458. It is this grand life-ideal which constitutes the world redeemers' and all the human religions' great aim of the future. But, as we indicated before, in the ordinary terrestrial person this humane power or sympathetic disposition is still in its first weak beginnings, while on the other hand, the brutal and destructive power constitutes that same person's habit of millions of years. Therefore, people's humane and sympathetic power exists as yet only as "A knowledge", meaning a theoretical or day-conscious knowledge which, in practise, is still based on a purely day-conscious display of will. It has not yet to any great extent become an independent habitual function, or "C knowledge" which is released automatically in certain situations, as indeed happens in the case of a gloomy disposition or fits of rage or violence. Those powers of light must therefore still exist largely as a function of the brain or as a purely day-conscious function of will and, as far as natural tendencies are concerned, are still very unfinished. There remains thus an essential difference between the tendency to display the animal or dark forces and the urge to show truly humane and compassionate tendencies and a sympathetic disposition. In the former case these forces release themselves automatically in certain situations and at worst, as for instance in fits of temper or rage, they effect a complete paralysis of a being's intellectual and humane energies. If this were not the case there would not be anything in this world called "remorse" or "repentance". Usually everyone regrets uncontrolled displays manifested in fits of temper and the consequent results. And we say of such a person that he was "not himself" in that situation. But this interpretation is not correct. That person was himself, but came to display just for a moment a perfected animal-like habitual function, millions of years old – in fact he was in a state where he had "been himself" through immeasurable centuries of time.
      When fellow beings say nonetheless that the individual was "not himself", this is only due to the fact that the animal state is not permanently with him, for he also has an intelligent, day-conscious, aware and controlled demeanour, one in which he is considered by fellow beings to be "himself".