All the practical principles behind the Innovator's case for posterity, or society, or the species, are there from time immemorial in the . But they are nowhere else. Unless you accept these without question as being to the world of action what axioms are to the world of theory, you can have no practical principles whatsoever. You cannot reach them as conclusions: they are premises. (...) If nothing is self-evident, nothing can be proved. Similarly, if nothing is obligatory for its own sake, nothing is obligatory at all.

Summary

This quote emphasizes the importance of accepting certain principles without questioning them in order to have practical principles for action. It suggests that these principles, which align with posterity, society, and the overall well-being of the species, have always existed and serve as the foundation for any practical principles one may develop. These principles are seen as self-evident and obligatory, like axioms in the theoretical world, and should be unquestioningly accepted as premises rather than reached as conclusions. Without these foundational principles, there would be no basis for proving or determining what is obligatory in any scenario.

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