1) Life for oneself is a torture, because you want to live for an
illusion, for that which does not exist, and it not only cannot be
happy, but it cannot be at all. It is the same as dressing and
feeding a shadow. Life exists only outside of oneself, in the service
of others, and not in the service of one’s near ones, beloved
ones--that is again for oneself--but in the service of those whom
we do not love, and better still, in the service of enemies. Help,
Father. The terrible error is that one confuses sex-love, love for
children, for friends, with love of people through God, of people
to whom you are indifferent, and still more of enemies, that is, of
erring people.
_Aug. 3. Pirogovo._
Again everything is in the old way, again my life is horrid. I have
lived through very much; I haven’t passed the examination. But I do
not despair and I want a re-examination. I passed the examination
exceptionally badly, because I had the intention of going over to
another institution. It is just these thoughts one must throw away,
then one will learn better.
During this time Sonya returned and dear Tania Kuzminsky was here.
The work on _Resurrection_ goes very badly, although it seems to me
I have thought it out much better. The 3rd day in Pirogovo. Uncle
Serezha[351] is not as good as he was before: he is not in the mood.
Maria Nicholaievna.[352] For two days nothing has come into my head.
During this time there was alarming news about the condition
of the Dukhobors[353] and that Mme. M. N. Rostovtzev was put in
prison.[354] For a long time there has been no letter from Chertkov.
Perhaps they intercept them.[355]
Am going to continue to write out that which I had not written out:
1) ...
2) There are two methods of human activity--and according to which
one of these two kinds of activity people mainly follow, are there
two kinds of people: one use their reason to learn what is good and
what is bad and they act according to this knowledge; the other act
as they want to and then they use their reason to prove that that
which they did was good and that which they didn’t do was bad.
3) It is absolutely clear that it is much more profitable to do
everything in common, but the reasoning about this is insufficient.
If the reasoning were sufficient then it would have happened long
ago. The fact that it is seen among Capitalists is unable to
convince people to live in common. Besides the reasoning that this
is profitable, it is necessary that the heart be ready to live like
that (that the world point of view should be such that it would
harmonise with the indications of the reason), but this is not so
and will not be so until the desires of the heart are changed, i.e.,
the world point of view of people.
4) Even if that which Marx predicted should happen, then the only
thing that will happen, is that despotism will be passed on. Now
the capitalists rule, but then the directors of the working people
will rule.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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