If catastrophe and obliteration threaten humanity and if the individual is hopeless when confronted by them, it is logical to conclude that although humanity might not be able to save itself, the individual can save himself from these disasters if he believes that inner salvation is at least a possibility where outer salvation is not. Yes, you and I can save ourselves from within even when we cannot save ourselves from without. That at least is a better lot than the one of the man who can save himself neither from within nor from without and puts his faith in political action alone. For politics is merely a system of human bargaining actuated by self-seeking. It can invoke the aid of no higher power because it does not rise higher than this self-seeking interest itself. But the individual is free to lift himself above this sordid plane and therefore he is in a position to invite the attention and aid of higher powers.
-- Notebooks Category 11: The Negatives > Chapter 3 : Their Presence in The World > # 502
