I And Thou

There is no I taken in itself, but only the I of the
primary word I-Thou and the Z of the primary word
I-ft.

When a man says I he refers to one or other of these.
The / to which he refers is present when he says L
Further, when he says Thou or It, the I of one of the
two primary words is present.

The existence of I and the speaking of I are one and the
same thing*

When a primary word is spoken the speaker enters
the word and takes his stand in it.

The life of human beings is not passed in the sphere
of transitive verbs alone. It does not exist in virtue
of activities alone which have some thing for their
object.
I perceive something. I am sensible of something.
I imagine something. I will something. I feel some-
thing. I think something. The life of-human beings
does not consist of all this and the like alone.
. This and the like together establish the reahn of It.
But the realm of Thou has a different basis.
When Thou is spoken, the speaker has no thing for
his object. For where there is a thing there is another
thing. Every It is bounded by others; It exists only
through being bounded by others. But when Thou is
spoken, there is no thing. Thou has no bounds.
When Thou is spoken, the speaker has no thing; he
has indeed nothing. But he takes his stand in relation.
*
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