...but do it anyway

Googling for the Marx quote last night, I found one site (the very worthy Socialist Register) had a slightly different version. Losing one letter can make a big difference:

"...ruthless both in the sense of not being afraid of the results it arrives at and in the sense of being just a little afraid of conflict with the powers that be."

Ruthless in the sense of being afraid - that's what I call a dialectic!