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The pseudo-philosophers of our age tell us that it is the object of the State to promote the moral aims of mankind.  This is not true; it is rather the contrary which is true.  The aim for which mankind exists—­the expression is parabolic—­is not that a man should act in such and such a manner; for all opera operata, things that have actually been done, are in themselves matters of indifference.  No! the aim is that the Will, of which every man is a complete specimen—­nay, is the very Will itself—­should turn whither it needs to turn; that the man himself (the union of Thought and Will) should perceive what this will is, and what horrors it contains; that he should show the reflection of himself in his own deeds, in the abomination of them.  The State, which is wholly concerned with the general welfare, checks the manifestation of the bad will, but in no wise checks the will itself; the attempt would be impossible.  It is because the State checks the manifestation of his will that a man very seldom sees the whole abomination of his nature in the mirror of his deeds.  Or does the reader actually suppose there are no people in the world as bad as Robespierre, Napoleon, or other murderers?  Does he fail to see that there are many who would act like them if only they could?

Many a criminal dies more quietly on the scaffold than many a non-criminal in the arms of his family.  The one has perceived what his will is and has discarded it.  The other has not been able to discard it, because he has never been able to perceive what it is.  The aim of the State is to produce a fool’s paradise, and this is in direct conflict with the true aim of life, namely, to attain a knowledge of what the will, in its horrible nature, really is.

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Napoleon was not really worse than many, not to say most, men.  He was possessed of the very ordinary egoism that seeks its welfare at the expense of others.  What distinguished him was merely the greater power he had of satisfying his will, and greater intelligence, reason and courage; added to which, chance gave him a favourable scope for his operations.  By means of all this he did for his egoism what a thousand other men would like to do for theirs, but cannot.  Every feeble lad who by little acts of villainy gains a small advantage for himself by putting others to some disadvantage, although it may be equally small, is just as bad as Napoleon.

Those who fancy that retribution comes after death would demand that Napoleon should by unutterable torments pay the penalty for all the numberless calamities that he caused.  But he is no more culpable than all those who possess the same will, unaccompanied by the same power.