And
this not because I have not the power or the right words. It is rather
because I am hindered by something that I cannot overcome. I would
find words biting, heavy, and pointed enough to fling them in the face
of the man-haters, but for that purpose I must descend into a kind of
filthy pit. I must put myself on a level with people whom I do not
respect and for whom I have an organic aversion.
I am inclined to think that anti-Semitism is indisputable, just as
leprosy and syphilis are, and that the world will be cured of this
shameful disease only by culture, which sets us free, slowly but
surely, from ailments and vices.
Of course, this does not relieve me of the duty to combat in every way
the development of anti-Semitism and, according to my powers, to
preserve people from getting infected by it. The Jew of to-day is dear
to me, and I feel myself guilty before him, for I am one of those who
tolerate the oppression of the Jewish nation, the great nation, whom
some of the most prominent Western thinkers consider, as a psychical
type, higher and more beautiful than the Russian.
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