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All Things are Nothing to Me*
What is not supposed to be my concern ! First
and foremost, the Good Cause, then God's cause, the
cause of mankind, of truth, of freedom, of humanity,
of justice; further, the cause of my people, my prince,
my fatherland; finally, even the cause of Mind, and a
thousand other causes. Only my cause is never to be
my concern. " Shame on the egoist who thinks only
of himself!"
Let us look and see, then, how they manage their
concerns--they for whose cause we are to labor, devote
ourselves, and grow enthusiastic.
You have much profound information to give
about God, and have for thousands of years " searched
the depths of the Godhead," and looked into its heart,
so that you can doubtless tell us how God himself at-
tends to " God's cause," which we are called to serve.
And you do not conceal the Lord's doings, either.
Now, what is his cause ? Has he, as is demanded of
us, made an alien cause, the cause of truth or love, his
own ? You are shocked by this misunderstanding,
*["Ich
hab' Mein' Sach' auf Nichts gestellt,"
first line of Goethe's
poem, '
Vanitas! Vanitatum Vanitas!"
Literal translation: " I have set
my affair
on nothing."]
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