I am only an evanescent
subordinate unit in the organism of the State. A power over which I
have no control has taken possession of me, and has made my will of
no avail. Is there still a part of your destiny which you have the
power to guide as you will? Is there such for me? We shall be forced
to join simply in the united destiny of one people. And who decides
this? The king, no doubt, thinks that he does; the Emperor Napoleon
thinks he does. I say that these two have no more influence over the
capabilities of their people than we two have over the capabilities
around us. The State commands us, the whole evolution of mankind
from its beginning commands them. All of the race which has gone
before holds them fast, and compels them as the wheels of the State
compel us. The dead sternly point out the way to them, as the living
do to us. We all of us know nothing, kings and ministers as little
as we, of the real forces at work. What these forces will do, and
what they strive to attain to, is hidden from us, and we only see
what is nearest to us, without any connection with its causes and
final operation. That is why it seems to me better to do what one
sees as one's duty at the moment, rather than to give ourselves the
absurd appearance of being free in our movements, and certain as to
our goal.
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