PORTRAIT OF THE ANTISEMITE
167
they do not want to change: where would change lead them? This
is an original fear of oneself and a fear of truth. And what frightens
them is not the content of truth which they do not even suspect,
but the very form of the true-that thing of indefinite approximation.
It is as if their very existence were perpetually in suspension. They
want to exist all at once and right away. They do not want acquired
opinions, they want them to be innate; since they are afraid of
reasoning, they want to adopt a mode of life in which reasoning and
research play but a subordinate role, in which one never seeks but
that which one has already found, in which one never becomes other
than what one already was. Only passion can produce this. Nothing
but a strong emotional bias can give instant certitude, it alone can
hold reasoning within limits, it alone can remain impervious to ex–
perience and last an entire lifetime. The antisemite has chosen hate
because hate is a religion: he has originally chosen to devaluate
words and reasons. Since he then feels at ease, since discussions about
the right of the Jew appear futile and empty to him, he has at the
outset placed himself on another level.
If
out of courtesy he consents
momentarily to defend his point of view, he lends himself without
giving himself; he simply tries
to
project his intuitive certainty onto
the field of speech.
A few moments ago I quoted some statements made by anti–
semites, all of them absurd: "I hate Jews because they teach indisci–
pline to servants, because a Jewish furrier robbed me, etc." Do not
think that antisemites are completely . unaware of the absurdity of
these answers. They know that their statements are empty and con–
testable; but it amuses them to make such statements: it is their
adversary whose duty it is to choose his words seriously because he
believes in words. They have a
right
to play. They even like to play
with speech because by putting forth ridiculous reasons, they discredit
the seriousness of their interlocutor; they are enchanted with their
unfairness because for them it is not a question of persuading by
good argument but of intimidating or disorienting.
If
you insist too
much they close up, they point out with one superb word that the
time to argue has passed. Not that they are afraid of being convinced:
their only fear is that they will look ridiculous or that their embar–
rassment will make a bad impression on a third party whom they
want to get on their side. Thus if the antisemite is impervious, a<;
everyone has been able to observe,
to
reason and experience, it is
not because his conviction is so strong, but rather his conviction is
strong because he has chosen to be impervious.
