1. Art Art is a sacred lie. 7. The Satisfaction of Vanity The satisfaction of vanity has an economic value with us. Call me sub-assistant surgeon instead of Hospital Assistant and I am quite contented even if you do not increase my salary. 9. The Power of Belief Belief is a great power. When I see that a proposition of mine is believed by another mind, my own conviction of its truth is thereby immensely increased. 14. Poetry and Logical Truth It is idle to seek logical truth in poetry. The ideal of imagination is beauty, not truth. Do not then try to show a poet’s greatness by quoting passages from his works which, in your opinion, embody scientific truth. 18. Fanaticism All nations accuse us of fanaticism. I admit the charge – I go further and say that we are justified in our fanaticism. Translated in the language of biology fanaticism is nothing but the principle of individuation working in the case of group. In this sense all forms of life are more or less fanatical and ought to be so if they care for their collective life. And as a matter of fact all nations are fanatical. Criticise an Englishman’s religion, he is immovable; but criticise his civilisation, his country or the behaviour of his nation in any sphere of activity and you will bring out his innate fanaticism. The reason is that his nationality does not depend on religion; it has a geographical basis – his country. His fanaticism then is justly roused when you criticise his country. Our position, however, is fundamentally different. With us nationality is a pure idea; it has no material basis. Our only rallying point is a sort of mental agreement in a certain view of the world. If then our fanaticism is roused when our religion is criticised, I think we are as much justified in our fanaticism as an Englishman is when his civilisation is denounced. The feeling in both cases is the same though associated with different objects. Fanaticism is patriotism for religion; patriotism, fanaticism for country. 19. Patriotism Islam appeared as a protest against idolatry. And what is patriotism but a subtle form of idolatry; a deification of a material object. The patriotic songs of various nations will bear me out in my calling patriotism a deification of a material object. Islam could not tolerate idolatry in any form. It is our eternal mission to protest against idolatory in all its forms. What was to be demolished by Islam could not be made the very principle of its structure as a political community. The fact that the Prophet prospered and died in a place not his birthplace is perhaps a mystic hint to the same effect. 24. Right and Might Philosophy is the logic of right, history the logic of might. The cannons of this later logic appear to be more sound than those of her sister logic. 26. Life as Criticism of Poetry Matthew Arnold defines poetry as criticism of life. That life is criticism of poetry is equally true. 45. On Loving One’s Enemy Love is more than elixir. The latter is supposed to turn baser metals into gold; the former turns all the baser passions into itself. Christ and Buddha were absolutely correct in their perception of the nature of love; but in their passion for ethical idealism they ignored the facts of life. It is too much to expect of man to love his enemies. Some extraordinary individuals may have realised this maxim in their life; but as a principle of national morality the maxim clearly falls down. The results of the Russo- Japanese war would have been different if the Japanese had acted on the principles of morality associated with their religion. 46. Ideas Individuals and nations die; but their children, i.e. ideas, never die. 52. The Memory of Man The memory of man is generally bad except for the offences he receives from his fellow men. 57. Wonder Wonder, says Plato, is the mother of all science. Bedil (Mirza Abdul Qadir) looks at the emotion of wonder from a different standpoint. Says he:– "To Plato wonder is valuable because it leads to our questioning of nature; to Bedil it has a value of its own irrespective of its intellectual consequences." It is impossible to express the idea more beautifully than Bedil. 61. The Worth of Things God created things; man created the worth of things. The immortality of a people depends upon their incessant creation of “worths,” said Nietzsche. Things certainly bear the stamp of Divine manufacture; but their meaning is through and through human. 65. The Touch of Power Power toucheth Falsehood, and lo! it is transformed into Truth. 75. Suffering Suffering is a gift from the gods in order to make men see the whole of life. 76. Infinity A mathematician cannot but a poet can enclose infinity in a line. 81. Virtuous People Sin has an educative value of its own. Virtuous people are very often stupid. 83. Success in Life It is determination, not brains, that succeeds in life. 84. To Become A Public Leader If you wish to become a public leader you ought to know how to flirt with the Dame Public. Entertain her with platitudes and, if necessary, with lies.