ROBESPIERRE. Doesn't the life you lead wear you out?
SAINT-JUST [sincerely, but without emphasis]. It affords me some rest from useless discussion. Thought and action out there are identical, like thunder and lightning. Every desire immediately becomes a fact, forever; it is written in the blood of men and the destiny of the world. The task is a truly grand one, and the agony divine! At night, in the snow, at the out-posts of the army, along the weary stretches of the Flemish plain, under the vast winter sky, I feel a thrill of joy run through my body, and my heart's blood throb in my breast. Alone, lost in the midst of the shadows of the Universe, surrounded by enemies, with one foot in the grave, we are the guardians of Reason, the living Light. We are decisive factors in the destiny of the world. We re-create Man.
ROBESPIERRE. Happy the man who strives on the field of action, and is not forced to stay at home.
SAINT-JUST. Who strives more than you? The liberty of the world is here in Paris.
ROBESPIERRE. Here we have the agonizing task of stamping out viciousness. It soils every one who takes part in the nasty business. I must confess, when I contemplate the vicious crimes which the torrent of the Revolution rolls along with all its virtue, I am afraid that I shall catch up some of the nastiness and be identified with it in the eyes of posterity. Merely because I am near perverse and impure men.
SAINT-JUST. Put the sword between yourself and them. You should touch the impure only with steel.
ROBESPIERRE. The corruption is spreading everywhere. Men I counted on most have succumbed. Old friends.
SAINT-JUST. No friends! We have only the Patrie!
ROBESPIERRE. Danton is a menace; he is under suspicion. He has uttered violent and insulting words. He is surrounded by conspirators, debauchees, ruined financiers, degraded officers. Every sort of malcontent has joined his forces.
SAINT-JUST. Danton must go!