Without Lifting A Finger

“But permit me to ask you,” the foreign guest resumed after a troubled silence, “what about the proofs of God’s existence? As we know, there are exactly five of them.” “Alas!” Berlioz answered with regret. “None of these proofs is worth a thing, and humanity has long since scrapped them. You must agree that, in the realm of reason, there can be no proof of God’s existence.” “Bravo!” cried the foreigner. “Bravo! These are exactly the words of the restless old Immanuel on this subject. But curiously enough, he demolished all five arguments and then, as if to mock himself, constructed his own sixth one.” “Kant’s argument,” the educated editor countered with a subtle smile, “is equally unconvincing. No wonder Schiller said that only slaves could find Kant’s reasoning on this subject satisfactory. And Strauss simply laughed at his proof.” As Berlioz spoke, he thought to himself, “But still, who is he? And why does he speak Russian so well?” “This Kant ought to be sent to Solovki for three y...

 “I said, among other things,” the prisoner answered, “that every form of authority means coercion over men, and that a time will come when there shall be neither Caesars, nor any other rulers. Man will come into the kingdom of truth and justice, where there will be no need for any authority.”