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This still leaves us perilously near to morbidness. The Worship of
Sorrow might well be but a natural and not less morbid reaction from the
former morbidness, the worship of self and happiness. From that,
however, it is saved by the word "works," which is spoken with emphasis
in this connection. So we pass to the last phase of the Everlasting Yea,
in which we return to the thesis upon which we began, viz., that "Doubt
of any sort cannot be removed except by action." "Do the Duty which
_lies nearest thee_, which thou knowest to be a Duty! Thy second Duty
will already have become clearer.... Yes here, in this poor, miserable,
hampered, despicable Actual, wherein thou even now standest, here or
nowhere is thy Ideal; work it out therefrom; and working, believe, live,
be free.... Produce! Produce! Were it but the pitifullest infinitesimal
fraction of a Product, produce it, in God's name! 'Tis the utmost thou
hast in thee; out with it, then. Up, up! Whatsoever thy hand findeth to
do, do it with thy whole might. Work while it is called Today; for the
Night cometh, wherein no man can work."
Thus the goal of human destiny is not any theory, however true; not any
happiness, however alluring. It is for practical purposes that the
universe is built, and he who would be "in tune with the universe" must
first and last be practical. In various forms this doctrine has
reappeared and shown itself potent. Ritschl based his system on
practical values in religion, and Professor William James has proclaimed
the same doctrine in a still wider application in his Pragmatism. The
essential element in both systems is that they lay the direct stress of
life, not upon abstract theory but upon experience and vital energy.
This transference from theorising and emotionalism to the prompt and
vigorous exercise of will upon the immediate circumstance, is Carlyle's
understanding of the word Conversion.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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