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<blockquote data-quote="Naofumi" data-source="post: 47590" data-attributes="member: 39">by the torch of the spoken word cast into the people&#039;s midst. In no casehave great movements been set afoot by the syrupy effusions of literaryaesthetes and drawing-room heroes.A nation&#039;s destiny can be averted only by a storm of hot passion. Butonly those who are passionate themselves can arouse passion in others.It&#039;s only the capacity for passionate feeling that, like hammer blows,will open the door to the hearts of the people.3.23 EFFECT ON THE MASSHe who is incapable of passionate feeling and speech was never chosenby Providence to proclaim its will.Therefore a mere writer should stick to his ink-bottle and busy himselfwith theoretical questions, if he has the requisite ability and knowledge.He has been neither born nor chosen to be a leader.A movement that has great ends to achieve must carefully guard againstthe danger of losing contact with the masses of the people.Every question encountered must be examined primarily from thisviewpoint, and the decision to be made must always be accordingly.The movement must avoid everything that might weaken its power ofinfluencing the masses-not from &#039;demagogic&#039; motives but because of thesimple fact that no great idea, no matter how sublime and exalted it mayappear, can be realized in practice without the effective power of thepopular masses.Hard reality alone must mark the way to the goal. Unwillingness towalk the road of hardship means, only too often in this world, the totalrenunciation of one&#039;s aims and purposes-whether consciously willed ornot.As soon as the pan-German leaders accepted the parliamentaryprinciple and moved the center of their activities away from the people,they sacrificed the future for the sake of a cheap momentary success.They chose the easier way in the struggle, and in doing so renderedthemselves unworthy of final victory.While in Vienna, I used to seriously ponder over these two questions.I saw that the main reason for the collapse of the pan-German movementlay in the fact that these very questions were underappreciated. In myopinion, the movement seemed chosen to lead the German element inAustria.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Naofumi, post: 47590, member: 39"] by the torch of the spoken word cast into the people's midst. In no case have great movements been set afoot by the syrupy effusions of literary aesthetes and drawing-room heroes. A nation's destiny can be averted only by a storm of hot passion. But only those who are passionate themselves can arouse passion in others. It's only the capacity for passionate feeling that, like hammer blows, will open the door to the hearts of the people. 3.23 EFFECT ON THE MASS He who is incapable of passionate feeling and speech was never chosen by Providence to proclaim its will. Therefore a mere writer should stick to his ink-bottle and busy himself with theoretical questions, if he has the requisite ability and knowledge. He has been neither born nor chosen to be a leader. A movement that has great ends to achieve must carefully guard against the danger of losing contact with the masses of the people. Every question encountered must be examined primarily from this viewpoint, and the decision to be made must always be accordingly. The movement must avoid everything that might weaken its power of influencing the masses-not from 'demagogic' motives but because of the simple fact that no great idea, no matter how sublime and exalted it may appear, can be realized in practice without the effective power of the popular masses. Hard reality alone must mark the way to the goal. Unwillingness to walk the road of hardship means, only too often in this world, the total renunciation of one's aims and purposes-whether consciously willed or not. As soon as the pan-German leaders accepted the parliamentary principle and moved the center of their activities away from the people, they sacrificed the future for the sake of a cheap momentary success. They chose the easier way in the struggle, and in doing so rendered themselves unworthy of final victory. While in Vienna, I used to seriously ponder over these two questions. I saw that the main reason for the collapse of the pan-German movement lay in the fact that these very questions were underappreciated. In my opinion, the movement seemed chosen to lead the German element in Austria. [/QUOTE]

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