Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler

knights of the 'spiritual sword,' all the poor wretches who wield the 'spiritual weapon' as a
protecting shield to hide their actual cowardice.
It goes without saying that in the following period we were attacked hardest especially by
these last, not actively, of course, but only with the pen, just as you would expect from such
folkish goose-quills. For them our principle, 'Against those who attack us with force we will
defend ourselves with force,' had something terrifying about it. They persistently reproached
us, not only with brutal worship of the blackjack, but with lack of spirit as such. The fact
that in a public meeting a Demosthenes can be brought to silence if only fifty idiots,
supported by their voices and their fists, refuse to let him speak, makes no impression
whatever on such a quack. His inborn cowardice never lets him get into such danger. For he
does not work 'noisily' and 'obtrusively,' but in 'silence.'
Even today r cannot warn our young movement enough against falling into the net of these
so-called 'silent workers.' They are not only cowards, but they are also always incompetents
and do-nothings. A man who knows a thing, who is aware of a given danger, and sees the
possibility of a remedy with his own eyes, has the duty and obligation, by God, not to work
'silently,' but to stand up before the whole public against the evil and for its cure. If he does
not do so, he is a disloyal, miserable weakling who fails either from cowardice or from
laziness and inability. To be sure, this does not apply at all to most of these people, for they
know absolutely nothing, but behave as though they knew God knows what; they can do
nothing but try to swindle the whole world with their tricks; they are lazy, but with the 'silent'
work they claim to do, they arouse the impression of an enormous and conscientious activity;
in short, they are swindlers, political crooks who hate the honest work of others. As soon as
one of these folkish moths praises the darkness 1 of silence, we can bet a thousand to one
that by it he produces nothing, but steals, steals from the fruits of other people's work.
To top all this, there is the arrogance and conceited effrontery with which this lazy, lightshunning
rabble fall upon the work of others, trying to criticize it from above, thus in reality
aiding the mortal enemies of our nationality.
Every last agitator who possesses the courage to stand on a tavern table among his
adversaries, to defend his opinions with manly forthrightness, does more than a thousand of
these lying, treacherous sneaks. He will surely- be able to convert one man or another and
win him for the movement. It will be possible to examine his achievement and establish the
effect of his activity by its results. Only the cowardly swindlers who praise their 'silent' work
and thus wrap themselves in the protective cloak of a despicable anonymity, are good for
nothing and may in the truest sense of the word be considered drones in the resurrection of
ourpeople.
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At the beginning of 1920, I urged the holding of the first great mass meeting. Differences of
opinion arose. A few leading party members regarded the affair as premature and hence
disastrous in effect. The Red press had begun to concern itself with us and we were fortunate
enough gradually to achieve its hatred. We had begun to speak in the discussions at other
meetings. Of course, each of us was at once shouted down. There was, however, some
success. People got to know us and proportionately as their knowledge of us deepened, the
aversion and rage against us grew. And thus we were entitled to hope that in our first great
mass meeting we would be visited by a good many of our friends from the Red camp.
I, too, realized that there was great probability of the meeting being broken up. But the
struggle had to be carried through, if not now, a few months later. It was entirely in our
power to make the movement eternal on the very first day by blindly and ruthlessly fighting
for it. I knew above all the mentality of the adherents of the Red side far too well, not to know
that resistance to the utmost not only makes the biggest impression, but also wins
supporters. And so we just had to be resolved to put up this resistance.