"What you say is true. But
there's one item you overlook. A man is born with, say, certain
predispositions. Once he recognizes and classifies them, he can begin
to exercise his will, his individual determination. If our existence
was ordered in advance by destiny, dictated by some all-conscious,
omnipotent intelligence, we might as well sit down and fold our hands.
But we still have a chance. Free will is an exploded theory, in so far
as it purposes to explain human action in a general sense. Men are
biologically different. In some weakness is inherent, in others
determination. The weak man succumbs when he is beset. The strong man
struggles desperately. The man who consciously grasps and understands
his own weaknesses can combat an evil which will destroy a man of
lesser perception, lesser will; because the intelligent man will avoid
what he can't master. He won't butt his head against a stone wall
either intellectually, emotionally, or physically. If the thing is
beyond him and he knows it is beyond him, he will not waste himself in
vain effort.
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