Let me but seek what I have to seek,
and I shall find. Let me but inquire whereof I have to inquire, and I
shall receive answer.
[Illustration: JOHANN GOTTLIEB FICHTE]
I
That voice in my interior, which I believe, and for the sake of which
I believe all else that I believe, commands me not merely to act in
the abstract. That is impossible. All these general propositions
are formed only by my voluntary attention and reflection directed to
various facts; but they do not express a single fact of themselves.
This voice of my conscience prescribes to me with certainty, in each
particular situation of my existence, what I must do and what I must
avoid in that situation. It accompanies me, if I will but listen to it
with attention, through all the events of my life, and never refuses
its reward where I am called to act. It establishes immediate
conviction, and irresistibly compels my assent. It is impossible for
me to contend against it.
To harken to that voice, honestly and dispassionately, without
fear and without useless speculation to obey it--this is my sole
destination, this the whole aim of my existence. My life ceases to
be an empty sport, without truth or meaning. There is something to be
done, simply because it must be done--namely, that which conscience
demands of me who find myself in this particular position. I exist
solely in order that it may be fulfilled.
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