Page:Tolstoy - Demands of Love and Reason.djvu/41

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
38
DEMANDS OF LOVE

REASON AND LOVE.

(From the Private Diary).

In order to fulfil the will of God one must do His work. To do His work two things are necessary-not separately but together: Reason and Love are necessary, Truth and Righteousness are necessary. It is necessary that Reason should be loving, that is, that its object should be Love;—and that Love should be reasonable, that is, that it should not be in contradiction with Reason.

An example of an incongruity in the former case is the scientific activity of Reason: the investigation of the Milky Way, of metaphysical niceties, natural sciences. Art for Art's sake. An example of the latter is exclusive love—of one woman, one's children, one's nation—a love which has as its object not spiritual but animal welfare.

The fruit of the activity of Reason is Truth. The fruit of the activity of Love is Righteousness. But in order that there should be fruit it is necessary that both activities coincide.

Righteousness will be produced only by reasonable love, verified by truth; and Truth—only by loving reason having as its aim Righteousness.

All this I have not invented, but have seen. *****