10 -------------------------------------------------------------------- People : ---------------------------------- Author : Leo Tolstoy : A Letter to Russian Liberals Text : ---------------------------------- ...these highly-enlightened and honest people have to begin to compromise, and so, little by little, come to consider that for a good end one may swerve somewhat from truth in word and deed. For instance, that one may, though not believing in the established Church, take part in its ceremonies; may take oaths; may, when necessary for the success of some affair, present petitions couched in language which is untruthful and derogatory to man's natural dignity; may enter the army; may take part in a Local Government which h as been stripped of all its powers; may serve as a master or a professor, teaching not what one considers necessary one's self, but what one is told to teach by the Government; that one may even become a Zemsky Natchalnik submitting to Governmental demands and instructions which violate one's conscience ; may edit newspapers and periodicals, remaining silent about what ought to be mentioned, and printing what one is ordered to print : and entering into these compromises-the limits of which cannot be foreseen-enlightened and honest people, who alone could form some barrier to the infringements of human liberty by the Government, retreating, little by little, further and further from the demands of conscience, fall at last into a position of complete dependency on the Government. They receive rewards and salaries from it, and, continuing to imagine that they are forwarding Liberal ideas, become the humble servants and supporters of the very order against which they set out to fight. Events : ---------------------------------- 10 -- Added : April 05, 2020 10 -- Updated : June 04, 2022 About This Textfile : ---------------------------------- Text file generated from : http://RevoltSource.com/