登陆注册
4619900000018

第18章

But of a Great Man especially, of him I will venture to assert that it is incredible he should have been other than true. It seems to me the primary foundation of him, and of all that can lie in him, this. No Mirabeau, Napoleon, Burns, Cromwell, no man adequate to do anything, but is first of all in right earnest about it; what I call a sincere man. I should say _sincerity_, a deep, great, genuine sincerity, is the first characteristic of all men in any way heroic. Not the sincerity that calls itself sincere;ah no, that is a very poor matter indeed;--a shallow braggart conscious sincerity; oftenest self-conceit mainly. The Great Man's sincerity is of the kind he cannot speak of, is not conscious of: nay, I suppose, he is conscious rather of insincerity; for what man can walk accurately by the law of truth for one day? No, the Great Man does not boast himself sincere, far from that; perhaps does not ask himself if he is so: I would say rather, his sincerity does not depend on himself; he cannot help being sincere! The great Fact of Existence is great to him. Fly as he will, he cannot get out of the awful presence of this Reality. His mind is so made;he is great by that, first of all. Fearful and wonderful, real as Life, real as Death, is this Universe to him. Though all men should forget its truth, and walk in a vain show, he cannot. At all moments the Flame-image glares in upon him; undeniable, there, there!--I wish you to take this as my primary definition of a Great Man. A little man may have this, it is competent to all men that God has made: but a Great Man cannot be without it.

Such a man is what we call an _original_ man; he comes to us at first-hand.

A messenger he, sent from the Infinite Unknown with tidings to us. We may call him Poet, Prophet, God;--in one way or other, we all feel that the words he utters are as no other man's words. Direct from the Inner Fact of things;--he lives, and has to live, in daily communion with that. Hearsays cannot hide it from him; he is blind, homeless, miserable, following hearsays; _it_ glares in upon him. Really his utterances, are they not a kind of "revelation;"--what we must call such for want of some other name?

It is from the heart of the world that he comes; he is portion of the primal reality of things. God has made many revelations: but this man too, has not God made him, the latest and newest of all? The "inspiration of the Almighty giveth him understanding:" we must listen before all to him.

This Mahomet, then, we will in no wise consider as an Inanity and Theatricality, a poor conscious ambitious schemer; we cannot conceive him so. The rude message he delivered was a real one withal; an earnest confused voice from the unknown Deep. The man's words were not false, nor his workings here below; no Inanity and Simulacrum; a fiery mass of Life cast up from the great bosom of Nature herself. To _kindle_ the world; the world's Maker had ordered it so. Neither can the faults, imperfections, insincerities even, of Mahomet, if such were never so well proved against him, shake this primary fact about him.

On the whole, we make too much of faults; the details of the business hide the real centre of it. Faults? The greatest of faults, I should say, is to be conscious of none. Readers of the Bible above all, one would think, might know better. Who is called there "the man according to God's own heart"? David, the Hebrew King, had fallen into sins enough; blackest crimes; there was no want of sins. And thereupon the unbelievers sneer and ask, Is this your man according to God's heart? The sneer, I must say, seems to me but a shallow one. What are faults, what are the outward details of a life; if the inner secret of it, the remorse, temptations, true, often-baffled, never-ended struggle of it, be forgotten? "It is not in man that walketh to direct his steps." Of all acts, is not, for a man, _repentance_ the most divine? The deadliest sin, I say, were that same supercilious consciousness of no sin;--that is death; the heart so conscious is divorced from sincerity, humility and fact; is dead: it is "pure" as dead dry sand is pure. David's life and history, as written for us in those Psalms of his, I consider to be the truest emblem ever given of a man's moral progress and warfare here below. All earnest souls will ever discern in it the faithful struggle of an earnest human soul towards what is good and best. Struggle often baffled, sore baffled, down as into entire wreck; yet a struggle never ended; ever, with tears, repentance, true unconquerable purpose, begun anew. Poor human nature! Is not a man's walking, in truth, always that: "a succession of falls"? Man can do no other. In this wild element of a Life, he has to struggle onwards; now fallen, deep-abased; and ever, with tears, repentance, with bleeding heart, he has to rise again, struggle again still onwards. That his struggle _be_a faithful unconquerable one: that is the question of questions. We will put up with many sad details, if the soul of it were true. Details by themselves will never teach us what it is. I believe we misestimate Mahomet's faults even as faults: but the secret of him will never be got by dwelling there. We will leave all this behind us; and assuring ourselves that he did mean some true thing, ask candidly what it was or might be.

同类推荐
  • 梁朝傅大士颂金刚经

    梁朝傅大士颂金刚经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 谈天篇

    谈天篇

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 拟太平策序

    拟太平策序

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • Jewel

    Jewel

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • Captain Brassbound's Conversion

    Captain Brassbound's Conversion

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 霸道总裁乖乖妻

    霸道总裁乖乖妻

    李一诺和乔一轩是前世在仙界有着深厚情缘的两个人,再次转世轮回,他们在都市再次重逢,李一诺是一个乖乖女,而乔一轩,自从年少便承担起家里的重担,经营着家族企业,虽然还在上学,但是已经是最年轻的总裁,冷漠而霸道。就这样,乖乖女和霸道总裁相遇了,会发生什么事情,我们拭目以待。
  • 血斩九霄

    血斩九霄

    乾坤大陆,万年的和平致使部分势力崛起,影响了大陆的平衡,风云再起,大陆之间纷争不断,位面之间的战争也顺势而起。为了保护家园以及家人,古桥和兄弟们不得不与尘世的众多大势力抗争。
  • 银弦:谁名杰克

    银弦:谁名杰克

    重新投入恋爱可以治愈分手之伤?玛丽莎在赌场里做花旗骰(craps)的庄荷(dealer),而在那个令她心碎、再也不想忆及的瞬间之后,她自己的生活也变得一团糟(crap)了。她最好的朋友告诉她,再次恋爱就能治愈分手之伤,别无他法之下,玛丽莎决定采取这个建议。然而,杰克(什么,再说一遍他的名字?)并不是那种传统意义上的、可以使女孩报复前男友的好对象。眼下就有太多的女人对杰克投怀送抱、自荐枕席。玛丽莎对杰克的公众身份一无所知,然而尽管她最初没打算投怀送抱,她还是与杰克发生了一夜情。和杰克分开5分钟后,玛丽莎就没指望会再见到他,她决定从此开始新的生活、做全新的自己。
  • 惊蛰

    惊蛰

    张漠死了。他是跳楼死的。下午放学后,有人在男生宿舍旁的小花园里发现了他。他面朝下,两条胳臂别在身后,头上有个拳头大小的窟窿。当时,那窟窿还在汩汩地往外冒血,周围地上红的白的一片狼藉。张漠的死像一记炸雷打破了死寂的校园。学校里认识与不认识的、知情与不知情的人,奔走相告,个个说得煞有介事,如亲见一般。那两个发现尸体的女生,在短暂的惊恐之后,马上以第一目击证人的身份一遍一遍不厌其烦地发布着最权威的陈述。
  • 江西九人诗选

    江西九人诗选

    《江西九人诗选》是由熊国太主编,汇集汪峰、三子、饶祖明、聂迪、林莉、吴素贞、傅菲、圻子、熊国太等九位诗人的代表性诗歌而成的一部现代诗歌集。收录的作品包括:甘蔗、草帽的火焰、荷花、写在宗谱上、二胡、唢呐、梅、蝴蝶·李清照等。
  • 陌上花开缓缓行

    陌上花开缓缓行

    人世韶光,何其忽然?人生际遇,何其偶然!与其独自向隅,击磐敲钟,以生的快乐作修束,去叩问佛祖苍天,谋求来世幸福,不如好好的活在当下,珍惜所得,珍惜拥有,感受现实和现世的欢乐。入山参禅,出山归凡,如此,则幸福无处不在。
  • 思路决定出路

    思路决定出路

    世上没有不转弯的路,人的思路也一样,它需要面对不同的境况和时代不断地进行转换,循规守旧就会停滞不前,最后被时代淘汰出局。在思路上会转弯,是对颓丧、失意的自我否定,不固守旧框架,不封闭新出路,这样才会在生活上、事业上有好的前程。假如我们现在走的是一条窘迫之路,也不要灰心丧气,在迷茫困惑中及时转弯,会转弯思路才通畅,会转弯才会有出路。
  • 锦浊年

    锦浊年

    敲黑板!坑甜且稳,入股不亏,来都来了,收藏否?【伪病娇杀手徒弟甜宠撒糖】VS【霸气十足宠徒女师父】怎样心不心动?(灵魂拷问)◆起床“大枕头~我的鞋呢?”“这儿这儿这儿!!!”(嗯,满意~)◆工作“我们的口号是什么?”“为名除害,啊呸,拿钱消灾……”(深得我心)◆睡觉“我们睡一起?”她停了停,“那我们只能一起睡午觉……”“为啥??”“不然早晚……”——————————顺便强推一下隔壁《闪耀世家》右瑶vs傅瑾年娱乐圈当红大佬vs经纪公司顶头大boss等你来敲!
  • 娇妻太萌:慕少放肆撩

    娇妻太萌:慕少放肆撩

    BOOS夫人跟打架了,阿卓哆哆嗦嗦的说“什么”她跟人打架了,那你来告诉我干什么?还不去帮忙?走!慕容轩拿起自己的外套就往外走,上了车一直开到那家咖啡店的门。打开车们迈开他那笔直的长腿,刚进店里就看见……
  • 英雄联盟之刀锋再启

    英雄联盟之刀锋再启

    什么?刀妹重做了?听到这个消息的林若连忙跑去网吧,结果,一局游戏没有结束,他就被带到了瓦罗兰大陆。迎接他的,竟是刀锋意志,艾瑞莉娅……大陆浩劫降临,而林若,竟然是拯救瓦罗兰的唯一希望,跟随着刀锋意志,林若便开始了,他在瓦罗兰大陆的闯荡之旅……【故事套用英雄联盟背景,并不完全相同,不喜见谅】