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78 THE EGO AND HIS OWN |
...
Where does unselfishness begin? Right where an end ceases to be
our end and our property, which we, as owners, can
dispose of at pleasure; where it becomes a fixed end or a -- fixed
idea; where it begins to inspire, enthuse, fantasize us; in short,
where it passes into our stubbornness and becomes our --
master. One is not unselfish so long as he retains the end in his
power; one becomes so only at that "Here I stand, I cannot do
otherwise," the fundamental maxim of all the possessed; one
becomes so in the case of a sacred end, through the
corresponding sacred zeal.
I am not unselfish so long as the
end remains my own, and I, instead of giving myself up to be the
blind means of its fulfillment, leave it always an open question.
My zeal need not on that account be slacker than the most fanatical,
but at the same time I remain toward it frostily cold, unbelieving,
and its
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MEN OF THE OLD TIME AND THE NEW 79 |
most irreconcilable enemy; I remain its judge, because
I am its owner.
Unselfishness grows rank as far
as possessedness reaches, as much on possessions of the devil
as on those of a good spirit; there vice, folly, etc.; here humility,
devotion, etc.