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Unamuno, Miguel de, 1864-1936

"Tragic Sense Of Life"

And for
"Thou shalt not kill!" let us understand, "Thou shalt give life and
increase it!" And for "Thou shalt not steal!" let us say, "Thou shalt
increase the general wealth!" And for "Thou shalt not commit adultery!"
"Thou shalt give children, healthy, strong, and good, to thy country and
to heaven!" And thus with all the other commandments.
He who does not lose his life shall not find it. Give yourself then to
others, but in order to give yourself to them, first dominate them. For
it is not possible to dominate except by being dominated. Everyone
nourishes himself upon the flesh of that which he devours. In order that
you may dominate your neighbour you must know and love him. It is by
attempting to impose my ideas upon him that I become the recipient of
his ideas. To love my neighbour is to wish that he may be like me, that
he may be another I--that is to say, it is to wish that I may be he; it
is to wish to obliterate the division between him and me, to suppress
the evil. My endeavour to impose myself upon another, to be and live in
him and by him, to make him mine--which is the same as making myself
his--is that which gives religious meaning to human collectivity, to
human solidarity.
The feeling of solidarity originates in myself; since I am a society, I
feel the need of making myself master of human society; since I am a
social product, I must socialize myself, and from myself I proceed to
God--who is I projected to the All--and from God to each of my
neighbours.


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