THE POSSESSED
Shatov - And he who has no people has no God. You may be sure that all who cease to understand their own people and lose their connection with them at once lose to the same extent the faith of their fathers, and become atheistic or indifferent. P. 30
"That's no matter. The other world; only the other world." "Are there no atheists, such as don't believe in the other world at all?" Again he did not answer. "You judge from yourself, perhaps." "Every one cannot judge except from himself," he said, reddening. "There will be full freedom when it will be just the same to live or not to live. That's the goal for all." "The goal? But perhaps no one will care to live then?" "No one," he pronounced with decision. "Man fears death because he loves life. That's how I understand it," I observed, "and that's determined by nature." "That's abject; and that's where the deception comes in." His eyes flashed. "Life is pain, life is terror, and man is unhappy. Now all is pain and terror. Now man loves life, because he loves pain and terror, and so they have done according. Life is given now for pain and terror, and that's the deception. Now man is not yet what he will be. There will be a new man, happy and proud. For whom it will be the same to live or not to live, he will be the new man. He who will conquer pain and terror will himself be a god. And this God will not be." "Then this God does exist according to you?" "He does not exist, but He is. In the stone there is no pain, but in the fear of the stone is the pain. God is the pain of the fear of death. He who will conquer pain and terror will become himself a god. Then there will be a new life, a new man; everything will be new... then they will divide history into two parts: from the gorilla to the annihilation of God, and from the annihilation of God to..." "To the gorilla?" "... To the transformation of the earth, and of man physically. Man will be God, and will be transformed physically, and the world will be 108 The Possessed By Fyodor Dostoevsky www.globalgrey.co.uk transformed and things will be transformed and thoughts and all feelings. What do you think: will man be changed physically then?" "If it will be just the same living or not living, all will kill themselves, and perhaps that's what the change will be?" "That's no matter. They will kill deception. Every one who wants the supreme freedom must dare to kill himself. He who dares to kill himself has found out the secret of the deception. There is no freedom beyond; that is all, and there is nothing beyond. He who dares kill himself is God. Now every one can do so that there shall be no God and shall be nothing. But no one has once done it yet." "There have been millions of suicides." "But always not for that; always with terror and not for that object. Not to kill fear. He who kills himself only to kill fear will become a god at once." P. 107
Shatov - And he who has no people has no God. You may be sure that all who cease to understand their own people and lose their connection with them at once lose to the same extent the faith of their fathers, and become atheistic or indifferent. P. 30
"That's no matter. The other world; only the other world." "Are there no atheists, such as don't believe in the other world at all?" Again he did not answer. "You judge from yourself, perhaps." "Every one cannot judge except from himself," he said, reddening. "There will be full freedom when it will be just the same to live or not to live. That's the goal for all." "The goal? But perhaps no one will care to live then?" "No one," he pronounced with decision. "Man fears death because he loves life. That's how I understand it," I observed, "and that's determined by nature." "That's abject; and that's where the deception comes in." His eyes flashed. "Life is pain, life is terror, and man is unhappy. Now all is pain and terror. Now man loves life, because he loves pain and terror, and so they have done according. Life is given now for pain and terror, and that's the deception. Now man is not yet what he will be. There will be a new man, happy and proud. For whom it will be the same to live or not to live, he will be the new man. He who will conquer pain and terror will himself be a god. And this God will not be." "Then this God does exist according to you?" "He does not exist, but He is. In the stone there is no pain, but in the fear of the stone is the pain. God is the pain of the fear of death. He who will conquer pain and terror will become himself a god. Then there will be a new life, a new man; everything will be new... then they will divide history into two parts: from the gorilla to the annihilation of God, and from the annihilation of God to..." "To the gorilla?" "... To the transformation of the earth, and of man physically. Man will be God, and will be transformed physically, and the world will be 108 The Possessed By Fyodor Dostoevsky www.globalgrey.co.uk transformed and things will be transformed and thoughts and all feelings. What do you think: will man be changed physically then?" "If it will be just the same living or not living, all will kill themselves, and perhaps that's what the change will be?" "That's no matter. They will kill deception. Every one who wants the supreme freedom must dare to kill himself. He who dares to kill himself has found out the secret of the deception. There is no freedom beyond; that is all, and there is nothing beyond. He who dares kill himself is God. Now every one can do so that there shall be no God and shall be nothing. But no one has once done it yet." "There have been millions of suicides." "But always not for that; always with terror and not for that object. Not to kill fear. He who kills himself only to kill fear will become a god at once." P. 107
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