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Herman Hesse, Demian
(1919)
"...Genuine communion is a beautiful
thing. But what we see flourishing everywhere is nothing of the
kind. The real spirit will come from the knowledge that separate
individuals have of one another and for a time it will transform
the world. The community spirit at present
is only a manifestation of the herd instinct. Men fly into each
other's arms because they are afraid of each other—the
owners are for themselves, the workers for themselves, the scholars
for themselves! And why are they afraid? You are only afraid if
you are not in harmony with yourself. People are afraid because
they have never owned up to themselves. A whole society composed
of men afraid of the unknown within them! They all sense that the
rules they live by are no longer valid, that they live according
to archaic laws—neither their religion nor their morality is
in any way suited to the needs of the present. For a hundred years
or more Europe has done nothing but study and build factories! They
know exactly how many ounces of powder it takes to kill a man but
they don't know how to pray to God, they don't even know how to
be happy for a single contented hour. Just take a look at a student
dive! Or a resort where the rich congregate. It's hopeless. Dear
Sinclair, nothing good can come of all of this. These people who
huddle together in fear are filled with dread and malice, no one
trusts the other. They hanker after ideals that are ideals no longer
but they will hound the man to death who sets up a new one. I can
feel the approaching conflict. It's coming, believe me, and soon.
Of course it will not 'improve' the world. Whether the workers kill
the manufacturers or whether Germany makes war on Russia will merely
mean a change of ownership. But it won't have been entirely in vain.
It will reveal the bankruptcy of present-day ideals, there will
be a sweeping away of Stone Age gods. The world, as it is now,
wants to die, wants to perish—and it will." |
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