notes from underground

If one takes the sayings of the New Testament not as commandments but as expressions of an extraordinarily profound wisdom about the secrets of our souls, then the wisest saying that was ever uttered, the brief statement of the whole art of living and pursuit of happiness is “Love thy neighbor as thyself,” which, by the way, is to be found in the Old Testament as well. One can love his neighbor less than himself—then he becomes an egoist, a profiteer, a capitalist, a bourgeois, and can, of course, acquire money and power but not a truly happy heart, for the finest, most delicious joys of the soul are locked away from him. Or one can love one’s neighbor more than oneself—then he becomes a poor devil full of inferiority feelings, longing to love everything but still full of rancor and discontent toward himself, and living in a hell that he himself daily makes hotter. On the other hand, the equilibrium of love, the ability to love without being at fault here and there, this love for oneself that is not stolen from anyone, this love for others that does not diminish one’s own I or do violence to it! The secret of all happiness, all blessedness is in this saying. And if one wishes, one can turn it to its Hindu side and give it the meaning: Love your neighbor for he is yourself! A Christian translation of tat tvam asi (that art thou). Ah, all wisdom is so simple, has been so precisely and unambiguously expressed and formulated for so long! Why does it belong to us only at times, only on the good days, why not always?