"
"You are content, as you observed before, to establish a fact?"
"Amply content. I leave the rest to the academicians. And the only fact
we seem to have established is that your notions of morality resemble
my notions of beauty in this one point: neither of them are up to date.
You will have be admire a steam-engine. Why? Because of its delicately
adjusted mechanism, its perfect adaptation to modern needs. So be it. I
will modify my conception of what is fair in appearance. I will admire
your steam-engine, and thereby bring my ideals of beauty up to date.
Will you modify your conception of what is fair in conduct? Will you
admire something more adapted to modern needs than those intemperate
Hebrew doctrines; something with more delicately adjusted mechanism?
The mendicant friar, that flower of Oriental ethics--he is not up to
date. He resembles all Semites. He lacks self-respect. He apologizes
for being alive. It is not pretty--to apologize for being alive!"
The American observed:
"I should say that even our greatest bigots, nowadays, don't take those
old doctrines as seriously as you seem to think.
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