood1 but scarcely a cloudless end4 ,on the other hand1 when the days of youth are golden1 they are almost always the precursor of exertions and storms in the middle part of life1 on which there follows a quieter evening of age4 ,oftentimes this distinction also holds good for the minor steplike subdivisions of these three great divisions4 ,which is the happier case may well be doubtful4 ,very energetic men fond of activity1 who are substantially minded not to let 8the vestiges of their earthly days vanish in the ons10 will be disposed to lay the greater value upon a successful manhood2 but sunny-natured men need an untroubled youth and likewise a rougher middle period1 if they are to be strong enough to exhibit in their age the pattern of a fully ripened life1 perfected in every direction1 so far as lies in the power of man4 ,once in his life1 at any rate1 a man must have it hard and heavy if he is to attain to the right way himself and to gain an understanding of the burdens of others2 and on the whole a strong old age is best suited for that4 ,and if the childhood days have been joyous1 they afford an afterglow for the whole life1 and in the reverse case1 a bitter feeling of wrong4 ,it is likewise difficult to be obliged1 for the first time1 to bear the hardest lot of all in old age4 ,one can not change the form of this lot2 in this respect1 at least1 a man is surely not the moulder of his own happiness2 only1 he is not the inert slave of a blind ,fate either4 ,that is1 if a hard youth predestines him to an old age not quite without care1 he can make the best of this destiny by a clear and conscious submission and a courageous endurance2 or if he has a beautiful childhood behind him1 he can be thankful that it did not continue on thus into that stormy period of later life which is necessary for the steeling of his character4 ,thus conceived1 even in these destinies the bold saying turns out to be exactly true1 that to those who love ,god all the events of life1 of whatever sort they may be1 must turn out to their advantage4 ,but in the lives of all thinking men the question to be decided is this3 whether to choose much sorrow with much help from ,god1 or much sorrow without such help1 but with the temporary forgetfulness of momentary pleasure4 ,the impotent ,nietzschean revolt against such a fate for men helps nothing4 ,finally1 one can not make of himself something quite different from the native stuff that is in him4 ,it is not proper that every one should be able to become everything2 a very extended many-sidedness comes often only at the expense of depth4 ,at the proper time rightly to criticise oneself in order to correct the many errors of education1 which only very rarely estimates a human being quite correctly--this is the chief task of the most decisive point of life4 ,this point1 if life has proceeded quite normally1 is at the beginning of the thirties1 when the man has the last step of education behind him1 and now1 8in the midway of this our mortal life10 begins his self-training1 for good or for bad4 ,at this moment of life some recognize1 with deep pain of soul1 that they can not become all that to which the dreams of youth or the advantages of birth and education seemed to destine them1 and they turn in despair to pleasure or to pretence4 ,but others resolutely seek the point whence they may conquer their special world1 and henceforth pursue a destiny which1 perhaps1 was not sung to them at their cradle1 but which shows itself1 nevertheless1 to be the right one4 ,on the whole1 however1 the dreams of youth are not to be despised4 ,in most cases they point to an unconscious native ability and so likewise to the dreamer's destination1 which expresses itself at first in fantastic pictures of the future2 that is1 in so far as they really come from within and are not the products of a false education or of a mistaken belief in the inheritance of talents4 ,for it is only quite rarely that talents are inherited and that the sons of great men are themselves great4 ,this is1 to be sure1 often made difficult for them because of comparison with their fathers1 and not less because of the jealousy of men1 who do not willingly suffer intellectual dynasties to rule among them2 in this they are all republicans4 ,on the other hand1 men of much consequence seldom have or take the time to busy themselves intently with the bringing up of their children1 and in such families1 much oftener than in far simpler ones1 the children fall into neglect1 unless a mother of sufficient intelligence steps in1 and is not herself too much busied with her celebrated and often very exacting husband4 ,it is scarcely necessary to say further that the mothers are the deciding element of the family for the education and the formation of the character of the children1 especially the sons1 and that the sons1 as a rule1 take after them more than after the fathers4 ,it is a less familiar fact that the sons often resemble the mother's brothers in character and natural ability1 and that the best though sometimes also the most dangerous moulders of one's youth are the grandmothers on the mother's side4 ,the promise of a curse upon families that have shown themselves egotistical for several succeeding generations surely comes true2 and experience shows that a want of love towards one's parents is avenged through one's own children1 and1 vice versa1 a peculiar blessing throughout life accompanies those who have shown their parents much love4 ,there is no need to be anxious about the proper time for entering upon new steps of life1 if the earlier ones have been rightly used2 they will then do their own announcing through first an inner summons1 and finally a definite determination1 to advance farther1 and without this experience it could not be well for any one to be in a higher plane4 ,we can not stand a task that is yet too great for us2 such a task we feel to be too ethereal1 and we long for the coarser elements of life4 ,on the other hand1 the divinely-led man does not as a rule know very long beforehand what he has to do next or to what he will be called2 he could not commonly endure it4 ,but any one who has already really experienced many such instances of being personally guided in life will at last be sure in his faith as to the existence of such a higher guidance even in the life of individual men1 while others 7by their own fault1 to be sure7 count only in the mass1 not as individuals4 ,finally1 steps in the inner life are not1 of course1 for those to whom life means nothing else than eating and drinking and dying to-morrow4 ,the steps of the inner life exist rather only for those who are resolved to struggle out of a merely natural existence common to many others1 on through to a really spiritual life4 ,for these1 ,thomas ,kempis points out the safest way in the following dialogue3 ,,my ,,son1 the perfect freedom of the spirit thou canst not win nor keep1 if thou press not through to the complete renunciation of thyself4 ,slave-chains are borne by all who cling to something selfishly1 who love themselves1 who desire the outer world with eagerness and longing and curiosity1 who seek the things that flatter the senses and not the things that further the ,kingdom of ,christ1 who will always build and strengthen what yet hath no foundation2 for everything falleth into nothingness that is not born of ,god4 ,hold thyself to this short saying1 for it meaneth much3 ,forsake all1 and thou findest all4 ,bid farewell to every desire2 then enterest thou upon rest4 ,let this word never leave thy thoughts2 bear it within thee day and night2 and when thou hast brought it to fulfilment1 then shalt thou understand all4 ,but this1 ,o ,,lord1 is not the work of a single day1 nor is it child's play4 ,in this shell lies the whole kernel of the perfection of those who seek ,god4 ,,son1 that must not frighten thee back1 nor discourage thee1 but rather draw thee to climb upward to the higher goal1 or at the least to bear a longing thereto in thy heart4 ,if thou wert already so far on the way that thou wert free from all blind love to thyself1 and wert ready and prepared to obey every beck of thy fatherly superior whom ,i have set over thee1 then might mine eye rest with pleasure upon thee1 and thy whole life would flow along in peace and joy4 ,for as soon as thou no longer wishest this or that in thine own self-conceit1 but shalt have yielded thyself wholly to thy ,god without gainsay and from the innermost depth of thy heart1 and shalt have laid down all thy wishes into the hand of ,god1 from that moment onward shalt thou be at rest1 and shalt find thyself at one with ,god1 in that no other thing shall be to thee so agreeable and pleasing as ,god's pleasure4 ,whoever hath thus1 in simplicity of heart1 swung his thoughts upward to ,god1 and hath loosed himself from the inordinate love or hate of any created thing1 he alone shall be fit and worthy to receive the gift of devotion4 ,for where the ,lord findeth empty vessels1 there ,he layeth in his blessing4 ,and the more completely any one looseneth his heart from the love of that which perisheth1 and the more completely he maketh his own self to waste away under deepest disregard1 by so much the quicker cometh this mercy1 by so much the deeper it presseth in1 and by so much the higher the free heart of man is lifted up4 ,then the eyes of man are opened1 then standeth he amazed in rapture1 then his whole heart is dilated1 for the hand of the ,lord is now with him1 and he hath given himself wholly and for all eternity into ,his hand4 ,lo1 thus is that man blest who seeketh ,god with his whole heart1 and letteth his spirit no longer cling to the things that perish4 ,i ,everything spoken in this dialogue is wholly true2 only it is not merely not the work of a single day1 but not even the work of a single life-period2 it is rather an uncompromising process of growth that can not be hastened at will1 but must gradually unfold itself in four great stages and must furthermore be properly brought to maturity in each separate period1 if any real and beneficial good is to arise therefrom4 ,there may be no compulsion about it2 a hastening of growth occurs only in times of suffering2 the first half of every task is mostly the hardest2 from that point onward it goes more quickly and easily to the end4 ,the first stage is the seeking for a philosophy of life1 and the dissatisfaction with the usual conceptions of the universe3 8,how many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare1 and ,i perish here with hunger60 ,the second is the turning to the eternal1 supernatural truth3 8,look unto me and be ye saved1 all the ends of the earth2 for ,i am ,god1 and there is none else40 ,the third stage is the new life which must gradually take shape therefrom1 though falling into many divisions4 ,and the last has the promise of the prophet ,zechariah3 8,at evening time there shall be light40 ,out of the first stage the youthful man must pass with pure thoughts directed toward an ideal1 with no stigma of immorality upon his conscience1 with pleasure in work1 and with a considerable amount of knowledge useful for his life-calling4 ,if the second period is rightly spent1 it will be devoted to the acquisition of three important things3 position as a citizen of the state1 a worthy marriage1 and a sound religious and philosophical view of life4 ,the third stage is that of the confirmation of this view in the struggle of life2 this stage forms the real work of life4 ,the fourth is the crowning of life with true success1 and the final transition to a larger sphere of activity4 ,it is clear from the beginning that this course of development really rests upon self-training1 and usually takes its start in that period of life in which every earnest man is tired of the 8fables of the world0 and is in the same frame of mind in which ,dante has his great poem begin with the words3 8,in the midway of this our mortal life1 ,i found me in a gloomy wood astray20 or in which ,st4 ,theresa says3 8,my soul was submerged in the dream of earthly things1 but it has pleased the ,lord to awaken me from this slumber of death1 and ,i beseech ,him nevermore to let me fall back therein40 ,what education can do up to this point is1 as regards the inner life1 merely of a preparatory and prophylactic nature1 and consists in keeping the young human being away from a wholly materialistic conception of the world1 as well as from a merely formal religion1 both of which would make difficult his later approach to a true philosophical and religious conviction4 ,such children as are educated in the natural sciences alone1 as well as those who have heard of ,christianity too early and too often1 or have been trained to make use of religious expressions and forms mechanically 7often against the grain71 only rarely grow up to be men who later have the power of finding the way of peace4 ,it is the especial task of education to keep the young soul free from the strain of immorality1 and inclined toward a purer life than one that is based merely upon the senses4 ,the soil on which the noble plant of a true religion should later take root and flourish is rendered unfit for that purpose by nothing so much as by the dominance of sensuality4 ,the soaring-power of the spirit is thereby broken1 and is regenerated again only with difficulty and partially1 if at all4 ,with this1 we return to the thought already expressed elsewhere1 that for the education of those who are to be given a higher culture 7for the boys1 at least1 and probably also for their mothers and governesses and women teachers7 the so-called classical education is indispensable1 and on the whole to be preferred to the ordinary religious and moral instruction4 ,christianity then comes easily of itself1 later on1 if any one has honestly traversed this stage of instruction in the classical philosophy 7which can not and should not be the final stage72 and1 as history has shown1 ,christianity bears its finest fruits upon a classical substratum4 ,in particular1 a classically educated spirit will never be able to sink into mere ecclesiasticism1 and still less into the insipidities and the trivialities which1 much as they are foreign to the great and noble nature of pristine ,christianity1 nevertheless1 to its immense harm1 cling to the quite common conception of it4 ,besides1 ,christianity undoubtedly contains an element of alienation from the world1 an element that can not be so suitable for the education of a young human being still intent upon the growth of all his intellectual faculties1 as it is for the self-training that comes later4 ,indeed1 one may go so far as to say that physical well-being 7though by no means the highest form of feeling nor the highest destiny71 and a certain human impulse to self-exaltation 7which later finds its limit in the true humility of ,christianity7 are natural and even necessary to the growth of youth1 and for this very reason the classical examples and ideals 7and those of the ,old ,testament also1 of course7 fit in better with this period than do those of the ,christian era4 ,only1 the classical education must be adapted to the circumstances of the pupils' environment1 or this environment must itself be able to be elevated at the same time1 or it will often make the pupils discontented with their lot4 ,indeed1 it is even as ,flattich rightly pointed out of old in the nave words1 8,youth must have its time of raging1 though not wickedly so20 and for those who do not have this period in youth1 it often comes afterward1 only worse and more secretly4 ,when education has planted in the young human being a disposition inclined toward the ideal1 and has begotten in him an aversion to all that is vulgar1 together with some good life-habits1 then it has performed its most important duty4 ,at present1 indeed1 it wants to do more than this1 but in reality it accomplishes less4 ,two things must be made particularly clear to the young man at the conclusion of the first life-period3 in the first place1 within the limits of natural laws men attain to everything1 so to speak1 that they earnestly desire4 ,only1 they must begin at the right time1 must proceed in the right order1 and must above all things not chase two hares at once4 ,to become rich1 renowned1 learned1 or virtuous1 there is need in every case of a single-minded and orderly struggle that suffers no competition of some rival purpose4 ,one must therefore know what one wants to be1 and choose the right thing as early as possible4 ,then 8the man grows1 of himself1 along with his greater aims40 ,without these1 he is vainly tempted to seek his development in the artificial forcing-beds of education4 ,the way in which this subjectivity 7not wrong at the first7 comes to an end is not one that can be exactly determined1 either as to the time the end takes place or as to the cause that brings it about4 ,the change usually begins with premonitions which eventually become strong impressions4 ,these are often called forth merely by isolated words which sometimes have been spoken by men1 apparently by chance1 but are more frequently derived from reading4 ,books that fall into a man's hand at just the right time are nowadays most frequently the instrumentality of the summons to a higher life4 ,many a time1 also1 the soul suddenly1 in moments of elevation1 sees itself transported to a quite different plane from that on which it really lives4 ,it espies1 as often happens to the mountain-wanderer1 a new and beautiful region quite near before it1 but which is still separated from its present standing-ground by a vast chasm1 over which a bridge leads1 but only far below in the depths4 ,in this period isolated experiences also occur which may be classed as strange1 as hard to be described1 and as by no means essential to development4 ,on this point mystic writers say that there are three kinds of more intimate union with the divine3 first1 the quite regular kind 7thus already understood in the ,old ,testament71 that comes through submission and sincere love1 a union that always remains open in its nature1 that nothing can interrupt save a man's own will contending against the will of ,god1 and that is at once restablished as soon as the will is again accordant2 second1 an extraordinary kind1 that comes through devout contemplation1 which can not1 however1 be artificially produced1 but which is only a yet greater affection of the heart1 waiting in patience and humility for the response that ,god will perhaps give thereto2 and lastly1 a still more sensitive feeling of nearness to ,god1 coming for the most part quite unexpectedly1 but1 of all the three1 the least necessary and important for the progress of the inner life4 ,the end of the first stage of life is not satisfying--can not and should not be4 ,all subjectivity is a form of thinking that ends in dissatisfaction1 and the nobler the soul1 the more quickly and deeply it falls into it4 ,along with this there very often comes a certain failure in the outer life1 almost enigmatical2 the cause is given in very picturesque language by an ,israelitic prophet1 ,hosea1 8,i will hedge up the way with thorns1 and ,i will make a fence against her1 that she shall not find her paths40 ,it is the genuine mercy of ,god when every false way a man wishes to strike into is hedged with thorns2 or when he1 in another beautiful ,israelitic simile1 like a lily among thorns1 can find his growth only straight upward4 ,those are the sorrows of youth for which later one is most thankful4 ,nevertheless1 because of these things a certain sadness masters the soul1 and but few noteworthy men are to be found who have not temporarily suffered melancholy in their youth4 ,even at best1 they live in the mood which ,goethe depicts in the words3 ,so still and thoughtful8 ,something is lacking2 freely confess4 8,contented am ,i1 but 'tis not well with me1 nevertheless40 ,but1 as every brave young soul sees1 life is not given us with the purpose that we may always be only 8still and thoughtful10 nor that we may consume ourselves in disconsolate complaints or in the pessimism that wastes the soul's powers4 ,those are the conditions that attend transition1 and must appear4 ,a new life must spring therefrom1 but one feels1 indeed1 that a kind of death first lies between4 ,this is the surrender of the personal will1 intent upon the selfish life2 this will a man renounces with so much difficulty that ,calvin was able to found upon this fact his doctrine of a formal predestination of some to this development of his true existence1 and of others to a loss of it4 ,but every such death1 for those who bear within them the seed of an eternal life1 is not the final goal1 but the means to a new and higher development of life4 ,whoever is unable to hold fast to this hope with the tenacity with which ,job clung to it1 and yet is no longer able to find any satisfaction in the world of the senses1 falls now into a gloomy asceticism which is forever shovelling at his grave2 or into an idle dialogue 7in diaries and letters7 with his painful dissatisfaction with the universe2 or into the confused ,buddhistic longing for some ,nirvana2 or1 finally1 into one of the various other aberrations of the human spirit1 which all agree only in considering the true way as an impossible or fantastic one4 ,at this point of life1 for a time1 the word of salvation is1 ,forward6 ,,ii ,at about the middle of a man's life1 and often the most quickly in the case of the best and most successful lives1 there comes a moment of dissatisfaction with all that has hitherto been attained4 ,this is more frequently the case among the cultured than among the other classes1 because the continuous struggle of the latter for existence partly spares them this dissatisfaction and more clearly shows the way to free themselves from it4 ,when1 at this time1 any one stands quite at the exit-gates of earthly existence1 all human concerns appear to him literally nothing worth1 and he would never feel kindly toward them again1 even in their highest activities1 if the wisdom of this world did not bring him back into the belief that these are only morbid sensations that must be overcome by a feeling of robust vitality4 ,this1 to be sure1 they must do1 but not unless a real death of the selfish nature precedes2 upon such a death the most in every human life depends1 although this event does not always come to pass in just the same form4 ,the same feeling1 however1 is present in all nobler souls1 that they do not get forward with their 8intentions to do better10 but daily find new hindrances in themselves and in the surrounding world2 and that1 in their own nature1 what is lacking is not the dream1 indeed1 but the power of attaining an existence truly worthy of man4 ,those are conditions that often last for years2 in their later period arise thoughts which1 to some1 make this process seem to resemble the ascent of a mountain4 ,but this ascending of the mountain does not always lead to the true summit it is designed for1 even in the case of the best men1 and in this respect1 also1 one is tempted to believe in predestination4 ,another mountain-peak which is sometimes attained is a noble scepticism1 such as ,gottfried ,keller gives expression to in the touching words that1 at some time or other in life1 one must accustom himself to the thought of a real death1 and that if he then gathers himself together1 he does not become any the worse man therefor4 ,certainly not1 only he is no perfectly satisfied man1 with the thirst for truth and eternal life slaked2 that is a goal which the most beautiful sceptical philosophy never reaches4 ,doubting thought stands on a still higher plane in 8,the ,holy ,grail0 of ,tennyson3 8,thereafter1 the dark warning of our ,king1 ,that most of us would follow wandering fires1 ,came like a driving gloom across my mind3 ,then every evil word ,i had spoken once1 ,and every evil thought ,i had thought of old1 ,and every evil deed ,i ever did1 ,awoke and cried3 #8,this ,quest is not for thee4'0 ,beyond this thought the most earnest and sincere souls would never get1 if it were not for the solution which the ,english poet himself offers at the conclusion of his profound poem3 8,let visions of the night or of the day ,come1 as they will2 and many a time they come1 ,until this earth he walks on seems not earth1 ,this light that strikes his eyeball is not light1 ,this air that smites his forehead is not air ,but vision--yea1 his very hand and foot--,in moments when he feels he can not die1 ,and knows himself no vision to himself1 ,nor the high ,god a vision1 nor that ,one ,who rose again40 ,it is very strange that a matter that has been in existence for almost two thousand years1 that has already busied the minds and hearts of millions of teachers and writers1 and that has been borne with great cost and exertions over seas and preached to nations to whom it was unknown1 has become unfamiliar in its own place of dominion and among the most cultured nations of the globe4 ,or can we asseverate that the spirit1 or1 let us say1 even the thought1 of ,christianity is something that is generally known and acknowledged in our ,european states8 ,far removed from this view1 some within so-called ,christendom1 like the ,roman procurator ,festus1 hold ,christianity to be a sort of more or less harmless superstition concerning 8one ,jesus1 who was dead1 whom ,paul affirmed to be alive02 others regard it as a society which it is the proper thing to belong to1 without necessarily having any further interest in it2 a third class looks upon it as a hierarchy of priests which1 for reasons mostly external1 they either reverence or abhor4 ,to yet others it is a science called theology1 to penetrate which there is need of very long courses of study and many examinations4 ,and when they come to the particulars in the 8structure of doctrine10 not many among the learned wholly agree as to what faith is1 or mercy1 or the significance of the 8sacrifice of ,christ10 whether there is predestination and eternal punishment1 or a 8restoration of all things10 or what are the methodical steps one must take1 to be saved4 ,every one who ventures into these labyrinths of theological and philosophical thought1 without at the same time possessing a very decided aspiration toward the highest truth and a very sound understanding of human nature1 is apparently in danger of losing the one or the other4 ,and so1 thousands of the most cultured men of our day have1 in fact1 given up making any further trial of what seems to be joined with only trouble1 contention1 doubt1 and renunciation of the natural enjoyments of life1 only to lead1 at the end1 to nothing other than a kind of human slavery1 without any better assurance than before4 ,christianity is now1 for the greater part of ,christians1 a doctrine of the churches and the schools1 which one listens to as long as one must1 but from which a cultured man will inwardly free himself as quickly as possible1 even if he still outwardly believes he must allow himself to fit into forms of the social life when once they have become historical4 ,the simple answer to this is that we can neither dispense with ,christianity nor put something in its place4 ,we do not know 7and it would be useless to wish to discover7 what would have become of the civilized world1 if ,christianity had not appeared in it when it did2 but it is certain that we can no longer get away from it now1 nor ignore it1 but we must reckon with it as with something that will endure1 yet can not be wholly explained by science4 ,true1 science can not be prevented from discovering1 as completely as possible1 everything that is knowable1 or from extending the sphere of the knowable as widely as possible2 that is its right and its duty4 ,with this there goes1 in the conception of particular minds1 the supposition that everything is knowable that concerns mankind1 or that1 at any rate1 everything can be made knowable in time4 ,this is the basis of a considerable part of the courage and the perseverance found in scientific investigation4 ,but just as little may it be forbidden us to doubt that men will ever succeed in completely fathoming human nature in all its relationships to the universal ,being and in its connection with all things2 but even so1 it is the duty 7and of cultured people most of all7 nevertheless1 to stand firm1 and in particular to put away the presumption with which imperfect knowledge1 or even mere hypotheses1 are wont to be set up in the place of the inward conviction as to the existence and worth of super-sensual things4 ,highly as humanity has cause to value science and its steady advance1 it would1 nevertheless1 take a tremendous backward step1 if one should be able to remove from the sphere of its life and from the motives of its actions everything that is not scientifically provable4 ,this is the ideal of many educated people of our time1 but it is a false and a very inadequate one4 ,our knowledge is patchwork1 and will remain such4 ,we shall scarcely ever be able to know even everything that concerns ourselves4 ,nor do the strongest motives of our best actions spring from the sphere of knowledge2 otherwise the most learned people must always be the most perfect1 which is by no means the case4 ,our spiritual ,ego is rooted rather in the ,unexplainable1 and experience shows that if this something unexplainable is ever taken from the ,ego in questions of faith1 it tries to make up for the loss by adopting some superstition or other4 ,of all the objects of faith1 however1 faith in ,christ is historically the best established1 humanly the most intelligible1 and as a matter of personal experience the most easily found to be true4 ,if in any man it is not all this1 truly and enduringly1 then the cause lies in his own will1 or absence of will1 for which the ,gospel of ,john finds the correct expression1 8as many as received him1 to them gave he the right to become children of ,god40 ,luther also truly says3 8,because the expression #8to trust ,god and serve ,him' must be so elastic that every man follows after his own thoughts1 and one thinks so and the other thus1 therefore ,he has fixed ,himself to a certain place and to a certain person1 since ,he wants to be found and met in such a way that one may not miss ,him40 ,a man's faith is1 therefore1 itself no force or power1 else superstition must also be such1 but all true power in spiritual things is the property of ,god4 ,but he summons this power and makes its appearance upon earth possible4 ,only1 this is likewise true1 that ,christianity has no effect in a man whose spirit is unbroken1 who has no inner humility1 but then it remains an empty form at best4 ,if it is then united with the office of teaching1 or with some other pretension of a special position or distinction1 it conduces to the man's destruction4 ,what is regarded in the outer life as an irreparable harm1 8a broken existence10 a rent that runs through all the plans of life1 is not at all such in the inner2 on the contrary1 that is the soil in which faith in ,christ best prospers1 and they of all men are most to be pitied who despair just at the moment when they find themselves in such a position and can not grasp how near they are to salvation4 ,from this moment of humility there enters into man the real regenerative power of the good1 which springs from that true righteousness which 8counts0 with ,god4 ,his further journey is1 on the one hand1 much easier than is often represented1 for nothing more is now required of the man for which he has not power and insight in sufficient measure1 together with a gladness of hope that can no longer be wholly troubled1 and with a special1 personal guidance that lightens all4 ,but1 on the other hand1 it is more difficult than is1 in this first moment1 believed4 ,for life is yet far from its termination2 indeed1 now is its real starting-point1 and there begins a long series of occurrences which all have the purpose of showing man his real nature more clearly than he was in position to bear earlier1 and of gradually being no longer indulgent toward him in any respect1 as was hitherto in great measure the case4 ,for 8,zion shall be redeemed with judgment1 and her converts with righteousness40 ,but all this happens only in the following1 or even1 now and then1 in the final1 period of life2 before1 it would have been quite impossible4 ,,iii ,the difference between this 8new life10 as ,dante already called it1 and the earlier seems not to be very great at first1 and particularly not so great as fantasy1 which always flies higher than reality1 and enthusiasm1 which must accompany every great resolve1 had expected4 ,indeed1 it is possible that there will still be moments in which the soul1 freed from the slavery of selfishness1 is seized with a certain backward-glancing desire for the 8flesh-pots of ,egypt02 for1 in truth1 the old 8enjoyment of life0 fades away only by slow degrees4 ,but there is one essential difference that is always noticeable3 first of all1 in the taking away of the feeling of fear and anxiety before an uncertain future1 and of the continual fluctuation between exultation and dejection1 which never let the feeling of security prevail4 ,but now there is a fixed point where there is always rest4 ,from this there follows1 of itself1 more patience with oneself and others1 and less dependence upon them1 besides a juster discernment for the essential in all things1 and therewith the true wisdom of life that springs therefrom4 ,finally 7and this is the chief matter71 there is an absence of the continuous sense of sin because it can always be at once abolished1 and there is a certainty of the right road1 of steady advance1 and of a good outcome at the end of life3 8the path of the righteous is as the shining light that shineth more and more unto the perfect day40 ,the first period of this division of life is usually filled up with the continuous strengthening and confirmation of these principles through tests of many kinds4 ,these can not fail to appear very soon1 for faith1 in spite of what has been said above1 is nothing traditional that persists once for all1 but something that must be engendered anew daily and hourly4 ,a faith that is not always living and present could not be capable of successfully withstanding the attacks of ,apollyon1 who desires surely to reclaim his rebellious subject4 ,the power of this 8,spirit of the ,world0 is very great2 happily1 one experiences this only gradually in life2 otherwise1 perhaps1 no one would have the courage to take up the battle with it4 ,but there is one power that is still greater1 and that is the power of ,god1 which is made alive in a man through true ,christianity4 ,the chief matter in this 7for most7 the longest period of life is1 therefore1 steadfastness and courage4 8,hold fast that which thou hast1 that no one take thy crown20 and look not back1 when thou hast once laid hand to plough4 ,perhaps the most remarkable thing in this period of life is the union in man of divine control with freedom4 ,whatever ,god wills1 he carries out in the man--easily1 if he gives up his will1 with difficulty and sorrow1 if he resists or desires to go another way1 and no power in the world can any longer prevent it4 ,but there are1 nevertheless1 long portions of time at this stage of life when all principles or doctrines of belief refuse their service1 and everything transcendental persists in appearing again as a mere dream and sport of fantasy4 ,those are the dangerous times in which the soul must keep itself quite still and beware of all decisive activity4 ,but if it is obliged to act1 then let it say with the ,spanish poet1 8,and be my life or truth or dream1 right must my actions be40 ,there must especially rise to full certainty in the soul the conviction that an eternal divine order exists1 against which all the might of men who still have freedom of action contends quite vainly1 and that all real success and all true happiness consists only in the free harmony of the free human will with this order1 and that punishment does not follow every violation of this harmony1 but resides within it1 and can only be set aside through ,god's mercy4 ,then1 as the ,berlenburg ,bible says1 8the commands of ,god acquire a pleasant aspect1 and we become their good friends and look upon them as true helps and preservers1 by whose means ,god wishes to set to one side whatever hinders us from companionship and union with ,him40 ,only when this conviction has become established within us1 can we have a guiding principle for fruitful activity outward2 before1 it is too early1 and so in most cases without result4 ,salvation is not a doctrine in which one can remain quite the same1 can say ,lord1 ,lord1 and yet be far from him1 but it is some actual thing that really happens to us if we give up our will to it4 ,but in order that this may be able to happen to us1 we must first be free from self-love1 from self-concern in all its forms2 that is the difficult work that is wrought within us slowly1 with many a halting-place and with much cross-bearing4 ,for we must be quite empty of ourselves before we can receive everything that we need for our understanding and feeling1 but it must come in daily rations like the manna of the ,old ,testament1 not all at once as the crafty 8old man0 would much rather have it1 so as to be as independent as possible of ,god's daily grace2 that is the 8last error1 that is worse than the first40 ,to train us thereto1 so that we may receive the right gifts in their fulness1 is the meaning of our life-guidance up to this point2 only then1 and not before1 will our activity be full of blessing4 ,in this connection the 8social question0 comes in1 not only for the men of our time1 but of every time2 it has always existed1 and always will exist1 so long as there are human beings2 it will never find its solution either through ,church or through ,state1 but only through the ethical power and the personal love of infinitely many individuals1 each one of whom must1 in the sphere of work indicated to him1 do that which is specially laid upon him1 and neither bury nor exchange his talent4 ,that is his outward task in life1 which he may neither evade nor be unfaithful to1 and only when and in so far as he is just to this shall he teach it to others also1 and help1 during his lifetime1 to maintain this teaching of love upon the earth4 ,when once money1 ambition1 and pleasure no longer play any considerable rle with a man1 then he finds so much leisure time upon his hands that he must really look about him for some activity to fill it up1 else he runs the risk of falling back1 through tedium1 to where he was before4 ,this period is1 therefore1 essentially made up of work and struggle1 but if all goes rightly1 the work is more and more joyous1 done with greater and greater gladness1 and without any feeling of distress1 and the struggle against everything undivine in oneself or in others is more and more victorious1 more and more quiet2 and in this period there is finally 8a rest that remaineth for the people of ,god40 ,god will give them the end they are waiting for1 and an end that is not sad1 like that of so many noble men who had a different aim in life4 ,schiller's picture is not the right one when he says1 8,quietly1 with vessel barely saved1 the old man returns to the harbor from which1 in youth1 he set out with a thousand masts40 ,no2 thankful for all he has done and suffered1 content with what he has become through ,god's mercy1 and with the confident prospect of a yet greater and better field of action1 he already1 without waiting for his death-bed1 lays his life-accounts to one side1 and looks with simple quietness upon the 7for him7 unimportant transition into a new sphere of life4 ,,iv ,age comes on suddenly1 in most cases2 very often with some special event1 usually some sickness1 which performs the function of what is called picket-duty in military life4 ,then oftentimes there is disclosed1 just as suddenly1 the difference 7hitherto concealed7 between men and the various outcomes of their lives4 ,while some still endeavor with redoubled eagerness to enjoy the last fruits of their autumnal days 7though age often reveals them now as so little worth while71 or else give themselves up to pessimistic despair over the transitoriness of all things earthly 7which always forms the close of each great period of pleasure71 more earnestly minded spirits are now for the first time saying3 8,whither am ,i bound8 ,the world's call to pleasure sounds hollow to me1 now that the doors of eternity stand open before2 ,i am sated with the whited bowl of untruth and its vapid draughts1 and ,i bear my empty pitchers to thy springs1 ,o thou city of ,god60 ,these are the laborers that stood idle all the day1 or fatigued themselves with useless toil4 ,these also will be accepted still1 and will receive their penny at the end of the day's labor as well as those who came earlier4 ,the mercy of the ,lord of ,toil thus wills it1 though many murmur against this1 even yet4 ,but it is better1 nevertheless1 if this incoming has taken place earlier and the third period is not a time of turning about1 but merely the natural sequence and development of the second4 ,for the true steps of life have about them something of the ,dantean ,paradise2 namely this1 that in each of them1 even in the lowest1 already resides something of the uppermost--something that pacifies the soul1 without longing for more1 and yet with hope for more4 ,in the life of people who have become old1 three sorts of dispositions are regularly shown4 ,the ordinary one1 when outward circumstances are favorable1 is that of elderly people who are fond of life and who want as much as possible to enjoy the remnant of their existence in a finer or coarser manner1 and accordingly sink now and then into caricatures of youth4 ,the basis of this disposition is selfishness1 which1 even in its finer form1 at last affects unpleasantly every one who meets it4 ,aristocratic idlers have such an exit to life1 for the most part4 ,a worthier end is when people who have been busy for the most of life take their repose1 whether it be a resting upon their laurels1 or1 as more frequently happens1 upon their accumulated capital4 ,these are1 in the best instances1 the cheerful old people who are treasured and cared for by their relatives1 spend their last days in respectably doing nothing1 revel in memories of their youth1 or student-years1 or travels1 or campaigns1 and now and then compose memoirs1 or let their jubilees be celebrated4 ,apart from a certain vanity and pettiness that is always joined therewith1 this is an innocent exit to life1 and the world is as a rule lenient toward it--if for no other reason1 at least for the reason that these people no longer stand in anybody's way2 therefore it gladly gives them a handsome burial and a few fitting obituary notices in the papers on the day of the funeral1 and with that its concernment is definitely fulfilled4 ,the third kind of conclusion to life is the moving forward to a higher existence1 the hand continuously at the plough1 never looking backward to the past1 but always directing the eyes toward what is yet to be attained4 ,this conception of life is really only possible with persons who believe in a future life2 nevertheless1 it also appears among other earnest workers1 but is then joined with sadness over the continual decline of the powers4 ,this is the worthiest1 indeed the only worthy exit to life1 though often accompanied with sorrows of some sort1 to keep one in fit condition for conflict4 ,these three endings of life resemble the three caskets in ,shakespeare's drama3 the first1 in the golden casket1 is outwardly the most splendid1 but within is full of emptiness and is at bottom to be despised2 the second1 in the silver casket1 is not unworthy1 but somewhat 8ordinary02 the third contains1 in mostly invisible form1 the real crown of a life that has been wisely understood and well-employed to the very end1 and that bears within itself the full assurance of a yet better continuation beyond4 ,at any rate1 the special task of the final step of life is living in all sincerity in nearness to ,god--something that it is much easier to think of than to describe4 ,the descriptions of those who have themselves experienced this suddenly leave us1 as a rule1 in the lurch1 whether because they lived in order to act1 and not to describe1 or because they disdained saying things about themselves which1 at their stage of advancement1 seemed matters of course and nowise meritorious1 but something to be continuously received in humility4 ,the goal of this period is just here--no longer to receive anything for one's own sake1 but to become a blessing to others in that humble spirit which now has come to belong to the virtues that have been won4 ,to begin with1 there will usually come a great and final trial2 for all men in whom ,god takes a real interest 7if we may so speak7 must again and again1 in the different periods of their life1 pass anew into a kind of smelting fire1 whose glow1 as ,dante says1 alone brings the spirit to its majority and separates the inferior elements of its nature1 which perhaps appear as still necessary at a lower stage4 ,without a firm trust in ,god1 such as should now exist in this final period of life1 these last trials were often not to be endured2 yet in them1 nevertheless1 each hard blow now has a tenfold effect4 ,it is the best sign of advance if the soul possesses the grace to welcome this suffering and not to be tired of it until ,god himself removes it as quite superfluous4 ,psychologically correct in this regard is the remark of ,st4 ,angela of ,foligni1 that men at this stage must still1 for their penance1 harbor within themselves for a time1 quite against their will1 the very faults which once they voluntarily cultivated4 ,out of all this there then arises the thoroughly humble man1 no longer in the least infatuated with himself1 to whom everything is right that befalls him1 who believes he deserved nothing better1 but something still worse if pure justice had been done1 and who can let everything please him if it is ,god's will4 ,but if this is all genuine and not mere pious talking1 this is a difficult task for which the man will be completely qualified only toward the end of his life4 ,for self-love must be burnt out still more thoroughly than before1 and he must be inflicted1 or at least threatened1 with the hardest blow that can be given to his special failing4 ,if he passes through this without ever losing his trust in ,god1 then he has approached nearer to the divine than could happen in any other way2 and if there is such a thing at all as a life of blessed spirits after the fashion of our present feelings and conceptions1 then he will be brought so near to this by acquiring such a temperament1 that a transition to that life will now appear conceivable and possible to him4 ,but in that case the last aggravations of the earthly life have1 without doubt1 the further purpose of making the departure from it less difficult for the man thus tried2 just as nothing in old people pleases us less1 or makes a more vulgar impression upon us1 than when they still hang tightly on to life4 ,one of the best aids is never to look back1 because he who in ,purgatory 8looks back1 must turn back02 and further1 not to lose a single minute of life1 but to keep one's full activity up to the last moment4 ,for the purpose of life in the period of age is to bear fruit1 not to repose1 and so long as something is still left to be done1 what is already done is to be regarded as nothing4 ,the characteristic quality of this sort of old people is not an imaginary 8saintliness10 but their wholesouledness4 ,the only saintliness we attain to on this earth consists in a complete harmony with the divine will and in a complete readiness to fall in with it1 so that no serious struggle between good and evil any longer finds place within ourselves4 ,on the other hand1 a medival saint rightly says that saintliness1 whenever it is genuine1 sets the outward man in order also4 ,for ,god is a 8,god of order0 and by no means a friend of singularities of any sort1 especially in outward things4 ,people who set a value upon such singularities1 though they may not be wholly spurious 8saints10 are certainly1 nevertheless1 very weak ones1 whose peculiarities make them sometimes uneasy to live with4 ,if religion1 in this final stage of life1 does not at least set such things right1 but lets the man go on being querulous and selfish and difficult for those around him1 then it has never been of much worth4 ,a special indication of the ripeness of age1 furthermore1 is the union of qualities which1 at other periods of life1 are wont to exclude one another2 for example1 navet and shrewdness1 dignity and childlike gayety1 fineness of taste and complete simplicity1 sternness and gentleness1 clear judgment and enthusiasm of emotion4 ,this alone gives the impression of completeness1 as far as is possible here upon earth4 ,one or the other of my readers may still ask how one can remain young in old age4 ,the most important spiritual means is probably 8always to be learning some new thing10 to have an interest in something and to keep something always before oneself4 ,therefore the great apostle of ,christianity said shortly before his departure3 8,forgetting the things which are behind1 and stretching forward to the things which are before1 ,i press on toward the goal1 unto the prize of the high calling of ,god in ,christ ,jesus3 let us therefore1 as many as be perfect1 be thus minded1 and if in anything ye are otherwise minded1 even this shall ,god reveal unto you40 ,this1 then1 is a clear and simple road1 and in this direction is already contained the final watchword of life3 ,obedience4 ,everything that is done for oneself1 for one's own elevation1 even in the best sense1 has1 nevertheless1 a slight after-taste of self-seeking1 and in old age one will scarcely keep his life spiritually sound to the final moment1 if it does not result at last in an absolute military obedience1 and in a 8harvest of ,god10--reaped1 that is1 for ,him1 and not for ourselves4 ,the secret of religion lies indeed in one's keeping near to ,god1 in all the stages of life2 but first1 one must learn to endure it 7not to flee from it72 then to seek it2 and finally to have it1 and 8dwell in the everlasting glow40 ,that this can not happen upon earth altogether without suffering1 even to the very end1 lies in the nature of things1 and is shown in the life of many admirable men1 who have eagerly longed for rest1 and have said with old ,simeon at the end of their days1 8,now lettest thou thy bondservant depart1 ,o ,master1 according to thy word1 in peace40 ,besides1 as already pointed out1 it may really happen that a so-called beautiful death1 in the circle of one's own people and amidst the general recognition of one's fellow-citizens1 may not at all mean the best destiny and the highest recognition on the part of ,god1 as would some heroic death which is itself a last deed done for country or for humanity4 ,but our time has become so feeble in its ,christianity that such a thought now lies quite outside the reckoning of most men1 even the most devout4 ,but at any rate it does not lie in their power of will what form their death shall take1 any more than formerly what form their life should take1 and they must1 under any circumstance1 have found their peace with ,god in respect to this last of all life-problems also4 ,the most beautiful thing about a life near to its close is its repose of soul1 that abounding peace which nothing can shake any longer1 and which has fought it out with ,god and men1 and has prevailed4 ,the essential element in all religion requisite thereto is very simple1 and really lies already in the forgotten meaning of that word itself4 ,it consists in the careful and constant maintenance of the 8bond0 which unites us with ,god1 through our unfailing good-will toward ,him1 and through our renunciation of all that stands in the way--what the ,scriptures call 8seeking ,god40 ,this is our part4 ,then ,god also comes 8ere we are aware1 and lets much good fall to our share40 ,he comes even to such as know him only very imperfectly 7and1 for that matter1 that is the case with us all71 if only there is a sincere longing for ,him in their hearts4 ,but unless ,he does come1 each and every religious practice1 in whatsoever form it now takes or may conceivably take hereafter1 is but a still-born device of man1 and never procures us what we are all nevertheless seeking--,happiness4 ,,footnote3 #a ,originally an address before an association of young merchants4 ,by ,,carl ,,hilty ,,happiness ,translated by the ,rev4 ,francis ,g4 ,peabody1 ,plummer ,professor of ,christian ,morals in ,harvard ,university ,cloth #abmo #a4be net ,professor ,hilty's essays long ago took rank in ,europe as classics in the sphere of personal culture in ethics and religion4 ,without haste1 without fuss1 he seems to see more deeply into the ordinary experiences of human life than most men can4 ,there is with all his insight a simple gentleness and sympathy in his way of treating the deepest things of life1 the primal motives that stir the soul4 ,he discusses the ,art of ,work1 ,how to ,fight the ,battles of ,life1 ,good ,habits1 ,the ,art of ,having ,time1 ,happiness1 ,the ,meaning of ,life4 ,by ,,thomas ,r4 ,,slicer ,pastor of the ,church of ,all ,souls1 ,new ,york1 ,author of 8,the ,power and ,promise of the ,liberal ,faith10 etc4 ,the ,way to ,happiness ,cloth #abmo #j4jj ,dr4 ,slicer has written a practical1 readable book based on the belief that a great many unhappy folk are so not because there has been any increase in the world's misery1 but because the consolations upon which people have depended in the past seem to them inadequate4 ,the author therefore first restates certain old1 old principles1 which seem to have lost force from detachment1 in the forms of conception1 and in the speech1 of modern life4 ,the making of a character which is for itself a sufficient consolation seems to him the only permanent relief from unhappiness1 and he sets forth the positive principles on which such a character is based4 ,by ,,henry ,c4 ,,king ,president of ,oberlin ,college ,rational ,living 8,an unusually valuable book on practical ethics 444 admirably adapted for clubs and classes which wish to study ethical questions1 and equally valuable for all who wish the latest and clearest information on such subjects40--,,amory ,h4 ,,bradford1 ,first ,congregational ,church1 ,montclair1 ,n4,j4 ,cloth #abmo #a4be net 7postage #ab;c47 ,personal and ,ideal ,elements in ,education 8,i am reading it with great profit4 ,it is a magnificent utterance40--,,william ,f4 ,,anderson1 ,secretary ,board of ,education of the ,methodist ,episcopal ,church4 ,cloth #abmo #a4ej net 7postage #aa;c47 ,reconstruction in ,theology 8,its pages represent what is nearly if not actually the highwater mark of skill and success in blending a fearless yet discriminating progressiveness with a loyal conservatism in theology40--,the ,congregationalist4 ,cloth #abmo #a4ej ,theology and the ,social ,consciousness 8,a valuable contribution to current discussion 444 it is not scholastic2 it is not phrased in the technical language of the schools2 the thoughtful layman will readily understand it40--,the ,outlook4 ,cloth ,crown #hvo #a4be net ,by the ,rev4 ,,hugh ,,black ,author of 8,friendship10 8,work10 etc4 ,the ,practice of ,self-,culture ,cloth #abmo #a4be net ,by ,,francis ,g4 ,,peabody ,plummer ,professor of ,christian ,morals in ,harvard ,university ,jesus ,christ and the ,christian ,character ,an examination of the teaching of ,jesus in its relation to some of the moral problems of personal life4 8,the lectures are full of power and present a study of ,christian ethics which is truly inspiring40--,independent4 ,cloth #abmo #a4ej net 7postage #aa;c47 ,jesus ,christ and the ,social ,question ,an examination of the teaching of ,jesus in its relation to some problems of modern social life4 8,it is vital1 searching1 comprehensive4 ,the ,christian reader will find it an illumination2 the non-,christian1 a revelation40--,the ,epworth ,herald4 ,cloth #abmo #a4ej ,the ,religion of an ,educated ,man ,religion as education--,christ's message to the scholar--knowledge and service4 8,the lectures are a distinct contribution to a branch of literature of which we stand in great need40--,boston ,transcript4 ,cloth #abmo #a4jj net 7postage #g;c47 ,by ,,newell ,,dwight ,,hillis ,pastor of ,plymouth ,church1 ,brooklyn ,the ,quest of ,happiness ,a study of victory over life's troubles4 8#8,the ,quest of ,happiness' is ,dr4 ,hillis's very best book40--,,amory ,h4 ,,bradford1 ,pastor of ,first ,congregational ,church1 ,montclair1 ,n4,j4 ,cloth1 with colored page borders #a4ej net ,,the ,,macmillan ,,company ,,publishers #fd-ff ,,fifth ,,avenue ,,new ,,york ,,transcriber',s ,,notes3 ,italicized text is surrounded by underscores3 italics4 ,emboldened text is surrounded by equals signs3 bold4 ,obvious typographical errors have been corrected4 ,inconsistencies in hyphenation have been standardized4 ,archaic or variant spelling has been retained4