Nevertheless,... one has to wait for individuals to come forward who, despite outward gifts, do not choose the broad way but rather the pain, the distress, and the anxiety in which they reflect religiously upon, and as though for a time lose, what it is surely only seductive to possess. Such a struggle is no doubt very exhausting, because there will be moments when they come close to regretting having started, and, yes, sorrowfully, perhaps sometimes almost to the point of despair, recall the smiling life that would have awaited them if they had followed the immediate urge of their talent. Yet, unquestionably, in the extreme dismay of distress, when it is as though all was lost because the way along which he would now push forward is impassable, and it is he himself who has cut off the smiling way of talent, the attentive person will hear a voice saying: Well done, my son! Just keep on, for he who loses all, gains all.
We would now consider a religious genius, that is, one who does not remain in his immediacy. Whether he, at any time, turns himself outward remains for him a later question. The first thing he does is to turn toward himself. Just as the immediate genius has fate as the figure that follows him, so this one has guilt. In turning toward himself, he eo ipso turns toward God, and there is an established ceremonial rule that says that when the finite spirit would see God, then it must begin as guilty. In turning toward himself, he discovers guilt. The greater the genius, the more profoundly is guilt discovered. The fact that for the spiritless this should be folly is for me a delight and a joyful sign. The genius is not like most people, and is not content with being so. The reason is not that he disdains people; it is because primitively he has to do with himself, while other people and their explanations are of no help one way or the other.