V. NOBLE SOULS
KANT somewhere suggests that all the natural capacities of a being were intended completely to unfold, at some time, along the line of some definite purpose, but that in man (the only reasonable being on earth) the capacities intended for the use of the reason can be unfolded completely only in the race, and not in every particular individual.
But since this does not come about quite of itself, the conclusion would necessarily follow that there must always be separate individuals who are specially called, to bring about for the whole of humanity this development to a higher stage of its existence—with the proviso that they shall also have willed to devote themselves to this purpose and, to this end, to set aside all other personal aims. And even the further conclusion would seem to be justified that no single human life would fully suffice for this, but that rather a certain bequeathal of this mission from hand to hand would be possible and fitting.
With this intent, the Mosaic legislation cherished the magnificent plan of lifting a whole tribe out of the ordinary conditions of the life of the nation, and devoting it to this, the noblest of the activities. Very significantly, this tribe was forbidden the possession of property; the Lord alone should be their inheritance, and every pious Israelite was obliged, in the interest of the whole, to help support them with the tenth part of his income (which, however, he could bestow on any Levite he chose). Whether such an arrangement could be realized in any of our modern states, and whether (and this is the important point) it could be kept up indefinitely as established, might be very questionable. But the certainty remains that every human society needs, for its preservation, some such kind of salt, without which it would the more easily fall into corruption. This salt is—the “noble souls.”
Doubtless Christianity, at the beginning, had the intention of requiring such a temper of soul of every one of its followers. But we have since become much more modest in our demands on Christendom in its entirety; we have been driven to say that there exist certain higher claims than the ordinary ones laid on everybody, but that these higher claims shall never require, so long as the world stands, an artificial, castelike order of men, but rather men who will accept them in a spirit of perfect freedom and even joy; and all thoughts of a specially privileged position resting on these claims, and all consequent feelings of superiority, must be completely shut out.
Thus this aristocracy has the advantage over all others in that it is immediately accessible to all and that every one may become the founder of an aristocratic family after this sort. Nor will there ever be much crowding to get into this aristocracy, but nearly every one will be ready to yield this place to the modern Levites, if only they, in return, will give up the eager competition for other advantages.
Noble souls, therefore, are those who completely renounce the chief aim of ordinary souls, the personal enjoyment of life, in order that they may devote themselves the more effectively to the elevation of the whole race.
The ready objection, that both can perhaps be combined, may well be disputed. Unless one purposely closes his eyes, his experience will rather show that this is not the case; and any proof other than experience will convince no one on this point. Nor can we yet really believe in any transformation and elevation of the whole of Christendom through anything that may happen in the future. Christendom, at least at first, can be regenerated only by the gradual formation once more of such a band of volunteers within it as will earnestly and literally accept the demands of the Christian faith—more earnestly than (in a purely practical sense) is possible to the majority of the souls comprising Christendom, or than, at least for the present, can be expected of them. The danger lurking therein, that a new Pharisaism might spring from it, is a real one; but the danger is lessened because this conception of life could remain on a purely individual basis, without taking any outward or organized form. It appears in general to be a characteristic mark of the present evolution of Christianity that, apart from all essential improvements in its outward form, it is going first to develop again from within into an “invisible church,” into a kingdom that truly is not of this world. To explain this, however, is not the purpose of this chapter; it would rather contradict this chapter’s leading thought, that it is first of all a duty for the individual to proceed to his own transformation. The question for us here, therefore, is only this: What are the necessary characteristics of a truly noble soul? What are the chief obstacles that stand in the way of this extraordinary guidance of the spirit? And finally, is it possible in our day, and is it worth the trouble, to strive after this goal? What will they, who do thus, receive?
The opposite to “noble” is not “bad” or “vicious” (though these are not noble), but “little, narrow-hearted, provincial, thinking only of small aims in life and only of oneself or of one’s immediate surroundings.” A broad vision, a large heart for all, indifference for one’s own self, care for others—all these are noble. Fearlessness is an essential element; also the not allowing oneself to be imposed upon by anything in the world, under any circumstances. This latter characteristic the genuine nobility has in common with the false, though in a pleasanter form and united with a sincere esteem for what is truly honorable, an esteem that the spurious nobility lacks. Another element is a certain finer cleanliness of spirit. No longer to be an animal in any direction, no longer in any way to favor the merely physical being—this is our real calling, which we are to learn here on earth that we may pursue it hereafter. When the soul stands firmly upon this level (and it seldom reaches it in one generation), what is vulgar becomes, to noble souls, unnatural and therefore physically repugnant; while, at the lower level of development, it still charms and entices, though it may spiritually be already overcome.