Page:Tolstoy - Christianity and Patriotism.djvu/110

 keen edge which will cut through anything has been put, should use the blade to knock in nails.

We all lament the senseless order of life which runs counter to our whole nature, yet instead of making use of the one almighty weapon that is at our disposal—the recognition of the truth and the open expression of it— under the pretence of wrestling against evil we actually destroy this weapon and sacrifice it to an imaginary conflict with the existing régime.

One does not speak the truth he knows because he feels that he has a duty to the people with whom he is connected; another—because the truth might deprive him of the profitable position by means of which he supports his family; a third—because he wants to attain fame and power and then to use them for the service of men; a fourth—because he does not want to outrage the old sacred traditions; a fifth—because he does not wish to offend people; a sixth-because the utterance of the truth will provoke persecution, and prevent the beneficent social activity to which he is devoting himself or intends to devote himself.

One man serves as an Emperor, as a King, as a Minister, as a Government official, or as an army officer, and persuades himself and others that the deviation from the truth which is inevitable