November 11

Moral perfection is unattainable, but the movement towards it is the law of human life.

1

A moral law does not exist if I cannot fulfill it. People say: we are born egotists, miserly and lustful, and we cannot be any other way.

No, we can. Our first task is to feel with our heart what it is that we must be. And this feeling will give us strength.

— Solter

2

You are free agents, and you can sense it. All the possible sophisms of that pitiful philosophy, which attempts to counter the loud voice of human conscience and human consciousness with fatalistic teachings, lacked the power to silence the two incorruptible witnesses of human freedom: pangs of guilt and the greatness of martyrdom. From Socrates to Christ, and from Christ right up to the people who from one century to the next sacrifice their lives for truth, all the martyrs of faith protest against this slavish teaching and loudly tell us: “We too loved life and all the people that made our life beautiful, the people who begged us to end our struggle. Our every heartbeat loudly appealed to us: live! But in order to fulfill our duty we chose death.” And from Cain right up to the most pitiful spy of our days, all betrayers and traitors, having chosen the path of evil, hear in the depth of their soul the voice of judgement and reproach, a voice that gives them no respite, a voice forever repeating: “Why did you turn away from the true path? You are free agents and, consequently, you are responsible for your actions.”

— Giuseppe Mazzini

3

If you are asking “what is to be done?” then allow me to answer: you are powerless to do anything the way you are. The task that now stands before you consists in the possibility of ceasing to be an empty echo of your own and other people’s vanity and frivolity and of becoming a soul that, if not great, is at least honest. You must take a look into yourself and make sure that there is even a trace of a soul there. Until then, nothing is possible. O, brothers, we must, as far as possible, restore within ourselves a soul and a conscience, replace our frivolity with sincerity and our dead, stone hearts with living ones! Only then will we begin to comprehend the endless series of good deeds that await us in a more or less clear sequence. Take the first step and the second will be easier, clearer and more doable.

— Carlyle

4

A man dropped a precious pearl into the sea and, in order to retrieve it, began scooping water with a bucket. The spirit of the sea appeared and asked him: “Are you going to stop any time soon?” The man replied: “When I drain the sea and get my pearl back.” The spirit of the sea brought him his pearl.

External consequences are not under our control but how much effort we make is, and effort is always accompanied by beneficial inner consequences.