Page:Tolstoy - Demands of Love and Reason.djvu/42

Rh Mill says: "Humanity will gain a greater share of happiness when every man pursues his own happiness,—only observing the rules and conditions necessary for the welfare of the rest,—than when he makes his sole aim the welfare of all the rest."

This is true; but only if by the welfare of the individual we understand his spiritual welfare, i.e., his conformity to the will of God, or, more simply, the satisfaction of the demands of his conscience (reason and love).

Let every man seek the kingdom of God and His truth, let him place his life in this, and the greatest welfare of all will be obtained. But then it will turn out that man's happiness consists in obeying those rules and conditions which contribute to the attainment of the welfare of all men—i.e., the very thing will occur which Mill repudiates.