“The new rebel is a skeptic and will not entirely trust anything. He has no loyality, therefore he can never be a true revolutionist, and the fact that he doubts everything gets in his way when he wants to denounce anything. For all denunciation implies a moral doctrine of some kind, and the modern revolutionist doubts not only the institution he denounces, but the doctrine by which he denounces it. “
“Thus he writes one book, complaining that imperial oppression insults superiority of women, then he writes another book, a novel, in which he insults it himself. He curses the system because Christian girls loose their virginity, then curses Mrs. Grudy because they keep it. As a politician he cries out that war is a waste of life, then as a philosopher that life itself is a waste of time. A Russian pessimist will denounce a policeman for killing a peasant, then proves by the highest philosphical principals that the peasant ought to have killed himself. A man denounces marriage as a lie, then denounces the aristocratic profligates for treating it as a lie. He calls the flag a bubble, then blames the oppressors of Poland or Ireland because they take away that bubble. The man goes first to a political meeting, where he complains that savages are treated as if they where beasts, then he takes his hat and umbrella and goes on to a scientific meeting where he proves that they pratically are beasts. In short the modern revolutionist being an infinite skeptic, is always engaged in undermining his own mind. In his book on politics, he attacks man for trampling on morality, in his book on ethics, he attacks morality for trampling on man. “
“Therefore the modern man in his revolt, has become useless for all practical purposes of revolt; by rebelling against everything he has lost his right to rebel against anything.” - G.K. Chesterton
怀旧的
7 years ago
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