When an atheist, drawing his
watch, gave God a quarter of an hour in which to strike him dead, it is
certain that it was a quarter of an hour of wrath and of atrocious joy.
It was the paroxysm of despair, a nameless appeal to all celestial
powers; it was a poor wretched creature squirming under the foot that was
crushing him; it was a loud cry of pain. And who knows? In the eyes of
Him who sees all things, it was perhaps a prayer.
Thus these youth found employment for their idle powers in a fondness of
despair. To scoff at glory, at religion, at love, at all the world, is a
great consolation for those who do not know what to do; they mock at
themselves and in doing so prove the correctness of their view. And then
it is pleasant to believe oneself unhappy when one is only idle and
tired. Debauchery, moreover, the first conclusion of the principle of
death, is a terrible millstone for grinding the energies.
The rich said: "There is nothing real but riches, all else is a dream;
let us enjoy and then let us die." Those of moderate fortune said: "There
is nothing real but oblivion, all else is a dream; let us forget and let
us die." And the poor said: "There is nothing real but unhappiness, all
else is a dream; let us blaspheme and die."
This is too black? It is exaggerated? What do you think of it? Am I a
misanthrope? Allow me to make a reflection.
In reading the history of the fall of the Roman Empire, it is impossible
to overlook the evil that the Chustions, so admirable in the desert, did
the state when they were in power.
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