THEMANWHOTHINKSBACKWARDS
Themanwhothinksbackwardsisaverypowerfulpersonto-day:indeed，ifheisnotomnipotent，heisatleastomnipresent。Itishewhowritesnearlyallthelearnedbooksandarticles，especiallyofthescientificorskepticalsort；allthearticlesonEugenicsandSocialEvolutionandPrisonReformandtheHigherCriticismandalltherestofit。Butespeciallyitisthisstrangeandtortuousbeingwhodoesmostofthewritingaboutfemaleemancipationandthereconsideringofmarriage。Forthemanwhothinksbackwardsisveryfrequentlyawoman。
Thinkingbackwardsisnotquiteeasytodefineabstractedly；and，perhaps，thesimplestmethodistotakesomeobject，asplainaspossible，andfromitillustratethetwomodesofthought:therightmodeinwhichallrealresultshavebeenrooted；thewrongmode，whichisconfusingallourcurrentdiscussions，especiallyourdiscussionsabouttherelationsofthesexes。Castingmyeyeroundtheroom，Inoticeanobjectwhichisoftenmentionedinthehigherandsubtlerofthesedebatesaboutthesexes:Imeanapoker。Iwilltakeapokerandthinkaboutit；firstforwardsandthenbackwards；andso，perhaps，showwhatImean。
Thesagedesiringtothinkwellandwiselyaboutapokerwillbeginsomewhatasfollows:AmongthelivecreaturesthatcrawlaboutthisstarthequeerestisthethingcalledMan。Thispluckedandplumelessbird，comicandforlorn，isthebuttofallthephilosophies。Heistheonlynakedanimal；andthisquality，once，itissaid，hisglory，isnowhisshame。Hehastogooutsidehimselfforeverythingthathewants。Hemightalmostbeconsideredasanabsent-mindedpersonwhohadgonebathingandlefthisclotheseverywhere，sothathehashunghishatuponthebeaverandhiscoatuponthesheep。Therabbithaswhitewarmthforawaistcoat，andtheglow-wormhasalanternforahead。Butmanhasnoheatinhishide，andthelightinhisbodyisdarkness；andhemustlookforlightandwarmthinthewild，colduniverseinwhichheiscast。
Thisisequallytrueofhissoulandofhisbody；heistheonecreaturethathaslosthisheartasmuchashehaslosthishide。Inaspiritualsensehehastakenleaveofhissenses；andeveninaliteralsensehehasbeenunabletokeephishairon。Andjustasthisexternalneedofhishaslitinhisdarkbrainthedreadfulstarcalledreligion，soithaslitinhishandtheonlyadequatesymbolofit:ImeantheredflowercalledFire。Fire，themostmagicandstartlingofallmaterialthings，isathingknownonlytomanandtheexpressionofhissublimeexternalism。Itembodiesallthatishumaninhishearthsandallthatisdivineonhisaltars。Itisthemost，humanthingintheworld；seenacrosswastesofmarshormedleysofforest，itisveritablythepurpleandgoldenflagofthesonsofEve。Butthereisaboutthisgenerousandrejoicingthinganalienandawfulquality:thequalityoftorture。Itspresenceislife；itstouchisdeath。Therefore，itisalwaysnecessarytohaveanintermediarybetweenourselvesandthisdreadfuldeity；tohaveapriesttointercedeforuswiththegodoflifeanddeath；tosendanambassadortothefire。Thatpriestisthepoker。Madeofamaterialmoremercilessandwarlikethantheotherinstrumentsofdomesticity，hammeredontheanvilandbornitselfintheflame，thepokerisstrongenoughtoentertheburningfieryfurnace，and，liketheholychildren，notbeconsumed。Inthisheroicserviceitisoftenbatteredandtwisted，butisthemorehonourableforit，likeanyothersoldierwhohasbeenunderfire。