पृष्ठ 616 / 1294

But if such a one is forced for the sake of his idea to step over

a corpse or wade through blood, he can, I maintain, find within

himself, in his conscience, a sanction for wading through

blood--that depends on the idea and its dimensions, note that.

It's only in that sense I speak of their right to crime in my

article (you remember it began with the legal question). There's

no need for such anxiety, however; the masses will scarcely ever

admit this right, they punish them or hang them (more or less),

and in doing so fulfil quite justly their conservative vocation.

But the same masses set these criminals on a pedestal in the next

generation and worship them (more or less). The first category is

always the man of the present, the second the man of the future.

The first preserve the world and people it, the second move the

world and lead it to its goal. Each class has an equal right to

exist.