_] Loth came into this house on my responsibility. Now I want
you to know that he is, to put it mildly, an exceedingly dangerous
fanatic--this Mr. Loth.
HELEN
To hear you saying that of Mr. Loth strikes me as so absurd, so laughably
absurd!
HOFFMANN
And he is a fanatic, furthermore, who has the gift of muddling the heads
not only of women, but even of sensible people,
HELEN
Well, now, you see, that again strikes me as so absurd. I only exchanged
a few words with Mr. Loth and ever since I feel a clearness about things
that does me so much good ...
HOFFMANN
[_In a rebukeful tone._] What I tell you is by no means absurd!
HELEN
One has to have a sense for the absurd, and that's what you haven't.
HOFFMANN
[_In the same manner._] That isn't what we're discussing. I assure you
once more that what I tell you is not at all absurd, but something that I
must ask you to take as actually true ... I have my own experience to
guide me. Notions like that befog one's mind; one rants of universal
brotherhood, of liberty and equality and, of course, transcends every
convention and every moral law.... In those old days, for the sake of
this very nonsense, we were ready to walk over the bodies of our parents
to gain our ends .
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