here is need for men to carry on a fight not for pro-German or anti-German sympathy but for anti-war sentiment. Deeper than that, it is ant-use-of-physicaforce. that needs advocacy, or—what you pointed out as the heart of the whole matter—anti-self-preservation. The Belgian Poet Maeterlinck says that 'self-preservation is the profoundest of all our instincts'. Surely he thought very superficially. —Of course we may agree with him that self-preservation is the profoundest instinct, but many men have in all ages found many claims more insistent than that of self-preservation. Self-preservation is not the profoundest motive of human action. Men will die for duty, honor, love, etc, even for revenge. The individual must be willing to sacrifice life for duty and honor. Must not the state also? Do not claims of duty and honor and the ideal of the Brotherhood of States appeal to govemments as well as to individuals? They do, but their appeal has either not been recognized or the way to answer their appeal has not been lollowed. The idea of self-preservation must be challenged!
In your letter you say "We must take the attitude of non-resistance, not as the expedient attitude, but as the right attitude". I have carried out this thought in my article which I have called "Effective Resistance to War". I do not believe in "non-resistance". At 1east I don't like the term. It's flabby and weak. I like better the term "Effective Resistance". Resistance by means of physical force is the leasf effective means of resistance. Ordinarily the world thinks that a man who uses some form of force other than physical with which to resist, is merely a non-resister. Most of the world thinks only with material or physical conceptions. Spiritual resistance, the resistance of forgiving one's enemies, of "turning the other cheek", etc, is the most positive and effective kind of resistance. …
你的来信赞赏我在《新共和》上发表的文章，使我极为高兴。在我需要支持之时，你给了我莫大的鼓励。这说明至少还有一个读者能以清晰的眼光看清这个道理，这使我相信还会有其他人也能接受。对于你信中所表示的诚意我极为感谢。
【打 印】 【来源：读书之家-dushuzhijia.com】
