Page:Tolstoy - Essays and Letters.djvu/63

 woman as an object of desire. And, thirdly, that for the unmarried it is better not to marry—i.e., it is better to be quite chaste.

To most people these thoughts will seem strange, and even contradictory. And they really are contradictory, not in themselves but to the whole manner of our lives: and the question naturally presents itself: 'Which is right? These thoughts, or the lives lived by millions, including myself?'

That feeling forced itself upon me most strongly when I approached the conclusions I now express. I never anticipated that the development of my thoughts would bring me to such a conclusion. I was startled at my conclusions and did not wish to believe them, but it was impossible not to believe them. And however they may run counter to the whole arrangement of our lives, however they may contradict what I thought and said previously, I had to admit them.

'But these are all general considerations, which may be true, but relate to the teaching of Jesus, and are binding only on those who profess it. But life is life, and it will not do merely to point to a distant and unattainable ideal, and then leave men with no definite guidance in face of a burning question, which affects every one and causes terrible sufferings. A young and