IV:  IDEALISM

The purest idealism is unconsciously equivalent to the deepest knowledge.

I:11

How necessary it is to keep realizing that idealism does not represent a superfluous expression of sentiment, but that in truth it has been, is, and always will be the premise for what we call human culture—yes, that it alone created the concept, ‘man.’  It is to this inner attitude that the Aryan owes his position in the world, and to it the world owes man. For it alone formed from pure spirit the creative force which, by a unique pairing of the brutal fist and intellectual genius, created the monuments of human culture.

I:11

The Aryan is greatest not in his mental qualities as such, but in the extent of his willingness to put all his abilities in the service of the community.  In him the instinct for self-preservation has reached its noblest form, since he willingly subordinates his own ego to the life of the greater whole and, if the hour demands, even sacrifices it.

I:11

Without his idealistic attitude all, even the most brilliant faculties of the mind, would remain mere intellect as such—outward appearance without inner worth, and never creative force.  But since true idealism is nothing more than the subordination of the interests and life of the individual to the greater whole—and in turn is the precondition for the creation of organizational forms of all kinds—it corresponds in its innermost depths to the ultimate will of Nature.  It alone leads men to a voluntary recognition of the privilege of force and strength, and thus makes them particles of that Order which shapes and forms the entire universe.

I:11

In giving one’s own life for the existence of the community lies the crown of all sense of sacrifice.  It is this alone that prevents what human hands have built from being overthrown by human hands or destroyed by Nature.

I:11

As soon as egoism becomes the ruler of a people, the bands of order are loosened and in the pursuit of their own happiness men fall from heaven into a real hell.

I:1

Indeed, we may therefore state that not only does man live in order to serve higher ideals, but that conversely these higher ideals also provide the premise for his existence as a person.

II:1