This is the morality of the dread agents of the world--it is mine, who am their creature.

I would preserve the delusions of priestcraft, for they are serviceable to the multitude; I would impart to man the arts I discover, the sciences I perfect; I would speed the vast career of civilizing lore: in this I serve the mass, I fulfill the general law, I execute the great moral that Nature preaches.

For myself I claim the individual exception; I claim it for the wise--satisfied that my individual actions are nothing in the great balance of good and evil; satisfied that the product of my knowledge can give greater blessings to the mass than my desires can operate evil on the few (for the first can extend to remotest regions and humanize nations yet unborn), I give to the world wisdom, to myself freedom.

I enlighten the lives of others, and I enjoy my own.

Yes; our wisdom is eternal, but our life is short: make the most of it while it lasts.