That this crystallised thought or ability to delude himself allows him to think of himself as an infallible expert in, so to speak, all questions of life, in religious questions as well as material ones, is simply a far too well-known fact.
      And in what field is he a magnate? Indeed, was it not in "plundering" his fellow beings financially? And was it not with the "gold" that resulted from his conquest that he embellished his existence? The gold shone about him in the form of the fine home, the fine, expensive cars, the fine servants, the fine decorations and titles and the "aristocratic connections" and so on.
      But "plundering" one's neighbour is the diametrical opposite of "giving rather than receiving", the opposite of "loving one's neighbour as oneself" and is thus the opposite of the fulfilment of the law of love. And it does not change matters that this "plundering" is very well camouflaged and "authorised" by all juridical laws. It is not very remarkable that such a being cannot enter the "kingdom of heaven". But can one tell him this? No, it would be impossible. Such a being has stiffened in his admiration of himself and believes in his own infallibility in all fields, and especially in his own great field – the "plundering of his neighbour" – which is not of course characterised by that straightforward expression, but, on the contrary, is expressed by the concepts of "business", "legal trade", including all kinds of activities concerning bonds, interest, loans and so on. Can anyone rid him of the idea that he is an absolute "expert" in this field? Is his idea not based on an unshakable, fossilised or crystallised philosophy that allows him to see his own extensive enterprise as the highest idealism and himself as society's benefactor, and his victims (workers or others, whose capacity for work he exploits) as a necessary evil, as rabble or creatures that have to be "oppressed"? Do not imagine that he will not perceive himself as a "know-all" in this case. Everyone can see what a powerful position he has gained. Indeed, the "eye of the needle" is impenetrable for him. Wealth has for him become a "guardian of the threshold".