Romain Rolland, Jean-Christophe, translated form the French by Gilbert Cannan (Nw York The Modern Library, 1913).
From Jean-Christophe--I, "Morning":
"He saw that Life was a battle without armistice, without mercy, in which he who wishes to be a man worthy of the name of a man must forever fight agents whole armies of invisible enemies; against the murderous forces of Nature, uneasy desires, dark thoughts, treacherously leading him to degradation and destruction. He saw that he had been on the point of falling into the trap. He saw that happiness and love were only the friends of a moment to lead the heart to disarm and abdicate. And the little puritan of fifteen heard the voice of his God:
'Go, go, and never rest.'
'But whither Lord, shall I go? Whatsoever I do whithersoever I go, is not the end always the same? Is not the end of all things in that?'
'Go on to Death you who must die! Go and suffer, you who must suffer! You do not live to be happy. You live to fulfil my Law. Suffer; die. But be what you must be--a Man.'"
Id. at 211.
