But just as little as the real man can abstract himself from the
distinction of sex, so little can he abstract himself from his moral or
spiritual constitution, which indeed is profoundly connected with his
natural constitution. Precisely because he lives in the contemplation
of the whole, he also lives in the consciousness that he is himself
no more than a part, and that he is what he is only by virtue of the
conditions which constitute him a member of the whole, or a relative
whole. Every one, therefore, justifiably regards his occupation, his
profession, his art or science, as the highest; for the mind of man
is nothing but the essential mode of his activity. He who is skilful
in his profession, in his art, he who fills his post well, and is
entirely devoted to his calling, thinks that calling the highest and
best. How can he deny in thought what he emphatically declares in act
by the joyful devotion of all his powers? If I despise a thing, how can
I dedicate to it my time and faculties? If I am compelled to do so in
spite of my aversion, my activity is an unhappy one, for I am at war
with myself. Work is worship. But how can I worship or serve an object,
how can I subject myself to it, if it does not hold a high place in
my mind? In brief, the occupations of men determine their judgment,
their mode of thought, their sentiments. And the higher the occupation,
the more completely does a man identify himself with it. In general,
whatever a man makes the essential aim of his life, he proclaims to
be his soul; for it is the principle of motion in him. But through
his aim, through the activity in which he realises this aim, man
is not only something for himself, but also something for others,
for the general life, the species. He therefore who lives in the
consciousness of the species as a reality, regards his existence
for others, his relation to society, his utility to the public, as
that existence which is one with the existence of his own essence--as
his immortal existence. He lives with his whole soul, with his whole
heart, for humanity. How can he hold in reserve a special existence
for himself, how can he separate himself from mankind? How shall he
deny in death what he has enforced in life? And in life his faith is
this: Nec sibi sed toti genitum se credere mundo.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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