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BYWAYS TO BLESSEDNESS 45

D. Look, for instance, at X-, a man totally evil, given up entirely to selfishness and ambition; surely
great torments are reserved for so unprincipled a man.

E. But how do you know he is so evil.

D. By his works, his fruits. When I see a man doing evil I know that he is evil; and I cannot even
think of X- but I burn with righteous indignation. I am sometimes inclined to doubt that there is an
overruling power for good when I see such a man in a position where he can do so much harm to
others.

E. What evil is he committing?

D. His whole policy is evil. He will ruin the country if he remains in power.

E. But while there are large numbers of people who think of X- as you do there are also large
numbers, equally intelligent, who look on him as good and able, who admire him for his excellent
qualities, and regard his policy as beneficent and making for national progress. He owes his
position to these people; are they also evil?

D. They are deceived and mislead. And this only makes — X’s evil all the greater, in that he can so
successfully employ his talents in deceiving others in order to gain his own selfish ends. I hate the
man.

E. May it not be possible that you are deceived?

D. In what way?

E. Hatred is self-deception; love is self-enlightenment. No man can see either himself or others
clearly until he ceases from hatred and practises love.

D. That sounds very beautiful, but it is impracticable. When I see a man doing evil to others, and
deceiving and misleading them, I must hate him. It is right that I should do so. X- is without a spark
of conscience.

E. X- may or may not be all you believe to be, but, even if he is, according to your own words, he
should be pitied and not condemned.

D. How so?

E. You say he is without a conscience.

D. Entirely so.

E. Then he is a mental cripple. Do you hate the blind because they cannot see, that dumb because
they cannot speak, or the deaf because they cannot hear? When a captain has lost his rudder or
broken his compass do you condemn him because he did not keep his ship off the rocks? Do you
hold him responsible for the loss of life? If a man is totally devoid of conscience he is without the