Besides, if we attribute too exclusively to the spirits that
which comes from another quarter, the mistake is doubtless no
great one in its eyes; for it is not madness to believe that it
lives with that which does not die in the dead even as with that
which does not die in ourselves, with that which does not descend
into the grave even as with that which does not take flesh at the
hour of birth.
6
There is no reason therefore to condemn the other theories
entirely. Most of them doubtless contain something more than a
particle of truth; in particular, the great quarrel between the
subconscious school and the spiritualists is based on the whole
upon a misunderstanding. It is quite possible and even very
probable that the dead are all around us, since it is impossible
that the dead do not live. Our subconsciousness must mingle with
all that does not die in them; and that which dies in them or
rather disperses and loses all its importance is but the little
consciousness accumulated on this earth and kept up until the
last hour by the frail bonds of memory. In all those
manifestations of our unknown guest, it is our posthumous ego
that already lives in us while we are still in the flesh and at
moments joins that which does not die in those who have quitted
their body. Then does the existence of our unknown guest presume
the immortality of a part of ourselves? Can one possibly doubt
it? Have you ever imagined that you would perish entirely? As for
me, what I cannot picture is the manner in which you would
picture that total annihilation.
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