deed for that which is the most important thing in the world.

However a man may look upon things, every one knows that this is more
important than all else on earth.

And this must not be forgotten, and we must not permit any other
consideration to veil from us the most weighty fact of our existence.
Let us inscribe, and reckon, but let us not forget that if we
encounter a man who is hungry and without clothes, it is of more
moment to succor him than to make all possible investigations, than
to discover all possible sciences. Perish the whole census if we may
but feed an old woman. The census will be longer and more difficult,
but we cannot pass by people in the poorer quarters and merely note
them down without taking any heed of them and without endeavoring,
according to the measure of our strength and moral sensitiveness, to
aid them. This in the first place. In the second, this is what must
be done: All of us, who are to take part in the census, must refrain
from irritation because we are annoyed; let us understand that this
census is very useful for us; that if this is not cure, it is at
least an effort to study the disease, for which we should be
thankful; that we must seize this occasion, and, in connection with
it, we must seek to recover our health, in some small degree. Let
all of us, then, who are connected with the census, endeavor to take
advantage of this solitary opportunity in ten years to purify
ourselves somewhat; let us not strive against, but assist the census,
and assist it especially in this sense, that it may not have merely
the harsh character of the investigation of a hopelessly sick person,
but may have the character of healing and restoration to health. For
the occasion is unique: eighty energetic, cultivated men, having
under their orders two thousand young men of the same stamp, are to