,,the ,,seekers by ,,jessie ,e4 ,,sampter ,with an introduction by ,,professor ,,josiah ,,royce ,,mitchell ,,kennerley ,,new ,,york ,,mcmx ,copyright #aiaj by ,mitchell ,kennerley ,a successful experiment in non-sectarian religion1 in moral and sthetic enquiry1 with young people in new ways1 in search of the ,meaning of ,things4 ,,the ,,seekers ,errata ,page #cg1 ,line #b4 8and he saw0 should read 8and we saw40 #ia1 ,last line4 8,i answered0 should read 8she answered40 #ic1 ,line #bb4 8but a word itself0 should read 8work itself40 #ajd1 ,line #ae4 8a sense of duty0 should read 8a sense of unity40 #bcf1 ,line #ac4 8different from each one0 should read 8different for40 #bff1 ,line #c4 8operator0 should read 8spectator40 ,errata have also been incorporated into the ,transcriber's ,notes4 ,table of ,contents ,an ,introductory ,word ,the ,beginning ,the ,members ,first ,meeting ,second ,meeting ,third ,meeting ,fourth ,meeting ,fifth ,meeting ,sixth ,meeting ,seventh ,meeting ,eighth ,meeting ,ninth ,meeting ,tenth ,meeting ,eleventh ,meeting ,twelfth ,meeting ,thirteenth ,meeting ,fourteenth ,meeting ,fifteenth ,meeting ,sixteenth ,meeting ,seventeenth ,meeting ,appendix ,table of ,contents not in the original book and is added for reader convenience4 ,transcriber's ,notes can be found at the end of this e,book4 ,,the ,,seekers ,,an ,,introductory ,,word ,,by ,,professor ,,josiah ,,royce1 ,,ph4,d41 ,,ll4,d4 ,i have been asked by the author to say a word by way of introduction to this very interesting record of conversations and inquiries4 ,on the whole1 ,i feel my word to be superfluous2 for the book speaks for itself1 and every reader will form his own opinion4 ,but since the author has asked for my co-operation1 ,i gladly offer what little ,i can4 ,i am a teacher of philosophy at a university4 ,for the most part my own courses are technical in character4 ,some of my work is with graduate students4 ,i am accustomed to discuss controverted opinions with people who regard philosophy from a skeptical and more or less controversial1 and almost always highly critical1 point of view4 ,hence1 my own first impression of the work of the 8,seekers0 and of the leader of their always pleasing inquiries1 was mingled with a certain wonder as to the possibility of their accomplishing together1 as well as they have done1 what they undertook4 ,this wonder has changed1 as ,i have become better acquainted with them1 into a delight that the tact1 the caution1 the tolerance and the earnestness of the leader1 and the skill and docility of the pupils1 could result in setting before us so fine a model of teaching and of learning as here appears4 ,the book is one to encourage every lover of good things1 and everyone who wants to see how the minds of young people in this country1 and living under good conditions1 can be turned toward great questions in such a way as to encourage sincerity1 thoughtfulness and the beginnings of true wisdom4 ,in what little ,i have to say of this book ,i ought of course to abstract altogether from such agreement as ,i indeed feel with the form of ,idealism which ,miss ,sampter represents4 ,the question put to me is the question whether the method of procedure here adopted is one that promises to be genuinely useful as an initiation of young people into the study of deeper questions4 ,i answer that the author seems to have made out her case1 and to have proved her faith in her method by her work4 ,the age and the previous training of the 8,seekers0--as they are sketched in the author's preliminary statement--once presupposed1 this mode of procedure could only prove a help to them4 ,the methods used are an important beginning4 ,if any of the 8,seekers0 go on to a more advanced study of philosophy1 in college or elsewhere1 they ought to prove apt learners4 ,if they simply turn to life as their further teacher1 they should be ready to profit by some of its deepest lessons better than they could otherwise have done4 ,if1 upon further inquiry1 they incline to other opinions about the world and about life than the ones they have emphasized1 they will still always remain more tolerant of the varieties of opinion1 and more hopeful of the right and the power of the human mind to grapple with grave issues1 than they would otherwise have been4 ,these hours of 8seeking0 will have opened their eyes to values which are indeed permanent1 whatever will be the true solution of the problems of philosophy2 and the memory of these hours will prove henceforth a safeguard against cynicism when they doubt1 and against intolerance and inhumanity when they believe4 ,and1 whatever the truth may be1 about ,god1 or about the world1 or about life1 cynicism in doubt1 and intolerance and inhumanity in belief1 are great evils1 against which the young people of our time need to be guarded quite as much as men needed to be guarded against such evils in the days either of the ,sophists or of the ,inquisitors4 ,for1 in one guise or another1 speaking the language of old or of new faith or unfaith1 ,sophists and ,inquisitors we have always with us1 either corrupting or oppressing the youth4 ,the methods of our author1 as set forth in this book1 make for liberty together with seriousness1 for self-expression together with reverence1 for thoughtfulness together with a sense of deeper values4 ,and in so far the book is a success as a model of the way in which our new problems must be met when we have to deal with the young4 ,if one undertakes to consider such topics with a class as youthful and at the same time as enlightened as the 8,seekers10 the dilemma is obvious4 ,one must indeed be more or less dogmatic in tone about at least some central interest2 one must make use of the persuasive power of a teacher's personal influence2 or else one will lead to no definite results4 ,on the other hand1 if one propounds one's dogmas merely as the traditional teacher of religion has always done by saying3 8,this is our faith4 ,this is what you should believe10--one is then in no case teaching philosophy1 and one is hardly helping the young people to 8seek40 ,moreover1 such mere dogmas1 addressed to young people in whom the period of 8enlightenment0 has already begun1 will tend to awaken in their minds new doubts and objections1 rather than to convey to them the positive truth1 even if one's own dogmas happen to be true4 ,hence arises a problem of instruction which cannot be solved in the case of these 8,seekers0 as we teachers of philosophy often try nowadays to solve our analogous problems in dealing with older pupils in college4 ,some of us meet our own problems with the older students by directly disclaiming all authority to control their convictions1 by asking them to become as self-critical and independent as they can1 and by stating our own opinions with the intent not to make disciples1 but to enable our students to form their own personal judgments through the very sympathy with our efforts to be reflective1 self-critical and constructive4 ,thus we do not try to convey a faith so much as to help our students to their own spiritual independence4 ,in strong opposition to our mode of procedure1 many popular teachers of this or that form of 8,new ,thought0 have been trying of late to annul modern doubts1 and to lead men to a higher spiritual insight by means of certain 8intuitions10 for the sake of which skeptical inquiry1 stern criticism1 elaborate reflection must be laid aside2 so that the kindly disposed learner1 even if he indeed is not to be a believer in certain old-fashioned creeds1 still looks to his teacher for a means of quieting his doubts1 and so that what is supposed to be 8philosophy0 becomes a sort of 8ansthetic revelation10 with the teacher as the assistant who administers the ansthetic whereby the pupil is prepared for the surgery of life4 ,now1 whatever may be the use of such 8,new ,thought0 for invalid wrecks1 or even for more or less world-weary lovers of the good1 whom sad experience has turned away from their earlier religious creeds1 and who need to be restored to their courage in facing reality2--still1 these ansthetic methods of the lovers of the 8silence0 and of the vague light1 are not suited to the best needs of the enlightened young people1 such as these 8,seekers0 who are about to begin life1 who know their little fragments of science1 of socialism1 and of modern problems1 and who want unity with clearness4 ,nor are such young people at just this age yet ready for our more technical academic procedure4 ,shall they be left then unguided1 until their interest in unifying life has been lost in the confusion and variety of their increasing knowledge1 until their youthful idealism has been saddened and perhaps soiled by the world1 and until their criticism of life has become at once tragic and cynical8 ,miss ,sampter has undertaken to answer these questions by dealing with the need of just such people4 ,she does so with a genuine clearness of vision1 with a careful touch that helps and with a spirit which prepares them to meet their problems1 and not to lose unity by reason of the complexities of their situation4 ,she dogmatizes a little1 to be sure2 and in fact she repeats some of her dogmas not infrequently1 without giving any elaborate reasons for these dogmas4 ,they are the dogmas of a metaphysical idealism which ,i myself in the main accept1 but which no direct intuition can very adequately justify1 while their technical justification could not possibly be discussed at length in the meetings of the 8,seekers40 ,on the other hand1 our author is no mere partisan of intuition4 ,her dogmas are stated in forms that not only win her 8plastic youth0 to agreement1 but challenge them to a reflection which ere long1 in some of them1 will lead to new interpretations1 to doubts1 and so1 in time1 to a higher insight than they at first gain4 ,she sets her pupils to thinking as well as to receiving2 they become inquirers rather than passive recipients of an intuition4 ,they are thus prepared for a variety of future religious and philosophical experiences1 and yet they are kept in touch with that love and hope of unity which alone can justify the existence of our very doubts1 of our philosophical disputes1 and of our modern complications of life4 ,as a means of avoiding both of the opposing extremes sketched in the foregoing account of the ways of teaching philosophical opinions1 as a via media in the work of beginning the philosophical instruction of young people1 as a preparation for more critical study1 as a conservation of some of the best in the spirit of faith without an undue appeal to mere intuition1 and as a model of what can be done to awaken a very notable type of young inquirers such as our modern training tends to produce in the homes of very many of us--this book is1 in my opinion1 to be very heartily commended4 ,the educational problem with which it deals concerns meanwhile a very deep and intensely practical interest of our ,american civilization4 ,we cannot retain the unity of our national consciousness unless we can keep1 even in the midst of all the complications and doubts of the modern world1 our sense of the great common values of the spiritual world4 ,without philosophy1 our nation can therefore never come to its own4 ,philosophy does not mean the acceptance of any mere authority4 ,and it will not lead us to universal agreement about any one form of creed4 ,but it will teach us to unite freedom1 tolerance1 insight1 and spirituality4 ,without these1 of what worth would be mere bulk and mere wealth to our nation8 ,i welcome this book then because our author has contributed to one of the most important of the tasks of our time--the task of helping our nation to regain the now much confused and endangered consciousness of its own unity4 ,,josiah ,,royce ,harvard ,university1 ,august #c1 #aiaj4 ,,the ,,seekers ,,the ,,beginning ,this is a live book4 ,it was lived first1 and written only afterwards4 ,so it can lay no claim to the title of art1 which is experience remoulded in the cast of individual genius2 for this was not at all moulded1 save as the written word reshapes the spoken4 ,it is a philosophic adventure1 an experiment1 written down by one1 but lived by seven4 ,why did ,i write it down8 may be asked4 ,every new book needs an excuse for being4 ,i wrote it down because it seemed an answer1 perhaps a partial1 but still a living answer1 to two questions that cry aloud4 ,as ,i look about me1 and observe the doings and thoughts of men and women in this active time1 ,i notice two problems1 related one to the other1 and wanting but one solution4 ,first of these is a lack of common purpose in the works of life4 ,many religions are there1 many creeds and anti-creeds1 many purposes1 from petty1 selfish gain to reforms in government and social service4 ,scientist1 politician1 artist1 philanthropist and minister go each toward a partial goal1 in opposition to one another1 with no one purpose1 no end beyond all lesser ends1 no larger patriotism4 ,morals are either very stiff or very lax1 without any conscious reason for either their stiffness or their laxity4 ,the only reason for moral conviction1 the only purpose that could unite all purposes1 the only patriotism to hold all men together and give the union needful for great and strong achievement1 is a common faith in the goal and meaning of life4 ,the second problem is a more conscious one1 the problem of moral and religious education for our children4 ,for ourselves--so think many among us--we do not need a philosophy or religion2 we are good enough without having any reason for being good4 ,but we think our children need some instruction and guidance1 something to satisfy the blessed cravings and doubts that we have long since killed within ourselves4 ,for barely one among us fails to remember his fifteen-year-old questionings and strivings1 and his defeat1 when at last he decided to think no more1 because his problem was insoluble4 ,but even these who are so well contented with their own hard-won torpor want something better for their children4 ,the question is asked again and again3 8,shall we teach our children what we do not believe8 ,and can we teach them what we do believe80 ,in this book ,i attempt to solve both problems at once1 and through the children to speak to their parents4 ,for many who will not admit the least interest in the vital questions that have created every religion and philosophy throughout time1 still are interested and will listen when the problem touches their own children4 ,and only through the creative1 open and daring mind of youth1 not yet either stiffened or broken1 can the spirit of a larger and a richer faith give new inspiration4 ,i am convinced that to-day all thoughtful men believe the same1 where vital questions arise1 and that each man sees a different angle of the same truth1 which grows and grows in our vision1 with the growing knowledge of man4 ,all our ministers with their different churches1 and our congregations with their sectarian prejudices1 have at heart a common goal1 a faith that needs only to be spoken to be believed4 ,let their children draw them together4 ,find a common religion to be taught in the school--where this necessity is the present problem of all educators1 and where so far ethical courses and emasculated ,christianity have given no solution--and from that larger patriotism of a common faith in childhood will spring the faith bigger than ethics and philanthropics1 big enough to include all churches and systems in an unseen brotherhood4 ,were ,i able to carry out this idea in a school1 ,i would have classes or clubs1 such as the ,seekers1 for all girls and boys of about the third or fourth high-school year4 ,then1 for the younger children as well as for the older ones1 ,i would have songs and readings at the assembly1 which would suggest or picture forth the inmost spirit of our modern faith4 ,these songs and readings ,i would let the older pupils choose and discuss in their clubs2 and ,i would leave in their hands1 as much as possible1 the social and spiritual regulation of the school life4 ,faith and action go together4 ,each without the other is barren4 ,my purpose in this book is then twofold3 to record how such clubs and classes work in practice1 and thereby suggest a method from experience2 also to give1 in such large and perhaps superficial aspect as the means necessitate1 the main outline of my thought4 ,not mine alone1 but yours and every man's4 ,i bring no news2 but only an old1 forgotten story1 new and strange to our widened knowledge4 ,accept its large intent1 if you reject its lesser achievement2 admit that this is the only possible truth in the light of our present knowledge4 ,though you believe more than this1 accept at least the ,seekers' path as pointing toward the goal4 ,to these children it gave a way and a light2 it satisfied a need and answered a question1 and brought new weapons for the battle of thought wherein most of us fail from weariness4 ,for them it has already succeeded1 whatever its coming fate4 ,unless one sees a glimpse of truth at fifteen1 enough to recognize it1 one is not likely to discern it later1 through the mist of unformed knowledge4 ,and at fifteen one craves this something that can relate and shape all thought4 ,so it happened that ,i organized the club of ,seekers1 composed of very different girls and boys1 because of this one common need4 ,the conditions necessary for membership were few4 ,the first condition1 the one in its nature inevitable1 was that each member should be interested and enthusiastic in our quest1 a seeker from need and desire4 ,only such would have stayed with us4 ,and this1 perhaps1 was a selective process of extreme rigor4 ,otherwise the conditions of membership were not of the sort to put a premium on extraordinary ability4 ,they were that the members should be over fourteen1 and under seventeen1 and should have finished their elementary school course4 ,i also limited the membership in number4 ,among my acquaintances were many more girls who would have wished to join us1 but no more than the two boys4 ,i explain this not by the fact that boys are less interested in these questions1 but that their interest develops later4 ,if ,i had sought boys of eighteen or nineteen1 ,i could have found them easily4 ,at the time1 however1 ,i did not realize this fact4 ,i think that the children were average of their kind4 ,the kind1 nevertheless1 may have carried with it some intellectual superiority or precocity1 such as the effects of environment and urban life4 ,for these things1 through the chance of acquaintanceship1 they had in common3 they were all bred in ,new ,york ,city1 in educated families of the upper middle class 7though not all of well-to-do parents71 and all but one1 ,ruth1 who is a ,christian ,scientist1 of homes unusually liberal in their religious thought4 ,therefore these children were free from those clogging superstitions and false perspectives which result from early training in any symbolic and fixed creed4 ,take these influences for what they were worth4 ,beyond them the children had no special advantage or disadvantage4 ,i say all this as a defence against a possible criticism3 namely1 that the children seem1 by their comprehension and original ideas1 to be far above the average boys and girls of the same age4 ,this ,i deny1 and for good reasons4 ,naturally ,i have meant this experiment of a class in religious philosophy for adolescent boys and girls to be general in its application4 ,and ,i believe it to be so4 ,most grown people have forgotten how they felt and thought at fifteen1 and are apt to underrate the mental processes of boys and girls4 ,i myself at that age felt so keenly the lack of sympathy in older people that ,i made a point of remembering and writing down certain experiences4 ,i questioned several friends1 and at last got admissions from them that they1 too1 had thought in the same way at fifteen4 ,but no doubt they still look upon themselves as unique in this respect1 for at fifteen we all think ourselves exceptions1 and no matter how commonplace we may be now we are apt vaguely to keep that memory4 ,then1 too1 one must not forget the effect of conscious and unconscious suggestion4 ,i had my plans carefully made1 and knew exactly in what direction ,i meant to lead our ideas1 but the children knew very little of this foreplanning1 and went of themselves where ,i wished them to go4 ,no doubt suggestion blazed trails for them through this wilderness1 if it did not make a path1 and1 as my record will prove1 my questions often stimulated them to answers that would not otherwise have been possible4 ,but often their answers were wholly unexpected and surprising4 ,as our name tells1 we are seekers1 and ,i have found1 at the very least1 as much as they4 ,above all1 my boundless faith in the young was justified4 ,and my critics must admit that they have not this faith themselves1 and so could never have put it to the test of experience1 as ,i have done4 ,the children's papers show better than written words of mine exactly what the meetings meant to them1 and will prove also1 ,i think1 their average ability4 ,they are printed exactly as written1 save for corrections in spelling and punctuation1 which were by no means perfect4 ,the conversations were recorded as precisely as possible from memory and from notes taken immediately after the meetings4 ,as any one with experience will know1 it is impossible to record the broken fragments of actual speech without sometimes combining mere phrases into complete sentences4 ,the written is never like the spoken thought4 ,it appears like it1 which it would not do if it were a precise phonographic transcription4 ,i have made the children speak 8in character10 using always their own words and their own ideas1 whatever those might be2 even being careful to record characteristic phrases and expressions4 ,and that ,i had succeeded was proved by the children themselves1 when they heard the manuscript read and recognized themselves and each other1 to their great amusement4 ,not until all the meetings were over had they any idea that ,i was keeping this record4 ,we seven1 then1 have made this book2 and one other one1 who1 though never present at the meetings1 had his large share of influence in them4 ,this was my friend and ,florence's big brother ,arthur--so often quoted by her--and quoted by me without acknowledgment1 especially in the meetings on the sthetic ideal1 which would have been impossible without his help4 ,for all lovers of youth and individual thought1 for all lovers of the quest1 we have made this book1 as a personal recognition of the bond of kinship that binds all free seekers1 and as an answer to those vital questions which all of us must ask together1 and answer1 at least in sympathy4 ,,the ,,members ,,alfred1 my cousin1 not quite fifteen years old when the club was begun4 ,in his first high school year4 ,in appearance1 a young ,arab chieftain1 dark1 athletic and dignified4 ,his character fulfils the promise3 he is taciturn1 slow to act1 independent1 serious for his age1 and with a great thirst for knowledge4 ,a lover of nature and the country2 a hater of all things petty or mean4 ,he entered the club with a good knowledge of evolution1 and no religious training of any sort4 ,,virginia1 my cousin1 almost sixteen years old4 ,she had one year of high school1 but as she would not study1 and drew pictures instead1 she was sent to art school a year and a half ago1 where she has been working hard4 ,she has read and re-read many good books4 ,although she is of a blonde1 ,saxon type1 yet her hair and eyes are very dark4 ,light-hearted and yet earnest1 self-satisfied1 always sweet and lovable4 ,bright1 interested1 original1 humorous4 ,she has had no definite religious training1 but much sound religious philosophy at home4 ,,florence1 a young friend1 fifteen years old1 but much older in appearance4 ,in her third high school year4 ,large and dark1 with gray eyes4 ,she is vacillating1 and may turn out to be a fine1 independent1 intelligent and forceful woman1 or a materialistic1 flippant society lady4 ,it depends on the influences brought to bear1 and on her own will4 ,somewhat spoiled4 ,a good student1 a good thinker1 but not impelled to think by any great desire4 ,she loves dancing more than anything else in the world4 ,she comes from a home of mixed and uncertain piety4 ,,henry1 ,florence's cousin1 not quite sixteen years old1 unknown to me before we formed the club4 ,in his second high school year4 ,a young student1 dark1 slim1 shy1 with much to say1 but not yet able to say it well4 ,he is rather dogmatic1 but open to influence1 a born seeker4 ,often appearing at first to be slow1 or commonplace1 he suddenly reveals unexpected understanding and originality4 ,he comes from a conventional home4 ,,marian1 ,florence's friend1 also unknown to me before the club4 ,fifteen and a half years old4 ,in her fourth--last--high school year1 preparing for college4 ,a light brunette of a languid and yet intellectual type4 ,very intuitive1 of quick insight1 sympathetic1 a lover of human nature1 shy and quiet4 ,a dreamer and a hero-worshiper4 ,she expresses herself well1 but often in broken sentences and with hesitation4 ,her parents belong to the ,ethical ,culture ,society1 and have given her no religious education4 ,,ruth1 ,marian's chum1 sixteen years old1 is also in her last high school year1 preparing to study kindergarten4 ,a slight1 blonde girl1 tall1 and with her character written in her face3 self-possessed1 poise1 idealism4 ,her voice1 enunciation and language are those of one trained to speak well4 ,her thought is unusually developed1 but along rather narrow lines4 ,she loves children1 and has chosen her work with an idealistic devotion4 ,her mother is ,christian1 her father ,jewish1 and their religion is ,christian ,science4 ,she is a convinced ,christian ,scientist4 ,,first ,,meeting ,when we were all gathered about the table at three o'clock1 ,i opened the discussion thus3 8,do you remember that ,i told you we were going to speak to-day of the fact that there is almost no religion at present1 and the cause for this8 ,now1 are we all agreed that there is very little religion--true religious belief--at present80 ,all agreed to this except ,henry4 ,he said that he thought people were as religious as ever4 8,i think10 said ,florence to ,henry1 8that you are confusing religion and creed4 ,people belong to churches and temples1 and think they are religious1 but they don't know what they believe40 ,i saw ,henry was not convinced1 so ,i said to him3 8,i think perhaps we do not mean the same thing by religion1 therefore we might as well go on1 and speak of it later1 when we do understand4 8,now1 ,i believe there is a definite historic reason for our religious lack1 and ,i will tell it to you40 ,then ,i reviewed briefly the history of ancient religions1 ,brahmanism1 the ,egyptian creed1 the ,greek and the early ,catholic religions1 to show that all these for various reasons--but chiefly because of the ignorance of the populace--had been1 as it were1 double religions4 ,there was an initiated religion of the priests1 who did indeed see truth1 who were monotheists of the universal vision1 and were filled with the sense of unity in all things4 ,besides this was the religion of myths1 the popular religion4 ,the people took literally the poetical tales told by the prophets2 and these prophets1 or priests1 even went so far as to deceive the people purposely1 for what they considered the people's good4 8,i don't see how the priests could have known the truth10 ,ruth said1 8if they meant to deceive the populace4 ,those who knew the truth would not wish to deceive40 8,you are right10 ,i answered2 8they had not the whole truth1 but in so far as they saw1 they saw truly40 ,ruth seemed to doubt this historic account4 ,i quietly proved to her and the others that it was true4 ,i read them a passage from ,plato's 8,republic10 in which he recommends telling the people a myth because belief in it would put them in the proper frame of mind4 ,i went on to explain how the democratic spirit began to destroy the religion of the initiated4 ,the aristocracy of religion was as much resented as the aristocracy of government4 ,the result was that every one believed the popular1 mythical religion2 and that is what most of our churches have lived upon since then4 ,all the superstitions of creeds1 the absurd stories that are believed literally by some people even to-day1 are the poetic symbols of prophets and teachers1 accepted as narratives of fact4 ,next came the scientific spirit1 and said3 8,the world is more than six thousand years old2 it was not created in a week2 the whale could not have swallowed ,jonah1 and given him up again40 ,now people cried out3 8,religion is not true4 ,we will believe nothing but science40 ,when ,i spoke of the difference between mythical and true religion1 ,i found the children already understood this1 that they realized ,moses' true meaning when he spoke of the burning bush2 that they knew ,jesus1 when he spoke of himself as the son of ,god1 meant to express the divinity of man4 ,i said the true religion spoke in poetry1 and the popular made its figures of speech into gods4 8,for instance10 ,i said1 8from where comes the line1 #8,the rosy fingers of the dawn'80 8,from ,homer10 answered ,marian1 8from the ,odyssey40 8,well10 ,i went on1 8a person reading that might say1 #8,just think1 the dawn has fingers2 then it must have a hand4'0 8,then10 said ,virginia1 8he would add1 #8,so the dawn is a woman4'0 ,i said one might worship an image of a god1 but if he kept his mind upon the vast divine unity he would not be an idol worshiper4 8,but10 objected ,henry1 8if he did it long enough1 he would become an idol worshiper40 8,he might10 ,i said1 8but he need not40 ,now we came to the question of science4 ,what has religion to do with science8 ,alfred said science led in the same direction1 was looking for the same thing4 ,henry said science was supposed to be in opposition to religion1 because it destroyed her creeds4 ,that1 ,i answered him1 seemed to me a good thing4 ,virginia said she thought religion and science were almost the same4 ,she meant that her scientific knowledge of the universe led her to her religious convictions4 ,florence said she thought science and religion were altogether separate1 had nothing to do with each other4 ,marian said she did not see how science could help us to religious knowledge4 ,but it turns out that she has read no science at all1 save what she was taught in school4 ,ruth said that science was the enemy of religion1 that two things seeking in a different way could not possibly both reach the truth2 that science might tell us of material facts1 but could not possibly give us the divine truth4 ,i asked3 8,are you sure material truth is not divine truth80 ,then ,i said that ,i myself thought science was the servant of religion1 that it was valuable only in so far as it helped us to a knowledge of life--divine and whole--7,i said aside to ,ruth7 and that ,i did think it helped us so4 ,it gave us a sense of unity1 of our relation with the whole world1 because we knew that the same law moved us and the stars4 8,now10 ,i went on1 8,marian mentioned the other day that she had heard people say they were too educated to need religion4 ,they meant they knew too much science4 ,can science replace religion80 ,they all said no4 ,they saw at once that behind every science was the mystery1 the unexplained1 and that every scientist must begin with a philosophy4 ,i said3 8,i have heard people say that science disproves immortality40 ,virginia answered3 8,it does not disprove immortality4 ,it proves1 indeed1 that nothing ever is destroyed40 8,do you think10 ,i asked1 8that there is such a thing as absolute religious knowledge80 8,yes10 they said4 8,do you think we can get it8 ,that it is a certain knowledge80 ,they answered 8,yes40 8,but10 said ,ruth1 8you would want it proved40 ,i used the word 8faith10 and the children rightly objected1 because1 they said1 faith could be used to express the most superstitious of mythical beliefs4 ,one must know4 8,i mean self-evident knowledge10 ,i said4 8,if to-day the priests and the myths are dead1 if we are to have a democratic religion1 then each one of us must be a prophet4 ,we here to-day1 we seven1 shall find the unanswerable truth4 ,shall we80 8,yes1 ,i believe so40 8,how do we know that such truth is to be reached8 ,we do know certain things in ourselves8 ,we know the mystery is there8 ,we know that which we call ,god80 8,yes10 they said4 8,is there any other reason for believing that the truth can be known80 ,marian said3 8,in past times some men have known it1 we feel certain40 8,that is just what ,i meant1 ,marian4 ,such men1 you mean1 as ,moses and ,jesus80 8,yes40 8,and we here shall get it4 ,we shall know4 8,i believe10 ,i said1 8that when we have talked everything over we shall know the truth1 and it shall be the same for each40 8,in fundamentals1 perhaps10 said ,ruth1 8but not in all things40 ,no religion could be the true religion1 we said1 if it fostered antagonism or bitterness toward those of another persuasion4 8,one would wish to teach them10 said ,marian4 8,well1 then1 what is the truth8 ,we spoke of the nature of #8,god4' ,what is ,god1 the something we all know and cannot speak80 ,henry said3 8,i could tell better what ,i mean by ,god by saying what is not ,god40 ,we tried to make him explain4 8,nothing is not ,god10 said ,virginia1 8everything is ,god1 good and bad1 too2 and the bad only seems bad to us1 but really leads to good40 8,everything is not ,god10 said ,ruth1 8for ,god is perfect1 and we are imperfect1 and are striving for his perfection4 ,imperfection and all bad things are not of ,god40 8,what are they1 then80 ,i asked4 8,surely you do not believe in two gods1 like the ,zoroastrians1 in a good and a bad8 ,but the wisest of them saw that the two were one40 ,ruth answered3 8,i have it at home in a book1 how evil came into ,god's world1 although we are of him and he is perfect4 ,i will bring it next time4 ,i don't remember it40 8,yes1 do bring it4 ,but ,i believe that as long as we are not perfect1 ,god is not perfect40 8,that seems10 answered ,ruth1 8as if we were ,god40 8,so we are a part of ,god1 who is the whole4 ,anything else is unthinkable4 ,and unless we are perfect1 how can ,he be perfect80 ,the children corrected me1 for ,i had used the wrong word4 8,god must be perfect10 they said1 8if we long for that perfection40 ,virginia said3 8,if the world is ever to be perfect1 then it is perfect now4 ,whatever shall be is here now1 is here forever40 8,you are right10 ,i answered1 8,i should not have used that word40 ,henry said3 8,the apple-tree might be perfect1 but the apples might still be unripe40 8,yes10 ,i went on1 8but the apple-tree would not be perfect unless the apples ripened40 8,the world is like a rose-bud10 said ,alfred4 8,it is perfect as a bud1 and yet it must open and evolve in its perfection40 8,yes10 ,i said1 8or like a sleeper who awakens4 8,now1 then10 ,i asked1 8you do all believe in progress2 that the world changes and that it changes in a certain direction80 8,i don't know10 said ,virginia4 8,i believe that the world1 that ,god1 must always be the same1 even though it change40 8,that is true1 and it is a strange paradoxical truth1 which ,i hope to make you understand later on1 that all things change and progress1 yet are ever the same1 even as the rose-bud that unfolds40 ,we had tacitly admitted that ,god and the aim of life stood for love and unity4 ,once when ,henry spoke of the 8fear0 of ,god1 the others corrected him4 8,now10 ,i said1 8if there is progress1 what is it80 ,ruth answered3 8,there is progress of individuals1 not of the world4 ,certain men saw the truth as clearly in old times as they could now40 8,i do not believe so10 ,i answered her4 8,i think the whole must evolve and bud forth1 and that it does4 ,now you all admit that ,moses was a prophet who saw the truth80 ,they said 8,yes40 8,but he felt enmities4 ,jesus was a greater prophet than ,moses4 ,in what was he greater80 8,in his realization not only of the unity of ,god1 but of the unity and divinity and love of man40 8,if ,moses were here to-day10 ,i asked1 8in what might he be greater than he was in his own time80 ,florence said3 8,he would have all the advantages of culture since then40 8,that would not make him greater40 ,marian answered3 8,you mean the democracy of to-day1 the realization of the brotherhood of all men40 8,yes10 ,i said1 8that is just what ,i mean4 ,when ,i look at history1 ,i can see no progress but this4 ,automobiles1 electricity1 scientific knowledge1 these are not progress except as they lead to that other progress4 ,we do understand our fellowmen better than we ever did4 ,we can--some of us--call every savage our brother4 ,that is the clear progress throughout history40 ,the children were impressed by this fact4 8,then you mean10 said ,ruth1 8that universal love is the object of life80 8,yes10 ,i said1 8but ,i am afraid to use the word #8love1' for it might mean blind love1 and ,i mean understanding love40 8,of course10 said the children4 8,you mean love of mankind80 asked ,marian4 8,yes10 ,i said1 8but individual love1 too2 and perhaps more than both of these40 8,i still believe10 said ,ruth1 8that progress is only for the individual1 and that it doesn't matter whether we progress here or hereafter4 ,personal love is selfish4 ,we want divine love40 ,i answered her3 8,i will not speak now of hereafter4 ,but here and now1 to-day1 do we not want at once the thing that we want80 8,yes10 they said4 8,then1 now and here we mean to go forward1 as far as we can1 and now and here we will love men with our might1 because that is the human way and the human progress40 8,it does seem to me1 from books10 said ,virginia1 8that people are less mean1 selfish and jealous than they were a hundred years ago40 ,marian smiled over to her4 8,you have been reading ,thackeray10 she said4 8,but10 said ,virginia1 8all people are not progressing together1 for though we should find the truth now1 many others will not find it for a long time4 ,the world is like a bunch of roses1 in which some are full-blown1 and others are small buds40 8,yes10 ,i answered her2 8and for the whole to evolve1 each bud must be unfolded in beauty40 ,now we said many things beside these1 but these were the chief trend and conclusions of our thought4 ,i also told them how every moment was a promise and a fulfillment1 a state of the endless whole4 ,next ,sunday each is to tell me what he or she does mean by the word 8,god40 ,the children were enthusiastic1 uplifted1 whole-hearted in their interest4 ,virginia and ,alfred1 who stayed some time after the others1 had a long discussion on good and bad1 in which ,i refused to join4 ,virginia said she thought all bad things had good results1 and could be used for good4 ,alfred answered he was not sure of that1 but he believed bad to be a necessary part of good4 ,he said3 8,if ,i never felt ill1 ,i could not know ,i felt well40 ,virginia said3 8,reason made evil1 for when creatures became reasonable they knew that the things they had done before were wrong40 ,,second ,,meeting ,i spoke of the name of our club1 the ,seekers4 ,i said that ,i thought it expressed exactly what we meant to do4 ,ruth answered that to her it seemed the only possible1 natural name4 ,then ,i read aloud ,virginia's account of the last meeting3 8,a great many people think themselves too educated to believe in any of the established religions1 and then don't take the trouble to find out what they really think and what their true religion is4 ,people have a wrong idea of the meaning of the word #8religious4' ,consequently1 as they don't know what it means1 they cannot be it4 ,many people who go to church or temple every ,sabbath1 and sleep1 or take note of the different costumes of the congregation during the sermon1 consider themselves religious4 8,we decided that we all believed in the unity of ,god4 ,the truth has always been apparent to some1 such as ,moses and ,jesus1 and some of the ,oriental priests4 ,the two former tried to give the true idea to the people1 but failed1 as they were too poetical1 and the people believed too literally4 ,the latter tried to keep the people in ignorance1 as it gave them power1 and they therefore told the people what they themselves knew to be untruths4 8,we differed somewhat in our idea of ,god4 ,some thought he was all good and had no evil4 ,i think he is all good1 but ,i also think that all evil is his1 but that every evil has a good motive and a good end4 8,no idea1 no matter how surprising and new it may seem1 is new4 ,it has always been1 although it has never been thought4 ,the world is like a great bunch of rosebuds1 each perfect as a bud1 but not developed4 ,every beautiful idea1 when it is thought1 is a petal unfolding and revealing more perfect petals beneath4 ,thus one fine idea brings forth another4 8,i think a great many people do not know what they think4 ,if you ask a person belonging to one of the established religions what they believe1 ,i think their answer would be vague4 ,formerly1 these religions were very useful1 as they made people love good4 ,now they prevent people from thinking1 and make them dependent4 ,they depend on others to make their beliefs and thoughts1 when their brains should be1 and probably are1 fertile enough to think for themselves40 ,i said that was just what ,i wanted1 and ,i hoped to have one such paper each week4 ,i said ,i believed that after we had spoken of ,god1 and decided what we meant1 and all agreed1 we would not often use the word ,god1 because it was so nearly unspeakable1 so vast and holy1 that we would take it as a natural background to our thought4 8,you know10 ,i said1 8how in the old ,jewish temples the name of ,god was mentioned only once a year40 8,and then only by the priest10 ,henry added4 8,but if we want to talk of ,god we shall have to use his name10 said ,ruth4 ,the others seemed to agree with her4 8,the personal significance always clings to the name of ,god10 ,marian said2 8but what other word can one use80 8,perhaps it would be better10 suggested ,henry1 8to use some such other word as ,all-powerful ,one40 ,virginia said that to her the word ,god had no personal significance4 ,ruth thought we might use the impersonal word 8,good40 ,i answered her that every attribute1 even good1 was limiting1 and ,god was limitless4 ,i saw that they did not in the least understand what ,i meant1 that they could not until we went further4 ,so ,i said3 8,i think that after we know what we mean by the word ,god1 you will understand why we shall not want1 and not need1 to use it40 ,then ,i asked them what they meant by ,god4 ,virginia said3 8,god is the whole1 good and bad1 only what seems bad is really good4 ,or ,god is1 rather1 every feeling1 every emotion40 ,henry said ,god was everything good1 but that everything was good1 and bad only seemed bad to us4 ,alfred said3 8,i don't think bad is good1 but ,i think that ,god must be everything1 anyway40 ,marian tried to say that ,god is the vast unknown--something1 which we know because we feel it4 ,florence said3 8,i spoke to brother ,arthur about it1 and ,i now think that ,god is sympathy2 that is1 sympathy and understanding of our fellow-men2 and as we reach that1 we get to ,god40 ,the others were surprised and startled by this explanation4 ,i said ,i knew what ,florence meant1 but that she had not been able to express it clearly4 ,then ,ruth said that she agreed with ,henry4 ,she called ,god spirit4 8,yes10 ,i answered1 8if we take spirit to mean everything4 ,for we know nothing except through our senses1 our consciousness1 our understanding2 so that all we know is knowledge of spirit40 ,they all agreed to that4 8,now10 ,i said1 8,i believe ,god to be in each of us1 to be the self within us1 and within all others1 and within the universe2 to be the knowledge1 the light and the understanding4 ,i can explain to you what ,i mean by reading a passage from the ,indian ,vedas1 which seems to me so true1 and so exactly what ,i want to say1 that ,i could not explain it so well myself40 ,then ,i read the following3 8,in the beginning was ,self alone4 ,atman is the ,self in all our selves--the ,divine ,self concealed by his own qualities4 ,this ,self they sometimes call the ,undeveloped4 4 4 4 ,the generation of ,brahma was before all ages1 unfolding himself evermore in a beautiful glory2 everything which is highest and everything which is deepest belongs to him4 ,being and not being are unveiled through ,brahma4 4 4 4 ,how can any one teach concerning ,brahma8 ,he is neither the known nor the unknown4 ,that which cannot be expressed by words1 but through which all expression comes1 this ,i know to be ,brahma4 ,that which cannot be thought by the mind1 but by which all thinking comes1 this ,i know is ,brahma4 ,that which cannot be seen by the eye1 but by which the eye sees1 is ,brahma40 ,they liked this so well1 and said it expressed their feelings so truly1 that ,i offered to copy it for each one of them4 ,marian said she did not understand what was meant by 8concealed by his own qualities40 ,i answered3 8,we know ,god only because of the universe which we see and feel40 8,yes10 she said4 8,but just that the universe10 ,i went on1 8conceals ,god1 is a mystery as well as a revelation40 8,i don't quite understand10 said ,marian4 8,it is like a great light10 ,i said1 8which is so bright that it dazzles you1 and you cannot look at it40 8,like the sun10 said ,virginia4 8,i think ,i see what you mean10 ,marian answered4 ,i continued3 8,moses spoke of ,god in that same way1 as the vast ,self3 #8,and ,god said unto ,moses1 ,i ,am ,that ,i ,am2 and he said1 ,thus shalt thou say unto the children of ,israel1 ,i ,am hath sent me unto you4' 8,and so10 ,i went on1 8myself and yourself1 the self of every man and the self of the universe1 that is ,god40 ,with delightful frankness they said that they liked it better as it was put in 8that thing on ,brahma40 8,so do ,i10 ,i answered4 8,we know only self4 ,is it not so80 8,i don't like the word #8self1'0 said ,ruth2 8it is too limited4 ,i think only of my little self40 ,marian agreed4 ,virginia said that to her it seemed the true word1 that she felt the whole as a vast self4 8,but isn't it more80 she asked4 8,god is feeling4 ,when ,i ride in an open trolley1 and the wind blows in my face1 and the trees blow1 and the clouds move in the sky1 then the feeling that it gives me ,i call ,god40 8,isn't it self1 within yourself80 ,i asked4 8,yes1 it is10 she answered4 8,now10 ,i said1 8we are little1 incomplete1 limited creatures1 but we need the whole universe to be complete4 ,the whole universe is the rest of self1 the rest of myself4 ,that is what ,i mean by ,god1 and in that sense ,i am a part of ,god40 ,all the children agreed at once1 as if this were the thing they had wanted to hear said4 ,this first definite statement that ,i made seemed to us all unanswerably true4 ,immediately they went on to speak of good and bad2 but ,i stopped them1 thus3 8,there is one other thing ,i would like to make clear first1 a historic question1 but one that leads to the question of good and bad4 ,what did the most illumined and inspired polytheists mean by their many gods80 ,marian answered3 8,they meant many aspects of the one ,god40 8,just so1 ,marian4 ,but now do you know the inner meaning of ,trinity80 ,none of them knew1 and all seemed particularly interested and anxious to understand4 8,i never understood10 said ,marian1 8what was meant by the ,holy ,ghost40 ,i said to them3 8,i will tell you what it has always meant to me1 and to some others beside me1 and you can see whether it seems true to you4 ,to me the three are as parts of one4 ,they are the contrast1 such as man and ,god1 good and bad1 even night and day1 and the understanding1 the unity that makes these two one40 ,this needed much explanation4 ,it was all summed up thus3 ,the three in one--the triangle with three sides1 which is still one--are3 ,myself1 the other self1 which ,i love and need for my completion1 and the love and understanding which pass between us and make us one4 ,virginia said that she never thought of herself and the other self1 that to her they were one4 ,the idea was very new to them all1 and did not at once convince them4 8,now10 ,i said1 8we see1 however1 that opposites are really one2 and so ,i believe that good and bad are parts of the same thing4 ,i believe that everything called bad is the price of going forward1 of progress1 that bad things are made by good things4 ,suppose that the world were in utter darkness1 that no light were anywhere1 then there would be no darkness1 either4 ,but the first flame of light would create the darkness40 ,as ,i developed this idea1 the children said very little1 only asking me questions1 until ,i had finished4 ,this is how ,i explained it3 ,we all believe--we seven here--that the good is understanding1 love1 the complete ,divine ,self1 and everything which leads thereto is good4 ,then everything bad is that which does not lead thereto2 or1 rather1 that is called bad which has not gone so far as the rest4 ,so that the bad is not an actual state--in this ,i agree with ,ruth--but is a condition of good4 ,all pains are growing pains4 ,things are bad only because we already have something better4 ,the other day ,i heard ,virginia saying that when reason came into the world1 creatures first knew the bad2 because they saw that the life they had lived was a bad life4 ,so1 you see1 everything bad is something which we feel to be behind us1 not equal to our best knowledge4 ,pain and badness are the price of progress1 and we would rather go forward and suffer than stand still and be comfortable4 ,we long to go forward to the good1 to the vast self of complete understanding4 8,a criminal10 ,i said1 8may be a man who would have been good if he had lived in savage times among savages1 but at present he is bad because we are ahead of him40 8,then a bad man10 said ,henry1 8is one who is behind his times1 or else ahead of them40 8,oh1 no10 they protested1 8not ahead of them60 8,no10 ,i answered1 8but the man ahead of his time1 who is better than his time1 may appear to be a criminal4 ,you must see that the man who believes in the eternal good1 who knows that he is going toward unity and complete love1 is in a sense above the human law1 and must discover his own laws4 ,he may be a criminal in the eyes of others40 8,give us an example10 they said4 8,jesus is one example4 ,he was crucified as a criminal40 8,because10 said ,henry1 8he broke the ,roman law4 ,he refused to worship their images1 and he called himself ,king of the ,jews40 8,and they did not know10 ,i answered1 8in what sense he called himself ,king1 so they had to crucify him as a traitor4 ,can't you think of some other example8 ,of course1 there were all the heretics of old times40 ,alfred and ,henry said that ,roosevelt was in a sense an example1 because he had been much blamed for exposing the truth and hurting business2 but that the hurt was an essential part of progress and good4 ,ruth said3 8,surely it is better to expose the truth and suffer for it1 than to go on in falsehood40 ,i gave as another example the ,russians1 with whom1 a short time ago1 it was a crime to educate the peasants2 and ,i told how brave men and women had been sent to ,siberia for breaking the law in this respect4 8,but10 ,i said1 8this is a dangerous subject1 and truly1 we ought not to have mentioned it until we could probe it to the bottom4 ,for surely in a democratic state one of the essential inner laws is that we shall obey the law which our fellows have made40 8,if a law seems wrong to a man10 said ,henry1 8he can try to change it1 but meantime he must obey it4 ,for instance1 a man might believe in free trade1 but still he would have no right to smuggle in goods40 8,one ought to obey school-laws1 ,i suppose10 said ,marian4 8,surely10 ,i answered1 8for the school is an institution you enter from choice1 and if you don't like the laws you can protest by leaving4 ,but if there were a law unjust to your fellows1 you would disobey it4 ,still1 even then1 the best way to protest would be by a strike of the students40 ,they had a long discussion on the great crime of whispering in school1 in which ,i scarcely joined1 as ,i refuse to be a petty preacher to them4 ,but ,i tried to explain to them why it was so hard for them to obey these little laws4 8,it is10 ,i said1 8because you did not help to make the laws yourselves1 that you are tempted to break them out of mere mischief4 ,still1 you would not lie about it1 but rather do it openly1 because you feel that truth between individuals is an inner law1 the first step toward understanding4 ,you know ,i believe that1 even unconsciously1 we have all always striven for this unity1 this completeness that now we are going to strive for with open eyes40 8,and all bad leads in the same direction1 and comes to good10 said ,virginia4 8,now ,i want you to understand that clearly10 ,i said4 8,all bad things are bad only because they do not reach up to our idea of the best4 ,but that bad things are turned to good1 or used for good is because we use them so2 because the desire and the striving for good is so strong within us1 that we use them to fulfil that desire4 ,it is not a necessity4 ,it is a matter of choice4 ,if we wish1 we can use everything for good4 ,and we often do so1 even unconsciously4 ,everything strives toward that good1 which is life itself40 8,then you believe10 said ,marian1 8that even every criminal has some good in him80 8,yes1 surely10 ,i answered1 8else he would not be here1 alive1 at all4 ,every living being is good2 and if he is not so far as we at present1 he may go farther than we some day4 ,surely1 we will take him onward with us1 else we cannot be complete4 ,you must see that any one who believes the great good to be understanding love and unity1 cannot be made whole till every one is made whole with him4 ,he needs all the world40 8,every one must feel that10 said ,marian4 8,the other day1 ,marian10 ,i went on1 8you said3 #8,if we can never reach the goal1 what is the good of anything8' ,now1 ,i1 for one1 believe in infinite good2 ,i believe that no matter how far we go1 we shall long to go farther1 so that what now would seem unimaginably good to us might one day seem bad4 ,can you imagine stagnant perfection80 8,i think10 said ,marian1 8that a perfectly good world would be terribly monotonous40 8,that is what ,i think1 too10 ,i answered4 8,what we love is the going forward1 the achieving1 the striving40 ,henry said3 8,it is like travelling toward the horizon1 and we think that is the end4 ,but when we reach it1 we see another horizon40 ,ruth asked3 8,how can we strive for anything1 if we don't expect to reach it8 ,is not ,god what we long to reach8 ,is not ,god the ideal80 8,is not ,god1 the real1 here1 now80 ,i answered her4 8,i cannot understand ,infinity or ,eternity1 so ,i say ,infinity is here and ,eternity is now1 because ,i am always here and now4 ,so ,i cannot understand infinite good and unity1 but ,i know that here and now ,i must strive for it1 and that the constant striving1 and getting more and ever more1 is my greatest joy4 ,now1 ,ruth1 do you admit that we cannot go forward alone1 that all must go together to be complete80 8,yes40 8,then the whole is one1 and every man and creature is a part of me40 8,if every one believed that10 said ,marian1 8how different1 how much better the world would be6 ,people could not criticize each other40 8,i think it would10 ,i said1 8and ,i am glad you think so1 too2 for if every one believed that1 no one could condemn another1 any more than you could condemn your own sore finger4 ,you might say3 #8,my finger is sore1' but you wouldn't say3 #8,my finger is very wicked1 and ,i hate it4'0 8,i believe that10 said ,marian4 8,i am convinced mentally1 but ,i don't feel it4 ,i don't think that ,i could live it yet40 ,virginia asked whether she might say for us 8,abou ben ,adhem10 which expressed our idea of man and ,god4 ,and she said it for us4 ,we were all silent for a few moments4 ,then ,i said3 8,and the love of even more than man1 of all creatures1 of all the world40 ,marian admitted that she did not love animals4 ,ruth said she did4 ,marian seems distressed by the fact that she cannot be perfect at once4 ,that is what she means when she says she is mentally convinced1 but doesn't feel it yet4 ,alfred feels the same lack4 ,these ambitious children6 8,now10 ,i said1 8,i want you to feel certain and convinced of each thing as we go on4 ,we all agree at present1 don't we80 8,yes10 they answered4 8,i feel as if something must be wrong1 because we all agree10 ,i went on1 8and yet ,i know you are independent thinkers4 ,are you sure that all bad is a condition of good1 even all physical bad1 such things as accidents and loss8 ,for instance1 railroads are of value--why80 ,none knew the true reason but ,ruth4 ,she said they brought nations together4 8,and the accidents on railroads10 ,i said1 8are the price of that progress1 a price we have to pay for perfecting that system4 ,it would be better to avoid all accidents--as ,i hope we shall do one day--but1 meanwhile1 we would rather take the risk than not have railroads4 ,no one can be convinced1 however1 that all bad is a condition of good1 until tried40 8,i have been tried10 answered ,virginia4 ,they all thought themselves convinced1 except ,alfred4 ,he said3 8,it might be true nine times1 but the tenth time it might not be true40 8,then10 said ,henry1 8you would believe it were true the tenth time1 even though you didn't understand how40 8,no10 ,i answered2 8he would test it the tenth time4 ,we will know each thing40 ,now we re-examined our conviction on all these questions1 and went over each point again4 ,we probed the possibilities of atheism1 and saw that no one who faced things could be an atheist1 that atheism was the result of laziness1 fear or vanity4 ,either a man feared to face the truth1 or could not bear to admit how little he knew4 ,and we saw that an atheist might be a very good man1 only he would build his morality on a philosophy he did not understand or examine4 ,we might be good without any religious convictions1 but this conviction1 this belief1 would give us a reason for goodness1 and make us strong in the face of uncertainty1 temptation and trial4 ,henry said things were worth while only when they were hard to do4 8,there10 said ,i1 8you have a proof of our instinctive feeling that pain is a necessary part of progress40 ,virginia said she wanted to believe what would make her happy2 that she would choose the optimistic faith4 ,i answered her ,i wanted to believe the truth1 happy or unhappy1 but ,i had come to the conclusion at last that the truth was very good4 ,i told them how at their age ,i had been in great doubt1 how ,i had thought the truth might be very bad4 8,pain is real10 ,i said1 8but we will not fear to face that1 or anything bitter1 when we know it to be a condition of going onward40 ,virginia said ,i was shaping her thought for her4 ,i reminded her how she used to be my 8little disciple40 ,all the others1 and especially ,marian1 said that this meeting was far more satisfying than the last2 that we had reached something definite4 ,marian said3 8,i seem to see already what we will have to say on every subject1 but we shall have no end of things to speak of40 ,,third ,,meeting ,florence and ,henry were delayed and did not arrive until after four4 ,but before that we had already gathered about the table1 and found it hard to restrain ourselves from beginning the discussion4 ,i said to the children that ,i thought we would not speak of immortality to-day1 as there was too much that came before4 ,i asked them whether they were anxious to get to it4 ,they were very anxious4 ,florence said3 8,it is such an important subject40 ,ruth said3 8,i believe we will all agree on immortality40 ,i answered her that just there ,i thought we might disagree most4 ,marian said she had definite ideas on the subject4 ,i can see that ,henry has indefinite and theological ideas4 ,i then read aloud the little paper ,marian had written on our talk of the previous week3 8,on ,sunday1 ,october #ahth1 our club1 the ,seekers1 held its second meeting4 ,we first discussed our ideas of ,god4 ,we reached the conclusion that ,god is our divine self1 that through ,god we can perceive1 but we cannot perceive ,god4 ,this seems to me a very beautiful idea4 ,i think our discussion on this subject was particularly nice1 because we did not try to limit ,god by any attributes1 for he is infinite4 ,we also discussed progress4 ,i understood it much better this week than last4 ,the aim of progress is to reach a clear understanding of our fellow-beings2 we hope that1 sometime1 there will be sympathy and understanding among all men1 for we each have a divine self1 which will not reach perfection until it is in perfect accord with all the other people's4 ,we discussed good and evil1 and decided that evil is that which we outgrow1 and which might once have seemed good1 but which now seems bad because we have found something better4 ,good is the progress that we are making toward our goal of common understanding4 ,unhappiness and accidents1 etc41 are incidental to progress1 and will occur less and less frequently4 ,i enjoyed this meeting of the club very much40 ,we now reviewed all the conclusions we had reached4 ,then ,i was glad to have them speak once more of good and bad1 and ask many questions4 ,ruth said she was not sure of being convinced4 ,she said3 8,i talked it over with mother4 ,it seems to me ,i sometimes put my thought into your words1 and imagine you have said what ,i mean1 when perhaps you haven't4 ,please repeat that again1 about good and bad40 ,ruth is always afraid she may be weakening in her own ideas1 and tries not to be convinced4 ,i strove to impress upon her that my idea might include hers4 ,i said3 8,you see now that the thought ,i want to give you is an unanswerable religion1 which is not new1 but larger than all the old beliefs40 ,marian asked3 8,large enough to include them all80 8,yes1 just that4 ,did you ever think of the old word1 holiness1 h-o-l-i-n-e-s-s8 ,i know another word that to us would mean holiness1 a different holiness40 8,you mean w-h-o-l-e80 said ,marian4 8,yes1 to be whole and complete40 ,now as we spoke again of good and bad1 we came upon the interesting question of disease4 8,how can that be explained as a part of progress80 asked ,marian4 ,virginia1 with her usual misconception on this subject1 said that disease helped us forward because through it scientists came to know and understand many things about life4 ,henry1 still more off the track1 said that disease led to a knowledge of medicine4 8,henry's idea10 ,i answered1 8we cannot consider1 because1 of course1 the only virtue of medical skill is that it cures disease1 and if there were not disease we would not need medical progress4 ,but ,virginia's idea is true in a certain sense4 ,it is quite true that disease impelled people to use the microscope1 to discover themselves physically1 to learn of the infinitude of minute creatures in the universe2 and so it led to a larger knowledge of life1 because the infinitely little makes our world just as vast as the infinitely big4 ,but this only shows that we made progress out of disease1 as we make progress out of all things1 because the will of life1 the will to go forward1 is within us4 ,it does not show how disease itself can be the result or price of progress4 ,that is a difficult question1 but ,i seem to see it clearly1 and ,i will try to explain it to you4 ,none of you1 except perhaps ,virginia and ,alfred1 have a clear idea of evolution1 and ,i would like to spend one meeting in explaining it1 because it is so essential4 ,don't you think so80 8,yes10 they said4 8,but ,i can't go into this question of disease without explaining something of evolution to you now4 ,i will try to make it clear3 ,each individual is different4 ,as animals progressed and went forward1 those parts which were newest were also more unstable1 because they were ready to change more4 ,these parts were most apt to become diseased1 or1 rather1 weakened1 because progress might be in any direction1 and had to feel its way40 ,it was difficult for me to explain this to the children1 who were so utterly unprepared1 and ,i said much more4 ,even so1 ,i don't think ,marian and ,ruth understood it thoroughly1 and ,i shall have to repeat it when we speak of evolution4 ,i said ,i did not believe the germs of disease ever entered any part unless that part were weakened or imperfect4 ,i said3 8,take as an example the human brain4 ,suppose that two children were born with brains slightly different from others4 ,one might turn out to be a genius1 and the other to be eccentric and even insane1 because progress feels its way in all directions4 ,so disease1 coming to the new unstable parts1 would be the necessary cost of progress40 ,virginia said3 8,young and new things are always most delicate4 ,i had a palm with many leaves1 and one was new4 ,now1 the palm was left for a day against the window pane1 and the young leaf died from the pressure of the glass1 which did not at all hurt the old leaves40 ,this poetical and delightful little figure of speech made me wonder whether ,virginia understood just what ,i meant4 ,we went over the question of good and bad1 to ,ruth's satisfaction4 ,and then ,i asked ,henry1 whose understanding of it ,i doubted1 to tell me in what three ways the bad was a part of good and progress4 ,his answer was clear and true3 8,there is the bad1 which is only bad because we now possess or know something better1 the old good we have left behind us4 ,then there is the bad which is the direct result of progress and growth1 such as accidents and disease4 ,then there is the use of bad which we make1 to turn it into good1 such as the knowledge we get from it1 and1 as ,virginia said before1 the sympathy and love which grow out of misfortune40 8,now10 ,i said1 8,i would like some of you to tell me what you mean by those two words1 matter and spirit40 ,henry1 ,virginia and ,ruth were the only ones ready to answer4 ,henry said that spirit is the soul4 ,he quoted from a ,sunday-school formula3 8,the spirit of man is in the image of ,god1 and immortal40 ,i said that those words did not mean anything definite to me4 ,they might be true1 but ,i did not understand them4 ,ruth said she did1 and it was what she meant2 that matter was1 like the bad1 something to be overcome and left behind4 8,i think10 said ,virginia1 8that matter is the tool of spirit2 the body is the servant of the mind40 ,they began to argue1 but ,i stopped them1 saying3 8,i will first tell you what ,i think4 ,is there any matter without form8 ,has not all matter form1 and is it not1 therefore1 as it were1 something like an idea in the mind80 ,henry wanted to deny this1 but thought a moment1 and admitted that all matter had some form4 ,i went on3 8,i am a spirit1 that is1 a self2 and ,i know things only in my spirit1 because ,i see1 hear1 touch them4 ,so ,i don't believe in matter1 so called1 at all4 ,i think that our forms1 our bodies1 and all forms in the universe are an expression of spirit or self40 ,i said expression was the means for reaching unity1 that creatures could not come together unless they expressed themselves to each other1 and that ,i believed all expression was for this purpose4 ,i said1 what is called matter1 the material conditions of life1 are the result of the action of spirit2 our bodies1 which seem so solid and material1 are constantly changed1 are not at all the same as matter1 but only in form2 we are reborn each day according to the spirit4 ,i said that in this sense matter1 so-called1 was indeed something we were constantly leaving behind us1 that every material condition was the result of a previous state of mind4 ,this is true of all human things1 and we cannot help thinking it is true of universal things4 ,we know that fire burns1 that planets whirl through space1 that water runs1 and we cannot help feeling these expressions of force to be the expression of something akin to will and spirit4 ,virginia said1 then there must be something much more than human sympathy and understanding1 which we long to reach4 ,i answered1 ,i believed so1 but ,i had not wanted to suggest it to them4 ,i said that all our present bodily conditions1 the seemingly unalterable conditions called material1 were the expression of will and spirit in the past1 either of ours or others2 that our very existence here1 the existence of everything1 was the result of will and desire4 ,marian said3 8,i don't think it is just that we should suffer and be1 because of another's will and spirit40 ,virginia answered3 8,it is fair4 ,we are part of the whole40 8,that is so10 said ,marian4 8,of course40 ,it was a full and sufficient answer4 ,i said ,i believed that disease could be prevented1 even if not cured1 by thought1 because will and desire controlled the body4 ,i said3 8,we have our own destiny in our hands1 we are free to do as we choose with the future1 because will shapes everything40 ,i was delighted to find that the children had never heard the silly discussions about free will1 and did not have to have that bugbear driven out4 ,i said3 8,we are a part of the will of life40 ,as another illustration of idea coming before form1 ,i spoke of plants and seeds1 how in the seed is the possibility1 the idea of an infinity of trees4 ,virginia said3 8,in them spirit seems to be asleep1 for it must be there40 ,she said all things slept sometimes1 and while they slept the spirit worked in them4 ,ruth was not in the least convinced4 ,indeed1 the thing was not overclear4 ,she said3 8,i still think matter is something to be overcome1 something that binds us4 ,surely we will sometime be spirits without matter1 altogether spiritual40 ,i tried to show them that spirit without expression would be unthinkable1 that though expression might not be what we call matter1 it would still be some expression4 ,i said3 8,expression frees us40 ,that was puzzling1 and needed more explanation4 ,i asked ,henry3 8,what is the object and aim of life80 ,he answered vaguely3 8,i suppose it is spirit40 8,now1 what do you mean by that80 ,i asked4 ,he answered3 8,i suppose we don't know what it is until we reach the truth40 ,evidently he did not1 but all the others did4 ,they all spoke at once to explain to him that the object of life was complete understanding and love4 ,i said3 8,that is what expression is to get for us1 for we express ourselves in form and thought1 so that we may understand and be understood4 ,and that is what ,i meant by freedom4 ,i meant understanding1 love and perfect adjustment4 ,in one sense matter is binding1 because we want more freedom4 ,matter1 so called1 is the physical condition which our will made in the past1 and which we want already to surpass4 ,suppose that a man wrote a book in which he put all his ideas1 and that when he finished the book he was forbidden to write or speak again2 his ideas would grow afterward1 and as he could not express them1 he would think himself limited and bound by the book he had written4 ,so material conditions are binding only because we want still more freedom1 though they themselves were freedom at the time of their creation4 ,in that sense1 ,ruth1 you might call the body something which the spirit constantly wants to leave behind1 because it is creating new forms for itself40 ,marian said3 8,it is as if there were a house with many rooms1 and we thought we wanted to go only into the first2 but each door made us long for the next room1 and the next1 so that we could never be satisfied40 8,and if one door were locked10 ,i said1 8we would consider ourselves sadly bound1 though we had thought we wished to go only so far4 ,suppose a man made a statue1 that statue would be an expression of his spirit4 ,but if the next instant he wanted to change it1 to make1 say1 the lines of the arm more perfect1 he could not do so by willing4 ,he would have to make a new statue40 8,but that is different10 said ,ruth4 8,the stuff he works in is still matter40 ,i tried to explain how all creation is an inter-change of form1 a flowing and influence4 ,i tried to show them how all things whatsoever1 even thoughts1 are forms1 and all form an expression4 ,virginia said3 8,those who write books1 or do any great work1 are immortal in that1 because of their influence40 ,i answered her that all of us were immortal in this sense1 that each thing had endless influence4 ,marian asked the one unanswerable question1 and ,i was delighted4 ,she said3 8,why was the ,divine ,self ever divided8 ,how did we ever happen to need bodies and expression8 ,why did it not all grow together80 ,she saw that contrast was needed for recognition4 ,but why1 she wondered1 was anything at all8 ,i answered her3 8,we said the other day that it did not matter whether the search for good were infinite or not4 ,neither does it concern us to know the unknowable1 whether or how the awaking world began4 ,but we do know it is awakening1 what is the direction1 what is the aim and desire of life4 ,to me no more seems needed4 ,we know how to go forward40 8,that is true10 she said4 ,she spoke of old age and mental decay4 ,she said she did not see why people lost1 for no reason1 the progress they seemed to have made4 ,i answered her that ,i did not think they lost it1 unless they did not try to keep it2 that it is a thing one must work for at each moment4 8,but why do they stop trying80 she asked4 8,i don't think they stop10 ,i said4 8,i think they never did try1 but in youth such people merely had more stimulation from without40 8,now1 my grandfather10 she said1 8was an intelligent man1 and he is losing his memory40 8,is he losing the valuable thing8 ,does he love you less1 understand you less8 ,are you sure the memory he is losing is the thing he still needs80 ,she saw what ,i meant4 ,she was struck by it4 ,i went on3 8,one might lose the ability to do mathematics1 when one had gained all there was to be got out of mathematics40 ,she said3 8,i think you are right4 ,i understand that40 ,now when ,ruth insisted again that matter was something binding1 something to be left behind1 ,alfred said3 8,i don't think it is binding40 8,neither do ,i10 said ,virginia4 8,neither do ,i10 said ,i1 8for we can always express ourselves in a new way4 ,the man who has written a book is not dumb afterward40 ,the meeting was very short and unsatisfactory4 ,i believe that the children went home disappointed1 for ,i could see that we had not got at anything that the children had not understood4 ,since then ,virginia's mother told me that ,virginia did not enjoy it as much as the other meetings2 that it was too deep for her4 ,florence's 8big brother ,arthur0 told me that she1 too1 did not enjoy it as much1 and that when he questioned her she seemed to understand clearly only the fact that there was no sharp distinction between mind and matter4 ,otherwise1 as he put it1 she 8talked woolly40 ,during the meeting she yawned once4 ,well1 then1 this meeting was a failure4 ,as such1 ,i want to use it4 ,what was the cause8 ,of course1 one of the chief causes was the difficulty of the subject1 and yet the unavoidability of it4 ,how could ,i go on to speak of immortality to children with such absurd notions8 ,i don't think it could be 8skipped40 ,of course1 ,i would at first suppose that my method of tackling the subject was at fault4 ,it may be so1 but at present ,i can think of no other method4 ,i think that the real and remediable cause of the difficulty was this3 ,that the children did not have a good enough conception of the philosophy of science1 actual knowledge of cosmic facts1 to understand my point of view4 ,i should have had the talk on evolution first4 ,to remedy this as much as possible1 ,i am going to have the talk on evolution next4 ,to speak of immortality now would cause still more confusion4 ,i await next ,sunday with some uncertainty and doubt4 ,for the next meeting must be good1 or the club will be a failure4 ,we must learn by experience1 they as well as ,i4 ,i will go forward with courage1 if my little army does not fail me4 ,if ,i were giving again the talk on matter and spirit1 ,i would do it differently4 ,i would not say 8matter is the expression of spirit10 but 8matter is the medium through which spirit expresses itself40 ,for matter is something1 though we know not what1 and never know it except as form1 which seems to us always an expression of will4 ,but we know that1 whatever it be1 it passes from one controlling will to another4 7,of course1 it is too difficult to be discussed in this fashion by boys and girls47 ,,fourth ,,meeting ,after all1 the last meeting was not such a failure as ,i had supposed4 ,i asked ,alfred to come earlier1 and questioned him before the others arrived4 ,he answered me with precision and common sense4 ,he said3 8,all matter was once spirit1 is the result of spirit40 ,when ,i said3 8,what we call matter is the medium through which spirit expresses itself10 he answered3 8,yes1 but spirit expresses itself in other ways1 too40 8,think a minute10 said ,i1 8does it8 ,can the spirit express itself through any other medium80 8,no10 he said1 after thinking a moment1 8no1 of course not40 8,nor10 said ,i1 8do we at all know matter except through the intellect40 ,i told him that ,i wanted to speak to him alone because he was so silent at the club4 ,then ,henry arrived4 ,he said he enjoyed the last meeting very much1 and thought he understood it all4 ,the paper he wrote proved that he understood far better than ,i had supposed3 8,to-day we first went over what we had said last week4 ,the question arose as to which class of evil disease belongs4 ,we came to the conclusion that it is the result or price of progress4 ,we also spoke about the idea of a trinity4 ,we had said at the last meeting that ,god is a divine self within us1 and that when we know each other we will know ,god4 ,connecting each one of us to the other1 there is a feeling of sympathy1 a third element4 ,that is to say1 there is you1 and myself1 and1 making the third part1 that sympathetic understanding which brings us closer together4 8,the chief topic to-day was that of ,matter and ,spirit4 ,at first there was a little difference of opinion1 but we finally agreed that in reality everything is spirit1 and that which we call matter is only the expression of the spirit4 ,as an example we took the sculptor1 who1 getting an idea through the mind1 expresses this spirit in a statue1 which we call matter4 ,we speak of the body as matter1 but it is spirit1 in as much as it is the medium through which the spirit manifests itself40 ,when ,i told the children ,i had decided to take up evolution before immortality1 because evolution was the problem of creation1 they were all satisfied and interested4 ,then ,i read aloud ,marian's little paper3 8,on ,sunday1 ,october #beth1 the ,seekers held a regular meeting4 ,we first reviewed our discussion of the last week1 and then took up the subject of ,matter and ,spirit4 ,our discussion was long1 and the conclusion we reached was that matter is an expression of spirit4 ,in the first place1 matter is that which has form or qualities4 ,every material thing is the expression of a thought4 ,if a man makes a table1 he does so because he wishes to1 because it is his will to do so4 ,if he writes a book1 that book is an expression of his thought1 but it is what is commonly called matter4 ,matter is1 in short1 a result of spirit1 is an expression of spirit4 ,our bodies are the expression of our minds1 and the way in which we express ourselves to each other4 ,if our bodies are not perfect1 if they are diseased1 it is merely that our minds have not advanced far enough to express the perfect body4 ,our talk this week helped me a great deal4 ,although we did not cover much ground1 we reached a conclusion on one of the most difficult subjects1 and ,i think almost every one was convinced40 ,ruth said she had thought all the week of what ,i had told them1 and that she was sure she agreed with me now4 ,the children's thoughts seem to develop during the week1 as if they shaped afterward1 and slowly1 all that had been said4 ,virginia disagreed with ,marian1 that the perfect mind would make the perfect body4 ,she said3 8,people with perfect bodies are often fools4 ,and sickly people are often the most intelligent and fine spirited40 ,marian and ,ruth both protested1 but could not express themselves4 ,so ,i said3 8,that is true4 ,but still ,i believe the perfect mind would have the perfect body4 ,our bodies may be imperfect for several reasons3 ,perhaps we are suffering for the wrong spirit of our ancestors1 through heredity4 ,or1 again1 the body which may be good enough1 and quite perfect1 even1 with the fool's mind1 might not be strong enough for the active mind4 ,that mind would have to create for itself a more perfect body4 ,so1 you see1 our bodily imperfections are the price of progress4 ,our upright position1 for instance1 which is so great a help to the mind1 is a strain on the body1 and the cause of many of our ills40 ,ruth said3 8,i think our bodies will become so much better than they are now1 that the best we know now will seem very poor40 ,virginia had written a little paper1 which seemed to me at the first reading so vague and uncomprehending1 that ,i did not wish to read it aloud4 ,i was glad ,i did read it aloud1 however1 as her explanation and interpretation of herself showed that she understood4 ,this is the paper3 ,,my ,,idea ,,of ,,matter 8,matter is a part of mind4 ,without it there would be no improvement of the mind4 ,mind1 without matter1 would be like a stunted child4 ,it would still exist1 but it would not grow4 ,it seems as if matter were the medium between mind and progress40 ,virginia said that was her own idea1 whether we agreed or not4 ,it means1 according to ,virginia1 that matter is the medium of expression of mind1 and that mind could not grow without this medium4 ,very good1 it seems to me2 and we do agree4 ,i said1 and ,ruth and ,henry joined me1 that one must make a distinction1 for convenience1 at least1 between the words 8spirit0 and 8matter40 ,marian said they had been separated so long1 so completely and so foolishly1 that she was glad to dwell upon their sameness4 ,now ,i went on to speak of evolution4#a ,i showed them how the theory of evolution1 or descent from a common ancestor or ancestors1 was a creation theory1 just as much as ,genesis was a creation theory4 ,i said3 8,there is no reason why you should believe this any more than any other history1 or story1 unless the proofs convince you40 ,alfred and ,virginia said it was a reasonable1 convincing theory4 ,marian saw what ,i meant1 and1 not knowing so much as they1 asked for the proof4 ,i first gave them the proof of likeness of structure1 and showed them pictures of the resemblances of bone and organ structure in various animals4 ,ruth said she was quite sure all little babies were like monkeys4 ,then ,i gave the proof of the race-likeness of the young4 7,examples and illustrations47 ,then that of rudimentary organs4 7,examples and illustrations47 ,virginia suggested the geological proof in the finding of fossils4 ,i enlarged on this1 and spoke of series of living and extinct shells1 etc4 ,i traced the general progress of evolution1 the division into groups and branches4 ,i told them--what some knew--that evolution was an ancient1 philosophical theory1 and only the method of evolution ,darwinian4 ,some of them said ,darwin's name always made them think of monkeys4 ,i now went on to explain ,darwin's theory of natural selection2 spoke of variation in all directions as the law of life2 then explained the struggle for food and place1 and then protective colorings1 and consequent elimination4 ,the children gave as many examples and instances as myself4 ,then ,i went on to tell what artificial selection had been able to do1 and showed a group of pictures of the dog1 domesticated from a wolf-like animal4 ,the pictures included prize bulldogs1 ,st4 ,bernards1 ,french poodles1 tiny ,japanese dogs and great ,danes4 ,now ,florence1 who has just had instruction in evolution by her helpful big brother1 said3 8,but a great many scientists no longer accept natural selection and the survival of the fittest as an explanation of development4 ,there is the theory of isolation1 too40 8,yes10 ,i said1 8and ,i am one of those who believe in natural selection only in part1 but ,i wanted you to hear it all4 ,florence1 explain the effect of isolation to us40 ,she explained it1 and gave a very good example1 that of some birds in a species having stronger wings than others1 and so flying farther to nest4 ,when ,i asked what any theory of the process of evolution failed to explain1 ,ruth answered 8immortality40 ,i told her that evolutionary theories did not attempt to explain that4 ,i showed them how no theory explained change itself1 explained the initial variation4 ,i showed them1 too1 the limits of natural selection4 ,when ,i took the eye as an example of a specialized organ too complex to be easily accounted for by natural selection1 ,i found them hard to convince1 because they did not realize the complexity of the eye4 ,but when ,i spoke of the life and death value of any organic change as necessary for its selection1 they saw how that limited selection in many ways4 ,we spoke of the relation of evolution to our idea of life4 ,at once they said it was a proof of progress4 ,i insisted on its being a self-evolving1 a will in life4 ,they saw that4 ,alfred said3 8,could the one-celled creature will2 did it know enough80 ,marian answered that it was a subconscious will4 ,henry said3 8,within living things is the inner will4 ,but how about the earth8 ,isn't there a will outside for other things80 ,i answered that even the earth seemed self-impelled2 that within the universe seemed to be an immense will1 and we were a part of that will2 it was our will within us4 ,i said that creatures could change only because they wanted to be different1 because something wanted to be different4 ,i said to change1 and to change always in one direction1 was progress2 that what we wanted to do1 and thought we had done1 was to find that direction4 ,they saw at once how physical death was necessary to race progress1 how the old died to make room for the young1 and how each newborn creature had new possibilities of progress4 ,but when ,i spoke of all the progress of evolution1 of even struggle and selection leading toward harmony1 fitness and relationship1 which is the thing we want1 ,ruth said3 8,i don't see how the lobster killing its fellows because it had a larger claw could lead to harmony and better relationship40 ,that was a good point4 ,but ,i scarcely had a chance to answer it1 for ,marian said that creatures had to develop themselves first4 ,then ,i spoke again1 in this relation1 of changing standards of good and bad1 how what was right for an animal1 for the lobster1 for instance1 was wrong for us4 ,i showed them how all animals were selfish1 and had to be selfish and self-evolving alone2 how we had to be unselfish only because we realized how vast we were4 ,marian spoke again of the criminal4 ,she said3 8,if he were behind us1 he1 from his own point of view1 would not be bad40 8,but he would have to be punished10 said ,ruth1 8and made to be good40 8,yes10 ,i answered1 8for he is human1 and we expect human actions of him4 ,but we would not dare to blame him40 ,henry said we would punish him not as a punishment to hurt him1 but to teach him4 ,we spoke again of diversity as necessary to comprehension1 to understanding4 ,i told them ,i had a whimsical fancy that the first one-celled creature divided because it wanted company4 ,if creatures never divided1 and became different1 they certainly could never understand each other4 ,marian said3 8,i see now4 ,it is like a girl who had always lived in her own family and developed pretty well there1 but the more different people she met the better she would develop40 8,yes10 ,i answered1 8unlikeness gives us recognition40 ,virginia said3 8,if we were all one self1 life would be uninteresting40 8,yes10 said ,i1 8but we might reach a self-conscious self which is unthinkable to us now4 ,there is one way1 however1 in which evolution helps us1 and that is such an obvious way that none of you has thought of it40 ,for a moment they were puzzled4 ,then ,alfred said3 8,it is that we are really all one self40 8,oh1 ,i see10 said ,marian4 8,yes10 ,i answered1 8it is that we are all physically related with all life40 ,then ,i went on to say that no one knew how life began1 that there were theories1 but they might be no better than fairy tales4 ,they wanted to hear some4 ,i said3 8,one theory is that life is eternal in the shape of life-germs1 or organic matter1 and that these pass from planet to planet throughout the ether forever4 ,but it is only a theory1 and a doubtful one40 8,i like that theory10 said ,virginia4 ,i said ,i thought beginnings concerned us no more than ends1 that all things1 histories1 science1 knowledge1 theories concerned us only in so far as they helped us to understand1 as they served the large aim of life and showed us how to go4 ,i made ,henry repeat again that the aim of life was complete understanding4 ,i said3 8,to me it is like a measure by which ,i measure and value all things40 ,we tried to measure various things by it1 such as the relative advancement of monkeys1 birds and ants1 and the greatness of ,napoleon and ,shakespeare4 ,we came to few conclusions1 except that the love of man made man lovable1 and that ,shakespeare must have been a lover of men4 ,henry said3 8,i think he worked for his own sake1 and not for others40 8,yes10 ,i answered2 8but he loved and understood his fellows1 so he could not help serving them in serving himself4 ,it was his joy40 ,i said if we had that standard of understanding love1 we would need no other morality4 ,i quoted from ,st4 ,augustine's ,confessions3 8,love ,god1 and do as you please40 8,but10 ,i said1 8most of us do not love ,god1 or the great good1 enough to be able to do as we please without thinking4 ,we still have to stop to measure40 ,as they were going home1 ,i said3 8,next week we will speak of immortality40 8,really1 this time80 asked ,ruth4 8,now1 after this meeting10 said ,marian1 8,i am afraid you may tell us1 what ,i have sometimes heard1 that we are immortal in the race4 ,will you80 8,no10 ,i answered1 8,i will not40 ----- #a ,for examples and illustrations ,i used the first volume of ,romanes' 8,darwin and ,after ,darwin0 as more convenient and compact than ,darwin himself4 ,,fifth ,,meeting ,henry said3 8,i told some one lately about our club and what we did1 and he thought we spoke of things that were too deep and philosophical40 8,do you think so80 ,i asked4 8,no10 he answered1 8of course ,i don't40 ,i said3 8,we are doing something unusual for boys and girls of your age4 ,most people would think you not able to understand and enjoy it4 ,but ,i know you do1 and you know it40 ,marian said3 8,why should we not be able to talk of these things in a club1 when we certainly do talk of them among ourselves80 ,i read ,henry's paper3 8,to-day we spoke on the theory of evolution4 ,the theory tells us that we are descended from a single1 one-celled animal4 ,this animal grew and was divided into several cells1 which in turn were divided4 ,we find that when a race of animals needs something with which to protect itself1 or with which to get food1 that thing usually grows1 as in the case of the mother bird1 whose feathers are usually the color of the place where she has her nest4 ,in this manner the one-celled animals may have developed1 as the increasing numbers made it harder to get food1 and brought other difficulties4 ,another way in which species may develop is that of isolation4 ,for example1 while a flock of birds is flying south to escape the cold1 some of the weaker ones are left on the way4 ,here the cold may cause many feathers to grow1 and the other conditions may have such an effect as to develop an entirely new kind of bird4 ,we can also take as an example the different colors of men1 caused by the conditions in which they live4 8,the disappearance of certain species while others survive is1 according to the idea of natural selection1 only the survival of the fittest4 ,we find that long ago there were animals larger than any of to-day1 but they have completely died out1 perhaps because they could not find food1 while the smaller1 weaker animals have survived because they were better fitted for the conditions4 ,looking back at history1 we can see how at different periods one nation would wipe out another which was weaker1 or how one people1 more advanced than others1 could better protect itself from the elements1 and1 therefore1 lived while others died4 ,the similarity of different animals gives a good foundation for this theory4 ,a baby will often take attitudes exactly like those of a monkey1 and while it is young crawl on all fours like animals4 ,different kinds of animals have bones and all other parts of the body just alike1 and also like those of men4 8,this theory teaches progression and is therefore useful4 ,it teaches that we were once one1 and we should therefore have sympathy with one another40 ,i next read ,florence's paper3 8,in our last talk we spoke of evolution and its bearing on progress4 ,i shall simply try to give an idea of what we said about evolution itself4 ,by evolution we mean that we all sprang from a common ancestral source1 and have gradually developed into higher and different forms4 ,in general1 this change has been from the greatest simplicity1 which we find in the one-celled animal1 to the highest complexity4 8,darwin1 although not the first to advance the theory of evolution1 was the first to enlarge and further it4 ,his deductions rest on three main theories--heredity1 variation and natural selection4 ,he thought that the offspring always inherited the parents' qualities with something new in its composition4 ,by natural selection ,darwin meant the survival of the fittest1 that is1 that only the most fitted for life should live4 ,in this way the offspring receiving traits from its parents1 if they be to its advantage1 will live and continue them1 and those who have not got them will be killed4 ,in other words1 ,darwin believed that the terrible struggle for existence1 which usually destroys nine-tenths of each generation1 must favor those who possess the best variation for their environment2 and that these will in turn hand on to their successors these favoring variations4 ,in this next generation the same process will be repeated1 and in this way we get a steady though very gradual advance4 8,to-day1 however1 looking at it broadly1 we can see that all heredity and variation need is some way of separating those individuals having some peculiar variation from those who do not possess any4 ,this we call isolation1 and it can easily be seen that natural selection is only a subhead under this title4 ,another form of isolation beside natural selection is geographical4 8,our theories have advanced to this stage1 and although it is quite a large move from the original ideas of ,darwin1 there are many questions still puzzling us1 which have yet to be solved40 ,then came ,marian's paper3 8,on ,sunday1 ,november #ast1 the ,seekers held a very interesting meeting4 ,the subject we discussed was ,evolution4 ,the very lowest form of life is a one-celled animal4 ,this divides into a two-celled one1 which in turn continues to divide and differentiate until it takes the form of a plant or animal4 ,all animals must have had some common ancestor4 ,the proof of this is the existence of rudimentary organs1 such as the appendix in man and the bones in the flipper of a whale where we should expect legs4 ,another proof is to be found in the remains and knowledge we have of prehistoric animals4 ,some of them were shaped like reptiles1 and yet had wings4 ,in connection with evolution1 there are the theories of natural selection and isolation4 ,natural selection is the belief in the survival of the fittest4 ,for instance1 if one lobster happened to grow a large claw1 which enabled it to fight better1 its young were likely to inherit this tendency1 and their young also1 etc41 until the larger-clawed lobsters1 being better able to fight1 would kill off most of the others4 ,this theory would not always hold good1 however4 ,the theory of isolation is very interesting4 ,if1 for instance1 a bird of one species was born with a longer bill than most of the others1 and this bird found a warmer climate was better for it1 and1 after mating1 flew farther south1 its young would probably inherit this longer bill1 and would also fly farther south than most of the species4 ,soon they would become entirely separated from the original species1 and would become a new class of birds4 ,the connection that ,evolution has with our work is that evolution is progress and that our aim is progress4 ,evolution also helps us to understand animals and plants1 and to come into a better understanding with nature4 ,disease is the price of progress4 ,as we progress1 one part goes ahead1 often at the expense of some other part4 ,thus disease may be called the price of progress40 ,marian admitted that she was rather mixed up about the cells dividing and the long-billed bird going south for his health4 ,but this is doing well for the unscientific ,marian1 who said a while ago that she did not see how science could have any effect on our view of life4 ,then ,i read ,virginia's paper3 ,,theory ,,of ,,evolution 8,the first life that appeared on the earth was a one-celled animal or plant that appeared beneath the water4 ,the germs of life travel through the ether1 and wherever there are conditions in which living things can thrive1 there they settle4 ,so that was the way in which life began on the earth4 8,this one-celled animal1 after a while1 divided into more cells1 and thus became more complicated4 ,when land appeared1 land animals and plants came into existence4 ,and these animals became higher and higher4 ,first the animals without a spine1 then a more complicated specimen1 in the lower forms of vertebrates4 ,then the reptiles1 out of which came two branches1 the birds and the immense reptiles of which none have survived that ,i know of4 ,but out of them came the mammals4 ,and after many thousands of years1 man appeared4 8,at first man was more like an animal1 but after centuries he became less savage4 ,he made implements for himself1 and lived in tribes with his fellow men2 and the more highly civilized man becomes1 the more will he sympathize with the rest of mankind1 so that when the highest civilization arrives1 it will only mean complete love of all living things40 ,i insisted that the theory of germ transmission was not a fact4 ,i said she seemed to have avoided natural selection1 that ,i thought she did not like it because it was too mathematical and too logical for her4 ,ruth thought perhaps that was why she did not like it much1 either1 though it interested her4 ,i said3 8,it seems at first so #8cruel' a theory2 it repels us until we remember that what is cruel in a man is not so in a beast40 ,virginia answered that she did not think it cruel1 because it was not meant cruelly4 8,they had to kill each other10 she said4 ,henry asked me whether ,i thought it cruel to eat animals4 ,i answered it was not cruel1 unless they were cruelly killed4 ,ruth added that some time we would get beyond the need of eating animals4 8,to hunt for fun is wicked10 said ,virginia4 ,marian said3 8,perhaps we think natural selection not so cruel among animals1 because we did not do the suffering40 ,the children all said they did not remember just what relation evolution had to our idea of life4 ,i answered that the very fact that we could not go on in our thought without it proved its relation1 and that we would constantly come back to it1 that ,i did not need to explain it now4 ,then we spoke of prayer4 ,i asked each one in turn what and how much they had thought of it4 ,alfred said he had never thought of it1 that he had prayed as a baby1 but had stopped early and never felt the need4 ,florence said the same4 ,henry said he believed in prayer1 especially in prayer for strength in any undertaking4 8,of course10 he went on1 8,i don't expect to be helped against the other fellow1 but ,i get strength in praying for strength40 8,i agree with you10 said ,ruth1 8only don't you pray to know whether you are right or not8 ,for you might be wrong40 8,if ,i thought ,i might be wrong10 he answered1 8,i wouldn't be doing the thing ,i was doing40 ,they argued it a bit4 8,but10 he went on1 8,i have no set formula for prayer1 nor a definite time40 ,virginia said3 8,i have always prayed4 ,when ,i was little ,i got in the habit of saying a silly little ,german prayer1 so that ,i could not go to sleep without saying something4 ,so when the little prayer seemed too silly to me1 ,i began saying each evening the stanza of a poem40 8,what poem80 ,i asked4 8,the last stanza of the #8,chambered ,nautilus4' ,i could not go to sleep unless ,i said it40 ,she recited it for us4 ,marian said3 8,it depends on what you mean by prayer4 ,i never learned to say any1 nor ever wanted to1 but ,i do have a prayer-feeling40 ,we all agreed that the prayer which asked for something definite was folly4 ,i said prayer was getting into oneness with the vast ,self around and behind us1 and drawing strength from that which was ours for the asking1 which was ourself4 ,marian said it was getting into harmony with the world4 ,we thought every one had that feeling of vastness1 of oneness with ,god1 at times4 ,virginia said she got it especially when she was by the sea4 8,i feel it most10 said ,marian1 8when ,i am out of doors1 and feel my close relation with nature40 ,henry said he felt it most in a big crowd of people4 8,yes10 answered ,ruth2 8then you feel how little all this is1 and the vast1 big life above it all40 8,you don't mean1 ,ruth10 ,i asked 8that you feel the crowd to be a little thing80 8,oh1 no10 she answered4 8,i feel it in the crowd40 ,henry said3 8,to be among people always arouses that feeling of sympathy40 ,there are many ways of praying1 ,i said2 to speak certain words that aroused in us the prayer-feeling was a good way2 but that the words were only to awaken the feeling in us1 and were worth nothing by themselves4 ,if one could feel the prayer without any words whatever1 it would be just as well4 ,florence thought it very hard not to get to repeat words by rote4 ,henry said he always made a particular effort to think of the meaning of the words as he said them4 8,i don't believe10 said ,virginia1 8that it is so much thought as feeling4 ,i don't always think of the meaning of those words when ,i say them1 but ,i get from them the feeling that ,i must have1 to go to sleep40 8,and now10 ,i went on1 8it seems especially important to get into this frame of mind just before we go to sleep4 ,for during sleep it seems as if the bigger self were working for us4 ,and as we go to sleep1 so shall we be next day4 ,i think that if1 as you fall asleep1 you ask--your vast self--for strength1 for the power to do whatever you know you must do next day1 and to solve whatever problems you have to solve1 and then get the deep sense of prayer1 you usually awaken with the strength you need1 and your problems solved4 ,is it not so80 ,virginia said she always found that if she wanted to learn something1 she had only to read it over to herself at night1 without learning it1 and in the morning1 when she awoke1 she knew it4 ,ruth said she found it so2 that she always felt next day according to the way she had fallen asleep at night4 ,they had various opinions4 ,marian said it did not matter how she fell asleep at night2 if things went well in the morning1 the whole day went well2 if ill1 then the day went ill4 ,she loves the power of each new day4 ,alfred said he thought that our brains worked for us in sleep1 because then the mind was free from all obstructing thoughts4 ,i repeated for them a little prayer ,i had written for a baby3 8,great ,lord of life1 who lives in me1 ,and lives in all ,i know1 ,with happy thoughts ,i go to sleep2 ,and while ,i sleep ,i grow4 8,i hope to wake this coming morn ,more strong1 and brave and bright2 ,while you shall stay1 both night and day1 ,with all ,i love to-night40 ,they said it did not seem babyish to them4 ,henry1 especially1 liked it1 and several of them wished to copy it4 ,i said one might have the 8prayer-feeling10 the sense of the whole1 so constantly that one would not need to pray1 that one's whole life might be a prayer4 ,the children objected to this1 because they thought it would be impossible now1 in our imperfect condition4 ,virginia said3 8,a person who lived that way would be a perfect saint40 ,henry thought it would make one cold and unsympathetic4 8,how is that possible10 ,i asked1 8when it would be a state of constant sympathy and understanding of life80 8,no10 said ,ruth2 8such a person would be too much above us4 ,i don't think one could live so1 at present4 ,it would imply a perfection physical and mental that we have not yet reached40 ,florence said she not only thought such a state possible1 but she believed there were people who lived in this way now1 and that she knew such people4 ,some one suggested that they must be unspeakably happy4 8,no10 answered ,florence2 8not necessarily happy1 at all40 ,i said that ,i thought such a life would be a state of happiness4 ,they all agreed2 ,florence1 too1 after a moment4 ,marian and ,henry said they had never met people without limitations4 ,florence insisted she had2 whereupon ,marian called her a hero-worshiper4 ,i said people's limitations were where they failed to understand1 and that we none of us understood everything4 ,the sense of oneness would not imply1 however1 either perfection or apartness or superiority4 ,one might feel everything in this way1 whenever one thought of it4 ,henry answered3 8,but how often is one not occupied8 ,little things distract us constantly40 ,marian said3 8,it means having always the sense of oneness1 sympathy and understanding1 and always acting1 thinking and judging according to that40 8,yes10 said ,i1 8and there is another thing that seems to me a prayer4 ,every creative action2 that is1 everything we do which brings us into relation with the world1 is a prayer because it is an expression of oneness40 ,marian said3 8,it seems as if there were two kinds of prayer1 one strength-giving and one strength-getting40 ,i don't know how we came upon the subject of circles4 ,i said that the smallest things1 as well as the largest1 were prone to express themselves in a universal way1 that every drop of water naturally formed itself into a sphere4 8,yes10 said ,marian2 8and the circle seems to stand for all life40 ,now we spoke of immortality4 ,i asked each to tell me what he or she thought4 ,virginia did not want to express her opinion4 ,ruth and ,henry vaguely implied that they believed in immortality4 ,alfred said3 8,i think it is very good for people1 if they can believe in it40 8,that is not the question10 said ,i4 8,i believe nothing but the truth is truly good for people4 ,what do you believe80 8,i don't believe ,i am immortal10 he answered1 8because ,i see no reason to believe it40 ,florence said3 8,we must be immortal1 because nothing dies1 but is passed on4 ,and there is something in us--,i mean that which loves and knows sympathy--which we do not pass on4 ,so ,i think it must be immortal40 ,marian said3 8,i am1 so ,i don't see how ,i could not be40 ,i answered them3 8,marian's and ,florence's ideas seem to me very good4 ,one cannot prove immortality4 ,i have good reasons to believe it4 ,but my best reason is not a reason at all2 and if you don't understand it1 ,i cannot explain it to you4 ,if ,i am1 ,i must be forever4 #8,i am' means immortality4 ,that is what ,marian said1 and what ,i believe4 ,if ,i believe in the whole ,self of the universe1 and that ,self is in me1 and ,i am in it1 then how can ,i die unless that ,self dies8 ,and if ,i believe in progress1 which is toward complete understanding and wholeness of the ,self1 how can that progress be without me who am a part of it8 ,do you know who ,robert ,ingersoll was8 ,well1 he1 who passed for such a scoffer--though in reality he expressed only his own realization of his ignorance and his contempt for dogmatic faiths--once said3 #8,i am a part of the world4 ,without me the world would be incomplete4 ,in this there is hope4' ,hope1 he meant1 of eternal life with the world40 ,the children were much impressed4 ,marian said3 8,how can one face the horrible thought of extinction8 ,it is unimaginable4 ,what answer would you give10 she asked1 8to those people who claim that we are immortal only in our children1 in the race8 ,i never know what to answer them1 and yet ,i feel sure they are not right40 8,i think there are two good answers10 ,i said4 8,first1 it is extremely unlikely that the race is immortal4 ,even if we thought our immortality unlikely1 it is far more likely1 and much less of an act of faith1 to believe in it than to believe in race-immortality4 ,we know that every planet dies and parches4 ,we know that every race1 every physical manifestation comes to an end1 but we know that the spirit of life lives forever1 and forever grows4 ,i have heard people say that when this planet dries and freezes1 men will have advanced so far in science that they will find their way in airships to another planet4 ,but to me it seems far more unlikely than that the spirit of life1 the self within us1 should go on forever4 ,the second answer seems to me to be ,florence's answer1 that we are not immortal in the race1 that although we give our children much1 we give to no one our power of love1 of understanding1 of sympathy40 ,henry asked3 8,don't we give it through example and teaching80 8,we give much10 ,i said4 8,we can teach and train1 but we give no one that understanding self1 the power for love and sympathy1 which is in us1 and cannot be made40 ,henry did not see how one could find satisfaction in living for the race1 since forever and ever each successive generation would be mortal and would disappear4 ,i said ,i did not believe that in a world which to us was all intellect1 the intellect could die4 ,then ,i read aloud the following passage from 8,john ,percyfield10 by ,c4 ,hanford ,henderson3 8,it is an old mistake1 that of calling desires beliefs4 ,but ,i think ,i have allowed for this4 ,i have said1 if death end all1 if that be the truth of it1 then that is what ,i want to believe4 ,for no man in his right senses wishes to be either self-deceived1 or other-deceived4 ,i have doubted immortality1 even disbelieved it1 but now ,i believe it on as strong warrant as ,i have for any of my scientific beliefs4 ,in one sense1 immortality cannot be experienced2 it is not a fact of experience in the same immediate way that certain minor scientific facts are4 ,but neither can the paleozoic age be experienced1 nor space1 nor time1 nor cause and effect4 ,they are inductions from experience4 ,and so to me is immortality4 ,it is an induction from experience4 ,in a world where every reality is essentially spiritual1 or intellectual1 whichever term you prefer1 where even the study of nature1 as soon as it passes from mere observation into orderly science1 becomes a mental rather than a physical fact1 ,i can only imagine the disappearance of spirit by picturing the annihilation of the universe itself4 ,without the mental part that we give to all of our so-called facts1 they would cease to exist4 ,it is possible that the universe does shrivel up in this way and disappear1 but it is less probable1 ,i think1 than any one of the great possibilities which science rejects1 and feels warranted in accepting their opposite as fact40 ,i said that to me as to him it seemed as if1 were there not immortality for the self1 the world itself might shrivel up and disappear4 ,a world without immortality would be a mad world1 without reason2 and1 as everything else seems reasonable to me1 ,i believe the world to be reasonable4 ,i spoke1 too1 of the danger of believing things simply because we liked them4 ,i told them how ,i had disbelieved in immortality at one time1 because ,i suddenly found ,i had only believed what pleased me4 ,virginia said3 8,i believe things because ,i like them4 ,but may not that liking1 that feeling1 in itself be a sign of truth80 8,no10 ,i answered2 8liking is no proof or sign40 ,marian said3 8,but it is only because we care1 because we wish to believe1 that we begin to think of these things40 8,yes10 ,i replied1 8we must care4 ,but then we must bravely face the truth40 ,marian told us she had never been taught anything on this subject1 but that gradually her belief had grown1 and that her talks with ,ruth had helped her from her ideas4 ,i said many people believed in 8personal0 immortality2 that is1 immortality with memory1 and the meeting of those we love4 ,i do not pretend to know1 or to have a definite opinion4 ,but ,i think the results of life are eternal1 even if not in precise memories4 ,i asked the children for opinions4 ,none of them seemed to believe1 or care to believe1 in distinct personal immortality4 ,ruth said3 8,we would surely meet those we had loved1 in that complete whole self1 even though it were not as persons40 ,i was surprised and glad to hear her say it4 ,i had said to the children that they probably believed1 and might easily believe1 much beyond what ,i told them1 but this was all which ,i believed2 ,i would tell them no theories or surmises of mine1 of which ,i could not feel certain4 ,they were urgent in asking me please to tell them some theories1 but ,i refused4 ,virginia said she believed in transmigration4 ,i think it possible1 as ,i told her2 it is in every way consistent with progress and all things in life1 but ,i have no reason for feeling sure of it4 ,she said3 8,it must be true1 for if there is just so much spirit in the world1 forever and ever1 and if it must express itself through matter1 how can there be anything but transmigration8 ,some time we may all live again on some other planet1 in some other shape40 ,i said it might be so4 ,the children asked me whether ,i believed animals were immortal4 ,i answered that as much life and self as is in them must be immortal4 ,i observed that this idea of animal-immortality was consistent with ,virginia's belief in transmigration1 that so each least creature might rise through successive stages toward its complete self4 ,then ,i said to the children that1 of course1 if we believed we had been nothing before we were born1 we could easily believe in extinction4 ,but ,i1 for one1 believed1 yes1 knew1 that ,i had been forever1 that ,i was not 8made0 in these few years4 8,yes10 said ,marian1 8,i could not have grown to be what ,i am1 just since ,i was born40 ,henry said3 8,we are not concerned with the past1 but with the future40 ,virginia1 and the others1 brought up instances of seeming to remember things from a former life1 of feeling as if they had done some particular thing before1 in the dim past4 ,alfred had not spoken at all during this time4 ,he now said he very much wished he could believe in immortality1 but could not see any reason for doing so4 ,i said we should have to spend the next meeting in convincing ,alfred4 ,i went on3 8,if we believe in the vast ,self of life1 and if we are a part of that awakening ,self1 how can we die80 ,then ,i read aloud ,emily ,bront's 8,last ,lines40 ,i was glad to leave the subject open in this fashion1 to give them a week for thought1 and ,i said little more4 ,,sixth ,,meeting ,i began by reading the children's papers4 ,virginia wrote the following3 8,some people have the idea that to pray means to fall upon one's knees1 fold one's hands1 lift one's eyes to heaven1 and mutter some words one doesn't understand1 sometimes in a foreign tongue4 ,i don't agree with them4 ,unconscious prayer is the only true prayer2 at least1 so ,i believe4 ,in a great crisis a man does not go on his knees1 or1 if he does1 he is not praying what he is saying1 which is a mere parrot-cry4 ,his prayer is what he is thinking1 and what is in his heart4 8,many people say a prayer every night4 ,in most cases this is not a true prayer1 but still it brings peace and calmness1 and it is lovely to be in a calm state before going to sleep4 ,i think the reason for this is that the person who prays before going to sleep thinks himself so virtuous that he is at peace with the whole world4 ,then again1 the person who goes to church every time he commits a sin1 and prays for forgiveness1 becomes careless of the wrong he does4 ,for can he not pray and be forgiven without the least trouble80 ,we had a good laugh over ,virginia's idea of prayer1 which seemed to be chiefly her idea of other people's prayer4 ,then ,i read ,henry's paper3 8,every man must decide for himself whether or not he shall pray1 for no one else can tell him1 since it is a matter of feeling4 ,if a man is relieved by prayer1 then let him pray2 but if he only prays from habit1 he is doing wrong4 8,we must not expect that our prayers will be answered by that superior power which we call ,god1 for this will only happen when we make up our minds to gain our end1 and put our heart and spirit in the work4 ,there is a saying1 #8,god helps those who help themselves4' 8,some people like to put their prayers in words1 while others like to think them and feel them4 ,still others like to put out of their minds for a time all earthly troubles1 and just think of and feel that kindness and sympathy for their fellow man2 and to think of the great spiritual questions which should have such great influence on the lives of everybody1 and in this way let that spirit within them get complete control of them1 and that is their way of praying4 8,no one can say which way is the right way1 but if you do it in that way which does you the most good1 for you it will be the right way40 ,henry said he thought kneeling1 and the attitude of prayer1 were a 8pretty0 custom4 ,they were the attitude of supplication4 ,i questioned whether the best 8prayer0 was a supplication1 said ,i did not like the word 8prayer0 for that reason4 ,virginia said she thought we often 8felt0 a supplication1 even if we did not pray nor expect an answer4 ,marian had tried to get the 8prayer-feeling0 each night last week1 but had not succeeded4 ,she could not get calm1 but thought of everything under the sun1 and then fell asleep4 ,virginia said3 8,you can't make your mind a blank40 ,i answered3 8,making your mind a blank is not prayer40 ,henry thought it good to consider our spiritual problems just before going to sleep1 and so get into the right state of mind4 ,ruth agreed4 ,now ,i read ,marian's paper3 8,at a meeting of the ,seekers on ,november #hth1 we discussed the subject of ,prayer4 ,prayer is really a feeling4 ,when we feel truly in harmony with our inner and our bigger self1 the feeling we have is prayer4 ,prayer can be made a source of strength4 ,if we find some way to get into the prayer-feeling every day or at night1 it will be a great help to us4 ,as we reached a conclusion on this subject very soon1 we began a discussion on ,immortality1 which we expect to finish next week40 ,now we spoke of immortality4 ,although the six of us believed in it1 by trying to convince ,alfred we might gain much4 ,i asked why1 or whether1 it was important to have an opinion concerning immortality4 ,marian said it was important for us to know1 because we were interested1 because we cared so much4 ,i answered1 that was one reason1 and then there was another4 ,ruth said the other reason was that we acted according to our ideas of death1 that it influenced our morality4 8,yes10 ,i answered1 8we live according to our expectations4 ,think of how the false or true ideas of a future life influenced morality in ages past1 of the morals1 good and bad1 which sprang from the idea of heaven and hell6 ,alfred1 do you think it is important to know80 8,yes10 said he1 8it is important2 but ,i can't come to any conclusion4 ,i am not convinced40 ,some people feel sure one cannot know anything about immortality1 and that therefore it is not worth thinking of it at all4 ,henry said3 8,because one does not know a thing now is no reason why one should not try to find out4 ,and ,i believe we shall know1 some time4 ,if people had felt so about other equally difficult things1 we would never have got on40 ,i said3 8,what is knowledge8 ,we cannot know immortality as an experience1 through our senses2 but ,i believe we can know through our reason1 just as so much other scientific knowledge is a matter of reason1 of analogy1 of deduction4 ,it can't be proved1 as one might prove that two and two are four4 ,but then ,i once read in a book that nothing could be proved1 except the things not worth proving4 8,if we saw a red rose1 and we all called it a red rose1 there would be no doubt of its redness4 ,but if we differed1 and some called it red1 some pink1 some yellow1 we should soon be in grave doubt4 ,our eyes might be wrong4 ,there have been so many opinions regarding immortality1 because people had different #8eyes1' that now we are full of doubts40 ,we spoke of the time when the earth was thought flat because it looked flat4 ,alfred said3 8,immortality of what1 do you mean80 8,immortality of everything10 ,i answered4 8,we might1 of course1 believe that the universe will die1 will be extinct4 ,but it is an unthinkable thought4 ,we all believe in something eternal4 ,we know that force does not die1 but is changed and transmitted2 we know that no substance is destroyed2 we know that every action1 every circumstance has endless consequences and endless antecedents4 ,they--and ,i--are forever a part of the universe4 ,how could we be destroyed8 ,why should we think that everything is immortal1 excepting self1 which seems the motive force80 ,alfred said3 8,i don't believe it is destroyed2 but it goes out of me1 and that is the end of me40 ,the others asked how ,alfred could have agreed with us all so far1 and not agree now1 since it seemed to them that what we had said before1 the idea of progress1 implied immortality4 ,how could he believe in the ,self as ,god1 the vast ,self which comes to complete understanding1 and yet believe that he1 who was a part of it1 that in him1 and he in that1 could be utterly destroyed8 ,he said he believed new self was always coming into the universe1 and old self going out4 8,where would it come from1 where would it go80 asked ,virginia4 ,i said3 8,there is nothing but the universe4 ,everything is in it40 ,he answered that he believed in progress1 progress toward unity and understanding1 but it passed from one person to another2 it would not be himself4 8,how could the whole of ,self be complete unless you were there80 ,i asked4 8,i can't believe it10 he said4 8,i don't see how it could be4 ,it would not be myself40 8,no1 not you1 in any definite sense1 but self1 and yourself in that4 ,but it does not matter whether you disagree1 if you can really go onward with us1 and believe with us1 without believing you are immortal4 ,for all that matters is how we live now4 ,it is not necessary to know the future1 unless you need it for the present4 ,when ,i say #8immortal' ,i mean we are immortal1 now1 because the universe is here40 ,ruth thought that life would be meaningless if we were not immortal2 that all progress1 all goodness would have no sense4 ,she said3 8,one might live to do good1 just to be kind to others1 who were also mortal4 ,but if that were the end1 there would be no meaning in it40 ,henry agreed with her1 and most of the others expressed similar ideas4 ,i said this did not prove we were immortal4 ,but ,i1 too1 felt a limited life to be meaningless4 ,still1 ,i wanted to know the truth4 ,alfred saw he could not consistently believe in race immortality1 but he wanted to4 ,virginia said3 8,you know the sun will burn down some time4 ,every fire burns itself out4 ,then the world will get cold and dark4 ,and then what becomes of the human race80 8,but10 ,i said1 8the energy that was the sun will be in the universe1 and will light other suns40 8,energy never dies10 said ,virginia4 8,if ,i put out my arm like this10 and she stretched forth her hand1 8the energy that goes out from me never dies4 ,it bounds and rebounds1 and in some way goes on forever40 8,as it has been forever until now10 ,i said4 8,no1 ,i think it dies out10 said ,alfred4 8,if you bounce a ball1 it bounds and rebounds and then stops40 ,i explained to him how energy is not destroyed1 but transmitted2 how nothing is ever destroyed1 but all things are changed4 ,he believed the physical part changed and was not destroyed4 ,still1 it was not life any more4 ,he said3 8,it is not the same thing4 ,i am myself now1 but ,i am not the same person ,i was as a little child4 ,i am all changed40 8,yes10 ,i answered him1 8your body is different material1 your brain and your thoughts are not the same1 your shape is changed1 but you are still self1 and you were self then40 8,but when ,i die1 where will ,i be80 8,i don't know10 ,i said4 8,but ,i know that somehow you must be40 ,virginia and ,alfred--in fact1 all the children--had a long discussion4 ,alfred said1 in speaking of a horse which had been buried in the woods1 and over which ferns had grown1 8but the ferns were not the horse0--a sensible remark4 ,he said3 8,when you move your hand1 the energy that goes onward is not the hand4 ,and so1 when ,i die1 the self that goes out of me may be a force1 but it will go out of me1 it will not be ,i40 8,but you yourself10 ,i said1 8are the life1 the force1 the self1 which goes forth1 which moves all things40 ,here the children1 being left to themselves1 went up into thin air4 ,they argued the possibility of nothingness4 ,virginia told how when she was a little child she used to imagine what would happen if there were no earth4 ,they each described how they couldn't imagine nothing1 and what happened when they tried4 ,ruth told how one couldn't imagine perfect unity and understanding1 either4 ,i stopped them1 and said it made not the least difference in any fact whether they could or couldn't imagine it4 ,virginia1 the little artist and mystic1 said she thought in childhood one touched the truth unconsciously4 ,the others all denied this4 ,i said it was a pleasant and comfortable thought4 ,now ,i said there was one other interesting thing ,i wanted to speak of1 and that was memory4 ,most people believe we remember nothing from before birth4 ,this is not true4 ,our whole body1 our very being1 is a memory4 ,florence said3 8,it is a race memory4 ,often we find it easy to do a thing we never did before1 because our ancestors did it40 8,yes10 ,i answered1 8instinct is a memory4 ,the fact that we are here at all1 our minds1 our thinking1 as well as our bodies1 are a memory4 ,we ourselves1 our present bodies1 are a consequence of the lives before us1 a memory from the endless past40 8,we are what they lived10 said ,ruth1 8as our bodies shall be what we live1 not what we think on the surface1 but what we live40 8,yes10 ,i answered1 8but after a while we do live our thoughts40 ,henry said life was a repetition with progress4 8,but in the one-celled animal10 he asked1 8was life an expression of mind80 8,i don't know10 ,i said2 8but it seems to me self or will must be at the bottom of all motion4 ,i read a theory lately1 in an #8evolution' book1 that was very interesting4 ,it is this3 ,that consciousness or desire is the source of all development1 and that lower creatures are conscious of acts which to us are automatic4 ,the lowest creature1 which is a mere bag or stomach1 would then be conscious of itself1 whereas in us the consciousness of primal organs is swamped and lost in our more intense nervous consciousness4 ,thus1 from the first1 consciousness and will might be the source of progress1 as they are now40#b ,they all thought it a plausible and interesting theory4 ,marian said3 8,it seems likely4 ,for do not babies have difficulty in walking1 and are conscious of every step1 whereas we do it almost automatically80 8,yes10 ,i said2 8it might be the same with the race40 ,i insisted that one could know the truth in certain directions1 if one were willing to admit absolute ignorance in others4 ,i felt sure ,i was immortal1 but ,i had not the least idea how4 ,i would not build up a heaven1 hell or universe of the dead1 because all these conjectures were likely to be false4 ,i said one could know much and learn more only by admitting one's limitations4 ,of course one could not know1 ,i said1 but ,i myself did not believe in personal immortality with definite memory4 ,it might be so1 or it might not4 8,i think it is not so10 said ,marian1 8for we remember nothing definite from before birth40 8,but10 ,i said1 8,i feel sure that memory1 the essence of memory1 will go on2 just as our bodies and selves are a memory1 so whatever we are in this life will have its consequences1 and we will be forever according to what we are now4 ,all progress is a memory--and a prophecy40 ,i spoke1 too1 of the endless stream of every least action1 how the least word1 once spoken1 is a spring of eternal consequence1 how each moment is tremendously important4 ,i reminded ,marian how she had once said school was so short1 it did not much matter what one did2 and ,i had answered her1 all life was short4 8,some people think actions under certain conditions--in foreign lands1 for instance--do not count40 ,virginia said she lived to enjoy herself1 no matter what death might be1 but her enjoyment included making others happy4 ,i said1 that was the only good way to live1 to enjoy oneself1 and have a very big idea of what enjoyment meant4 ,in talking we stumbled across difficult1 confusing words1 8,god10 8truth10 8eternity40 ,ruth said3 8,we ought to invent a new language1 a code of symbols1 for everything in the old language has so many acquired meanings1 is so used up40 8,we have made almost a code of our own10 said ,marian4 ,alfred had said nothing to let me know whether or not he had been convinced of immortality4 ,it will be interesting to hear what he has thought during the week4 ,we had now finished the first and fundamental part of what we meant to do2 we would now test everything by that standard4 8,it is strange10 said ,marian1 8how everything we have said has sprung from just one thing40 8,what is that80 ,i asked4 8,our idea of ,god10 she answered4 ,i said that1 according to my prediction1 we scarcely found it necessary to use the word ,god4 ,marian answered3 8,it is because the word has so many meanings1 is so easily misunderstood4 ,but we know what we mean without saying it4 ,my ,sunday-school teacher said ,god took a personal interest in each one4 ,i don't believe that10 she went on1 8except as we are in ourselves1 and take an interest in ourselves4 ,that idea of hers puts ,god1 as it were1 outside and apart40 ,i questioned ,ruth concerning ,christian ,science4 ,she said our idea corresponded altogether with hers2 it was the application which would probably differ1 and we had not yet spoken of that4 8,we will do so now10 ,i answered4 ,i asked the others if they would not like to have ,ruth speak1 in a meeting later on1 of ,christian ,science4 ,they all said that they would like it4 ,next we will consider art1 creative genius1 in relation to our idea4 ,i was glad the children agreed with me in preferring this to moral disputations4 ,i said ,i thought the longer we waited to speak of moral questions1 the larger view we would take of them4 ,i wanted to avoid pettiness4 ,our subject for next week grew naturally out of this week's talk4 ,i said3 8,as a drop of water can be a sphere as perfect as the suns and planets1 so each smallest thing1 if it be perfect in itself1 typifies the universe4 ,you must realize that in an infinite universe there is really no such thing as size40 8,there is only comparative size10 said ,virginia4 8,yes10 ,i answered2 8and it is with this idea in mind that ,i wish to consider beauty1 and the definite separate creation4 ,i shall want to know next week what each of you means by beauty1 or thinks beautiful40 ,marian--thinking of the personal side immediately--said3 8,i think it's because most people are homely1 that we think some beautiful40 ,we were amused at that4 ,i said ,i did not mean personal beauty in particular4 ,then they asked1 did ,i mean artistic beauty8 ,i meant beauty in anything4 ,i would want to know what made certain things seem beautiful to us4 ,virginia said3 8,i think there is nothing so beautiful as taking a deep1 deep breath4 ,that brings beautiful thoughts into my head1 and makes everything right40 ,this remark did not seem pertinent to any of us4 ,virginia insisted1 too1 that she thought a man was an artist1 even if he could not express himself2 that to have artistic thoughts made one an artist4 ,i answered1 it might be so2 work itself was not good art unless it was a good expression1 no matter what the artist might be4 ,virginia explained3 8,i mean an artist is more interesting than his work1 sometimes40 ,florence said3 8,a beautiful thing--in art--is a complete thing1 complete and perfect in itself40 8,i don't think so10 answered ,virginia4 8,if you were to sketch a tree--without finishing it at all--and that sketch were your whole idea of the tree as you saw it1 then it would be no sketch1 but a finished picture4 ,a thing is a sketch until you have altogether expressed your idea4 ,but then1 no matter how sketchy it may look1 it is finished40 ,i had to interpret ,florence to ,virginia4 ,i said3 8,florence did not mean completeness in the sense of exactness4 ,she meant that the tree1 no matter how indicated1 must seem to us so complete1 in a world of its own1 as to leave nothing lacking or intruding2 that everything in the picture is there in relation to the tree1 and the whole makes a perfect little world4 ,if there were suggestions of other things which had nothing to do with the tree1 such as there always are in life1 it would not be a perfect picture4 ,you said it must be a complete expression of the artist's thought4 ,that is just the completeness ,florence means4 ,it must be a complete1 self-sufficient harmonious vision of a tree4 ,and harmony means wholeness1 doesn't it80 8,for instance10 said ,florence1 8even the smallest and most trivial poem would be beautiful if it were perfect in itself--and complete4 ,take ,leigh ,hunt's #8,jenny ,kissed ,me1' such a little thing1 and yet beautiful1 telling the delights of a kiss4 ,and then take #8,faust1' which is much larger and deeper2 and yet each is perfect in its way1 though #8,faust' expresses so much more40 8,have you read #8,faust'80 ,i answered her4 8,no10 she said1 8but ,i know all about it40 ,i knew that she had got her ideas ready-made from 8brother ,arthur10 and ,i was amused4 ,but ,i did not wish to be hurried into the midst of my subject without beginning at the beginning1 so ,i cut the discussion as short as might be4 ,marian said3 8,i don't understand what they mean40 ,i told her she would understand when we had talked it over1 that ,i only wanted her1 before next week1 to settle her own ideas as to what she thought beautiful4 ,florence repeated3 8,beauty is completeness40 8,i think10 said ,marian1 8,i begin to see what ,florence means by that4 ,like the drop of water40 ,i like to suggest the subject for the following week at the close of each meeting1 and1 if possible1 to speak enough of it to give them a starting-place for their thoughts4 ----- #b ,cope's theory1 in 8,darwinism ,to-day10 ,kellog1 p4 #bhg4 ,,seventh ,,meeting ,ruth brought with her a 8,christian ,science0 prayer4 ,i said ,i would read it aloud at the meeting on ,christian ,science4 ,one line in the prayer was1 8purified from the flesh40 ,ruth guessed1 before ,i said anything1 that ,i objected to this line4 ,she believes the body is 8something to be overcome40 ,all the others and myself disagreed with her4 ,i said3 8,i1 who believe in endless progress1 believe the means themselves to be good and wonderful4 ,unless this moment were good1 nothing it led to could be wholly good40 ,ruth said3 8,the body is something unreal1 unessential1 which we do not keep40 ,i answered3 8,we keep nothing but what we always possessed1 the power of growth40 ,ruth says we get certain new truths1 and then keep them4 ,she tries to think that my idea and ,christian ,science agree in every way1 except that we use different language4 ,but she has doubts and qualms4 ,then we spoke of 8,new ,thought40 ,i said ,i thought most of what is called so was unanswerably true1 only there seemed to be an enmity between 8,new ,thought0 and good ,english4 ,marian agreed with me4 ,she said she could have no respect for a man who used poor ,english4 ,i would not say that1 for ,i had received too much information from men who did not know how to give it4 ,but1 ,i said1 ,i had often missed information rather than rewrite a book for myself mentally1 before ,i could read it4 ,marian's father had read aloud to her1 from a 8,new ,thought0 book1 this sentence3 8,the seen is unreal1 and the unseen is real40 8,i don't believe that10 she said4 8,do you80 8,no10 ,i answered2 8,i believe everything is real1 the seen and the unseen4 ,there is nothing but reality40 ,i also said my chief objection to all these cults was that they insisted too often on physical health as the aim of life4 ,virginia said3 8,but just think1 if we had not to be concerned about our bodies any more1 if we were perfectly well1 how much we could do60 8,yes10 ,i answered1 8that is true2 but still it is not an end1 but only a means40 ,this was all before the meeting4 ,alfred had come very early1 as usual1 and told me he 8thought0 he believed as ,i did concerning immortality4 ,i opened the meeting by reading ,marian's paper3 8,on ,sunday1 ,november #aeth1 the ,seekers held a regular meeting4 ,our discussion was on ,immortality4 ,most of us agreed that our self1 our real or inner self1 is immortal4 ,in the first place1 if this self in us and in every one should die there would be nothing left1 because that is the real1 the life-giving power4 ,moreover1 if we were not immortal1 what would be the use of life8 ,some people argue that we leave part of ourselves and the impressions of our characters to other generations1 and so on4 ,however1 science has 7almost7 proved that the race is not immortal1 and at least1 it is harder to believe that it is1 than to believe in the immortality of the real self4 ,personally1 ,i feel that my real self is immortal1 and that ,i will go on being4 ,we do not attempt to picture any future state4 ,this discussion is the only one in which we did not all agree40 ,next ,i read ,henry's paper3 8,to-day we continued our talk on ,immortality4 ,immortality is entirely a matter of faith1 but the different ideas concerning it have influenced the fates of nations4 8,the mind realizes so much that it does not accomplish1 that it seems as though there must be a continuance of spiritual action after what we call death4 ,if the spirit did not continue to exist1 what would be the purpose of our life8 ,some say our purpose is to pave the walk of life for our descendants4 ,indeed1 we do want those who come after us to find life pleasant and worth while living1 but that alone would not be a sufficient purpose1 for why need there be descendants8 ,why was there anybody in the beginning8 ,and besides this1 we have more reason to believe in the mortality of the race than for any of our beliefs in regard to the soul4 ,science teaches us that certain of the planets1 which were once habitable1 are now no longer so4 ,this may some day happen to our planet1 and then the race for which we have worked will cease to be4 ,although we do live for the race1 we live more for the spirit4 ,we have already said that we are part of one great union4 ,if this is true there must be immortality1 for when part of the spirit ceased to be1 there would no longer be a great1 perfect union40 ,i said to ,henry3 8,your papers never begin as if they were going to be right1 but they end especially well4 ,you always keep the best for the last40 ,now we went on to our subject of beauty4 ,what1 ,i asked1 was the one truly beautiful perfect thing1 the thought of which gives us more delight than any other8 ,they said--bit by bit--that it was complete understanding1 unity1 sympathy4 ,i said ,i believed every beautiful thing was one which symbolized this completeness1 something that in itself seemed complete and perfect and fulfilled4 ,it took some time to explain this4 ,florence1 of course1 already understood it4 ,virginia and ,marian caught at it as a new and elusive and valuable idea4 ,all except ,henry saw what ,i meant4 ,marian had said1 even before ,i expressed this idea1 that beauty was symmetry4 ,henry said3 8,i don't see what you mean1 or why you need question it4 ,a beautiful thing is one that gives us a thrill of delight40 8,yes10 ,i answered1 8certainly4 ,that is like saying a thing is red because it has a red color4 ,what ,i want to know is why things delight us with their beauty1 so that we may make a standard from these1 whereby to judge all things40 ,i stopped them when they began to speak of special works of art1 because1 ,i insisted1 we would first speak of beauty in all things in the world4 ,virginia said3 8,when ,i am in a field among animals1 playing with them all1 that to me seems beautiful4 ,i do feel sympathy with them1 but it isn't completeness40 8,no10 ,i answered1 8and it isn't beautiful1 though it is delightful in another way4 ,beauty is something apart from us1 which we see and hear1 and which wakes in us a sense of completeness1 of harmony within itself1 as if there were the whole world1 nothing lacking1 nor yet too much4 ,a landscape1 for instance40 8,it is sometimes not beautiful at all10 said ,henry4 8,no10 ,i answered1 8surely not4 ,a landscape1 no matter how beautiful and wonderful1 would be spoiled by a big sign on the nearest tree1 advertising #8,babbitt's ,soap4'0 8,or a sign #8,to ,let1'0 said ,henry4 8,yes10 ,i answered1 8though that might not be as bad1 yet that1 too1 would be inharmonious1 and suggest all sorts of irrelevant things40 8,but10 said ,henry1 8a burnt wood is harmonious1 ,i suppose1 and yet it would be ugly40 8,not always10 said ,i1 8not if it were blended into the landscape1 and mellowed40 8,no10 ,henry answered1 8perhaps not1 if the colors were beautiful40 8,but if it were ugly10 ,i said1 8it would be inharmonious4 ,a newly burnt forest suggests death and desolation in the midst of life and summer--an incongruity4 ,it suggests destruction where the thought is most unwelcome and horrible40 8,then10 said ,marian1 8it is not the thing itself1 but the feeling which it gives us1 that is beautiful40 8,yes10 ,i said1 8it gives us the thrill of that complete joy4 ,we seem to see something which is what cannot be2 complete harmony4 ,the sight of the sea makes ,virginia feel so4 ,and you1 the out-of-doors40 ,virginia said3 8,i have sometimes thought beauty is light1 because the sun is most beautiful--and1 at night1 the moon40 8,but10 said ,i1 8if there were no shadows and no darkness1 sun and moon would not be beautiful40 8,then contrast80 she asked4 ,i said3 8,there must be contrast in all beautiful things1 because without contrast we could not have completeness40 8,yes10 she said1 8in pictures it is so40 8,a small thing10 ,i went on1 8might symbolize completeness1 as well as a large one4 ,a dog1 in his way1 a beautiful ,scotch collie1 for instance1 might be as beautiful as a man40 8,yes1 indeed10 said ,ruth4 ,we criticized1 and found lacking1 according to our standard1 the beauty of prize bulldogs2 the teeth were too suggestive of strife and biting1 the spots unsymmetrical1 and so on4 ,they spoke of many instances of beauty in things1 especially the beauty of little children1 and fitted them to this new standard4 ,marian said3 8,a drop of water is so symmetrical and harmonious1 so beautiful in the sunshine2 and yet1 on a dark day1 on the sidewalk1 it is not beautiful40 ,i explained even that4 ,i showed her how a drop on the sidewalk was not a drop1 but a daub1 how it suggested all sorts of ugly and incongruous things4 8,but10 ,i said1 8if we take the trouble to look at a drop hanging from anything1 say from a leaf1 we shall always find it beautiful40 ,she agreed to that4 ,then she said3 8,don't you think we sometimes do think of our own life as a beautiful thing80 8,yes10 ,i answered4 8,there are moments when our own life suddenly seems complete1 when we feel an artist's delight in it1 and for a while we1 and the whole world with us1 seem to have reached what we longed for40 ,florence asked3 8,don't you think it is usually when we are having a very good1 jolly time80 ,marian answered quickly3 8,no1 not at all40 ,i understood what ,marian meant1 and did not attempt1 naturally1 to explain it to the others4 ,now we all agreed1 every one of us1 that completeness and harmony were beauty4 ,but the children had started time and again to bring up instances in art which to them seemed not to fit1 and which they thoroughly misunderstood4 8,you see10 ,i said1 8that the beautiful thing is the same as that which seems to us most true and good40 ,marian said again that one idea seemed to cover everything1 and that we came to conclusions quickly4 8,now ,i will tell you10 ,i said1 8what ,i mean by art and the artist4 ,in speaking of art here to-day ,i mean not only painting--as one of you thought--but everything which expresses beauty2 poetry1 the novel and drama1 sculpture1 music1 acting4 ,you see the difference between science and art80 8,science gives us knowledge10 said ,marian4 8,yes10 ,i answered1 8or1 rather1 science gives us facts1 truths1 but never at all the complete truth4 ,it gives us parts as parts1 never the whole4 ,philosophy1 on the other hand1 does what we are doing here4 ,it reaches out for the complete whole1 for understanding1 for unity1 but it knows well that it can never attain the end4 ,it reaches out for the complete good1 and is satisfied with nothing less than that unattainable whole4 ,but art does another thing2 it tells us a lie--the most wonderful lie in the world--truer than any truth4 ,it says3 ,look1 here is completeness1 harmony1 wholeness1 in this one small shape4 ,and we know it cannot be so1 but still we feel it to be there4 ,that lie gives us1 as no truth can1 the thing we long for1 and know to be most true4 8,now1 what do you mean by the word genius8 ,what is genius80 ,i asked4 8,usually10 said ,virginia1 8a genius is a crank4 ,there is a girl in my art class who is the frousiest1 queerest crank in the world1 and every one calls her a genius40 8,geniuses are often queer10 said ,henry4 ,ruth said1 too1 that many geniuses were anything but great and good in their private lives4 8,well10 ,i answered1 8,i am surprised by your definition of a genius4 ,but perhaps you will be more surprised1 and sorry you said so much1 when ,i tell you that ,i consider every one of you a genius40 8,oh1 my10 said ,virginia1 8how nice6 ,i wish ,i were40 ,i said3 8,what we usually call genius is but a larger power of understanding1 a sense of unity1 of the relations of things4 ,and we all have that1 in some degree4 ,so we all have genius4 ,it is not a matter of quality but of quantity4 ,we are all the same stuff1 only some more and some less40 ,henry said ,i might use the word in that sense1 but he didn't think it was the true meaning4 ,he said3 8,what definition is in the dictionary80 ,we had no dictionary at hand1 so ,i tried to prove my definition true without a dictionary1 and ,i succeeded4 ,i said3 8,there is no gulf between the genius and the stupid looker-on4 ,don't you see why there could not be80 8,i see10 said ,marian2 8it is because the looker-on would have to have some genius1 or else----0 ,she could not finish4 8,just so1 ,marian10 ,i went on2 8or else he could not appreciate the artist's work4 ,it is the genius in the onlooker that appreciates the genius in the artist4 ,and in so far as you can appreciate the genius of ,shakespeare1 in so far you have the same sort of genius40 8,then10 said she1 8art makes us recognize ourselves40 8,yes10 ,i answered1 8our bigger selves40 8,so one might speak10 she said1 8of a person developing his genius for music1 or his genius for painting1 and so on80 8,yes10 ,i answered2 8and you see how easily and well one can use the word in that sense40 ,ruth asked3 8,if the great genius is really one who understands better than the rest of us1 and has a more harmonious vision1 how is it that so many geniuses are incomplete and very imperfect in their personal lives80 8,i think it is10 ,i said1 8for the same reason that ,i gave you for disease in highly developed beings40 8,i see10 said ,marian2 8it is one part developed at the expense of another40 ,they wanted to know why so many artists were peculiar1 erratic1 8,bohemian0--,marian used that word4 ,virginia spoke again of the happy-go-lucky people down at the art league4 ,i said ,i thought one reason for this manner among artists was that1 as they were always looking for the new1 the beautiful--which is ever new--they had no patience with so-called respectable people1 who clung to old things because they were old1 and so these artists often purposely went to the other extreme4 ,i said3 8,you must see that there is the tendency in all of us to make of life a work of art1 to live a complete1 beautiful life40 8,i know some people10 said ,virginia1 8whose lives do not seem to me in the least artistic40 8,that may be10 ,i answered1 8but the tendency is there to make of life a complete expression40 8,that isn't all ,i mean10 said ,marian4 8,i want to know what is meant by the artistic temperament40 8,it is in great part10 ,i said1 8a fiction and a false generalization4 ,many experts have not the artistic temperament1 and many not-artists have it4 ,as for artists going astray more often than others1 if that be true--which ,i doubt--there's a good reason for it4 ,artists are always very sensitive--naturally--and so1 unless they are very strong-willed1 too1 they will be more easily swayed by outside events and their impressions40 8,i don't believe every one has genius10 ,virginia said4 8,i know some people who are perfectly stupid1 and don't understand anything40 8,that is scarcely possible10 ,i answered1 8if they are human beings40 8,do you mean to say10 asked ,henry1 8that you know any utterly selfish person80 8,yes10 she answered2 8or1 at least1 people who are not interested in anything worth while outside themselves2 people who can walk through an art gallery and not look at the pictures2 who love nothing beautiful40 8,i may be one of those10 said ,ruth1 8for ,i do not care for pictures40 8,one's genius might not be developed in that particular direction10 ,i said2 8none of us are developed in all directions4 ,but grant1 at least1 ,virginia1 that your most stupid people have undeveloped genius which might be awakened40 8,all right10 she said4 8,because if you don't10 ,i answered1 8,i shall think your understanding of those people is very limited4 ,genius does not necessarily show itself in relation to art1 to the sense of beauty4 ,genius is in the understanding a man must have to be a man4 ,how could he have any relations with his fellows1 any intercourse without some understanding8 8,but there is one essential difference between the genius of the looker-on and the genius of the artist2 it is that the artist creates1 that he must have talent4 ,no matter how much genius a man may have1 if he does not or cannot express his genius1 he is not an artist40 8,do you think10 asked ,marian1 8that an artist knows himself to be a great genius80 8,i think10 ,i answered her1 8that no man ever does a great thing unless he first believes he can do it4 8,you remember1 ,i once said that to understand life well one must be creative1 one must do things1 because life is forever creating4 ,and so the genius who is an artist1 who has talent1 who creates1 by that very creation understands better than other men4 ,he who can draw a thing sees it better than he who cannot40 8,yes10 said ,virginia1 8the fact that he can draw it proves that he sees it better40 8,and in learning to draw it10 ,i went on1 8he came to see it better40 8,the great artist10 said ,henry1 8is one who expresses his idea perfectly40 8,then10 ,virginia said1 8,i wonder if ,i will ever get to be a great artist4 ,for the thing ,i draw is never the thing that was in my mind40 8,now10 said ,i1 8you see the distinction between genius and talent4 ,genius is the power of understanding4 ,talent is the power of expression4 ,a man may have very little to say1 and yet say it wonderfully well4 ,and another man may have much to say1 and marvellous understanding of life1 but not nearly so great power of expression4 ,that is what ,florence meant the other day1 when she spoke of #8,jenny ,kissed ,me1' and of #8,faust4' ,but the man who expresses even the smallest thing well understands1 at least1 that thing4 ,the power of expression itself implies understanding and a sense of unity and harmony4 ,for no matter how well a man may be able to draw lines and objects1 unless he understands composition--which is the knowledge of harmony and completeness--he cannot paint a good picture4 ,and no matter how well a man may write ,english1 however perfect his style may be1 unless he understands something of life1 of symmetry and structure1 he cannot write a good book40 ,henry said3 8,poe expressed himself very well4 ,was he a genius80 8,now1 stop10 ,i answered4 8,don't ask1 #8,was he a genius8' ,of course1 he was that4 ,we all have genius4 ,the question is1 how much80 8,it seems to me10 said ,henry1 8that in some way ,poe was as great as ,shakespeare40 8,yes10 ,i said1 8in some ways2 and that is a very good example4 ,poe's power of expression may have been as great in some ways as ,shakespeare's4 ,but just think how immeasurably greater was ,shakespeare's genius1 his understanding1 and grasp of life60 8,poe1 for instance10 said ,henry1 8was a great mathematician1 and used his deductions in his stories40 ,the others told ,henry this had nothing to do with his genius4 ,they had a long talk on the relative genius--that is1 understanding of life--of ,poe and ,hawthorne1 and brought up many instances4 ,marian said3 8,was ,milton a great genius80 8,what do you think80 ,i asked4 8,i suppose he was10 she said1 8but ,i don't think he had a great understanding of human life40 8,have you read #8,paradise ,lost'80 ,i asked her4 8,yes10 she answered4 8,then you must have noticed his wonderful sympathy with1 and understanding of1 the devil himself4 ,he saw the tremendous contrasts of life1 and understood them40 8,i must read that10 said ,virginia1 8if he wrote with understanding sympathy of the devil4 ,don't you think10 she asked1 8that those who write books for children generally understand life very well1 and have true genius80 8,perhaps10 ,i said4 8,what do you think8 ,how about those artists who write for children in the ,sunday comic papers80 ,now ,i spoke of the artist in us all1 who sees things ever as distinct wholes1 who picks out1 as he goes through life1 complete visions of beauty to reproduce in his mind4 ,these visions have to be distant1 separate from himself4 ,for life is so distracting and full of contradictory passions1 so vast1 and1 as we know it in our limited lives1 so incomplete1 that we must get rid of it1 we must separate ourselves1 with our universal and unfinished relations1 from the perfect and whole beauty which we wish to see in the artistic vision4 8,you must have noticed10 ,i said1 8and you have often heard1 that far-off things are most beautiful4 ,it is because our life1 interwoven with endless distracting circumstances1 does not seem to touch those far-off things40 8,autumn leaves10 said ,marian1 8far off look so beautiful1 and near by are full of imperfections40 ,virginia said3 8,and perfection of detail in a picture1 as if the things were very near and real1 does not make it better4 ,it does not seem good4 ,you know ,millet's #8,sower1' at the ,metropolitan ,museum3 when you go close1 it is all streaks40 8,this dimness of detail is for two reasons1 in most great pictures10 ,i said4 8,first1 the artist often paints a picture with the intention of having it looked upon from a distance4 ,second1 in the perfect whole1 detail is merged4 ,all must blend and harmonize40 8,i never thought of that10 said ,virginia4 8,the too precise details in a picture attract a person's attention1 and want to be looked at for their own sake1 and so break in on the harmony and wholeness of the picture40 8,yes1 just so10 ,i answered4 ,i spoke again of the sublime lie of art--the untruth which is most true4 ,i said3 8,i once had an ,english teacher who used to tell us that in art one was not to give the truth1 but the impression of truth4 ,truths often break in and destroy the impression of that whole truth4 8,now10 ,i asked1 8what is the one1 the only object1 of art in the world80 ,we decided1 all of us1 that it was complete understanding and sympathy4 ,art is a symbol of that completeness for which our whole life longs4 ,one of them--,i think it was ,henry--said its aim was progress4 ,i said it was rather the picturing and prophecy of the end and aim of progress itself4 ,they had probably heard1 ,i said1 of 8art for art's sake10 the cant of those who believed mere form and expression to be the whole of art1 and left out of account the thing expressed4 ,virginia misunderstood me to say3 8,art for its own sake10 quite a different thing4 ,so1 thinking ,i would agree with her1 she quoted1 with disapproval1 an article by ,kenyon ,cox1 saying3 8,he who worked for gold sold himself1 and he who worked for fame was utterly lost40 ,i said ,i quite agreed with him2 that unless one worked first of all for the sake of expression1 and the joy of it1 he was no artist4 8,and1 meanwhile1 his wife and children might be starving10 she answered4 8,it is praiseworthy10 ,i said1 8to support one's wife and children1 but it has nothing to do with art40 ,i said a man might well use his expression to earn himself bread2 that it was necessary and natural1 and had often even spurred a man on to work1 but that it could not be his first aim if he were an artist4 ,we spoke of ,shakespeare1 and of ,goldsmith1 and of their writing under the stress of poverty4 ,i pointed out how1 nevertheless1 these men wrote of the things they loved and understood1 and how the joy of work must have been their first aim4 ,i spoke of play1 and of art being like play2 of the old saying3 8,work first1 then play40 ,henry said that was meant for little children4 ,i told them how scientists tried to explain play by calling it a preparation for work4 ,virginia liked that idea4 ,i said that ,i thought work a preparation for play1 that play1 interplay1 the joy of creation1 was life itself4 ,the children easily understood play in this sense of the beloved work4 ,virginia said her work was all play4 ,i reminded her that she might have to work hard1 but she would do it gladly for the sake of that play4 ,marian said her school-work was almost always play4 ,ruth said3 8,i think play and work are the same thing1 and that we human beings have made the distinction of words40 ,art cannot rightly have any object but whole representation1 but expression of the understanding of life4 ,i said that whenever art tried to be moral--which was rather the business of philosophy--it lost thereby2 that whenever one took sides for a thing1 one took sides against something else1 and had lost the completeness and symmetry of art4 ,henry said he thought art ought to teach a lesson4 ,i answered3 8,art ought to show us the whole of life1 which is beautiful40 ,virginia spoke of ,dickens' novels1 and said she thought those were best in which he wrote with an object1 and against an abuse4 ,i answered her that they were best and also worst4 ,they were best because he described in them the life which he knew and loved4 ,but the parts of these very good novels which were directed against any people or institutions were always bad1 inartistic1 incongruous4 ,as an example ,i quoted the dreary dissertations on ,chancery in 8,bleak ,house10 and those who had read it immediately agreed with me4 ,henry and ,virginia questioned me several times concerning ugly pictures which were considered 8good art40 ,i told them that a subject not usually thought beautiful1 an old1 old woman1 for instance1 might be made beautiful by the artist's insight4 ,i did not go into details1 however1 to-day4 ,a great many ugly pictures1 such as the work of ,teniers1 ,steen1 and others1 seem to me very bad art4 ,but now ,i spoke to them of ,wiertz1 the ,belgian1 who seems to me no artist at all1 and concerning whom they had both questioned me4 ,i took as an example of bad partisan art his picture of ,napoleon in hell1 with crowds of poor people making faces at him1 and pelting him with brimstone4 ,such a subject in itself is impossible to art4 ,what could be more unintelligent1 petty1 scattered and ugly6 ,ruth said she did not see why an artist need understand human nature especially well unless he was one who treated of human nature2 that a musician1 for instance1 need not do so4 ,i began my answer1 but gave way to a burst of enthusiasm from ,henry4 ,how1 said he1 could a musician not understand human nature1 he who knew how to rouse us to the depths with his notes1 who could move us to tears8 ,surely he knew what he was doing1 and the heart which he stirred4 ,ruth said she did not see why ,shakespeare showed greater understanding or completeness in his work than ,emerson1 for instance4 ,henry thought the same4 ,i tried to show them that ,emerson in his essays was not an artist--or1 at least1 not nearly so much of an artist as a philosopher--that he strove to reach the good1 the complete harmony of the universe1 but that he did not give us the vision of a present1 finished1 concrete beauty4 ,they both maintained that he did4 ,henry spoke of the essays on 8,friendship0 and 8,manners40 8,have you read the essay on #8,manners'80 he asked4 8,yes1 several times10 ,i said4 8,and doesn't it give you a picture80 he asked4 ,ruth added3 8,and the one on friendship4 ,i seem to see that friend40 ,i owned ,i did not feel so4 ,i said it gave me an inspiration1 an ideal of conduct1 not a picture4 8,mind you10 ,i said1 8when ,i call ,emerson more philosopher than artist1 ,i am not saying philosophy is less than art40 8,no1 ,i understand that10 said ,ruth1 8but ,i1 for one1 when ,i read ,shakespeare1 get not any especial feeling of the completeness or whole understanding of what ,i read4 ,emerson uplifts me much more1 and gives me power to do things40 8,that may be10 ,i said4 8,you may rate either as high or as low as you please1 but their genius is different40 ,i pointed out1 too1 how in ,emerson's poetry1 with its rare1 beautiful couplets1 and its many lapses1 the genius and philosopher far outshone the man of artistic talent4 ,we had not time to go into detail1 or to quote largely1 and ,i did not wish to speak much of literary criticism and methods at this meeting1 for ,i had planned to do so at the next1 so ,i think ,henry and ,ruth went home unconvinced of the artistic superiority of ,shakespeare over ,emerson4 ,one might almost as profitably argue who was a greater man1 ,beethoven or ,napoleon6 ,marian asked me whether ,george ,eliot was an artist or a philosopher4 ,i told her ,i thought she was both1 but that ,i believed she would have been more of an artist had she been less a philosopher4 ,i asked ,alfred why he had kept so silent4 ,did he agree with us8 8,yes10 he said1 8,i do4 ,it is very interesting4 ,but ,i don't talk unless ,i disagree40 ,,eighth ,,meeting ,henry came several days ago to tell me he would be unable to attend this meeting1 as he was going to ,washington4 8,i will think of the subject we were going to discuss10 he said4 ,i opened the meeting with ,marian's paper3 8,at a meeting of the ,seekers1 held on ,november #bb;d1 we discussed the relation which our previous discussions had to ,art4 ,we set up a standard for judging ,art1 and agreed that a good piece of ,art is one that makes us feel that unity and completeness for which we are striving4 ,two things are necessary1 a good thought and good workmanship4 ,we also said that details in ,art1 particularly in painting1 are bad because they distract us1 and we don't see the picture as a whole4 ,i was very glad to have a standard by which to judge ,art40 ,i said to her that ,i hardly thought she could already have that standard4 8,no10 she said1 8but ,i am going to get it40 ,then ,i read ,virginia's paper3 8,art as it is connected with our previous discussions3 8,when an artist dies he leaves behind him all the beautiful ideas he has put on his canvas1 or in his books4 ,to be a true artist one must possess an idea of the beautiful1 and also be sympathetic with all his fellow beings4 ,not only humans1 but flowers and beasts also4 ,a person who possesses these qualities is a genius4 ,but to be an artist one must also have talent4 ,either he must have a talent for writing1 music or painting1 or he cannot express the genius within himself4 8,this sympathy1 this love1 is something we cannot explain4 ,and so we call it the soul1 because it is a puzzle1 and we do not know what it is4 ,everybody possesses some of it1 even the most heartless4 ,it may be the love of a plant or dumb animal1 but still it is love for a fellow creature4 ,so all of us possess genius1 though few of us are artists40 ,next ,i read ,alfred's paper3 8,on ,sunday1 the #bb;d1 we discussed the subject of art4 ,we said that for a thing to be high art it must be pleasing to the eye or ear1 and complete in itself2 that is1 the artist or composer must so construct his work that it will fully express some idea4 ,in painting a picture an artist may choose to convey some gruesome idea1 and do so perfectly1 but that will not be high art1 because it will be displeasing to the eye4 8,it may also be applied to books2 if the author tells something so well that it gives the reader a perfect picture of the thought1 the writing may be considered a good one40 ,i said ,i could tell by ,alfred's paper that he had not grasped just what was the object of art4 ,the children repeated that it symbolized the unity for which we longed4 ,i asked1 did they see why we took up this subject of art at all1 what it had to do with religion8 ,marian had said1 before the others came1 that it was the expression of our religion4 ,virginia now used almost the same words1 and ,alfred1 speaking after her1 said it in such a way as to make me believe he understood4 ,i replied1 this was true2 art was the service of religion1 the expression of that sense of oneness with the world which can speak only in creations1 because life is an endless creation4 ,beauty1 ,i said1 seemed to me the perfect symbol of truth1 of completeness and symmetry4 ,i quoted the lines from ,keats3 8,beauty is truth1 truth beauty1 that is all ,ye know on earth1 and all ye need to know40 8,the subject of beauty always puzzles me10 said ,ruth1 8because beautiful things so often are not good4 ,take the ocean1 for instance4 ,it is so beautiful2 it gives us above all things the sense of immensity and harmony4 ,and yet1 think how cruel it is6 ,think of the shipwrecks and the suffering60 8,it is not the ocean's fault10 said ,virginia4 8,that is because we are adventurous and go out in ships40 8,yes10 ,i answered1 8and we are willing to take the chance and pay the price4 ,but surely you do not think of the ocean as cruel1 as either good or bad4 ,beauty is not in anything1 but is in the vision of him who beholds it4 ,it is a momentary vision of the completeness of life40 8,beauty is always a thing of moments4 ,don't you think so80 asked ,marian4 8,it depends upon you4 ,at one time you may see a thing as beautiful1 and at another time not40 8,surely10 ,i said4 8,why is it10 she asked1 8that some people cannot appreciate beauty in one special form1 either in music1 or painting1 or poetry80 ,i said3 8,our senses are channels through which we get the feeling of beauty4 ,but no matter whence the feeling comes1 it is that same joy4 ,one man finds it in a picture1 and another in a symphony1 and another in the woods4 ,do you know those two lines by ,william ,blake3 #8,who knows but every bird that cleaves the air ,is an immense world of delight closed by our senses five4' 8,there may be other senses than ours which bring the same message4 ,helen ,keller hears and sees it with her fingers in her world of darkness4 8,throughout the centuries10 ,i went on1 8in all beginnings and primitive times1 art was the expression of religion4 ,the first rude drawings were religious symbols2 drama and the dance and music were religious2 and all the oldest literature in the world1 the ,vedas1 the ,bible1 and the old ,scandinavian myths were religious books3 the ,greek drama1 and--can you think of others80 ,they brought forth many instances2 ,marian mentioned the ,english miracle plays1 and ,virginia spoke of ,american ,indian drawings1 saying1 however1 that they were more often used for communication4 ,i showed her how the first rude figures of animals1 the totems1 for instance1 were also used as religious symbols4 ,i spoke1 too1 of the way in which art related us with great minds in ages past4 8,ruskin mentions that10 said ,ruth and ,marian4 8,but it is a one-sided relation10 ,i said1 8for we cannot speak to them40 8,i wish we could10 answered ,marian4 8,i so often wish ,i could ask them questions40 ,we said again how hard it was1 when asked1 to explain to outsiders the purpose of our club4 ,ruth said3 8,when ,i try to tell people1 they answer3 #8,oh1 yes1 ,i suppose you just talk nonsense1 and have a good time4'0 ,marian said people wondered that she was willing to stay in-doors on ,sunday afternoons4 ,virginia said3 8,i don't tell any one of it40 ,i suggested to them that if one got a perfect standard of beauty in art1 it might be all one would need as a moral standard to make one's life beautiful in the same way4 ,now we spoke of the novel4 ,i said ,i had noticed that last week when ,i told them of completeness in novels and plays1 they seemed not to know just what ,i meant4 ,florence said she knew4 8,it means10 she said1 8that every word and every person and every incident must count4 ,it must not be like life1 where distracting and unimportant things are always happening40 8,just so10 ,i answered4 ,she had learned all that from brother ,arthur4 ,i went over it more explicitly1 citing instances1 and then told them that we were all of us story-tellers1 in the sense that we tried to make every story complete4 8,in telling anything that has happened10 ,i said1 8we naturally leave out anything that has no effect on the story40 8,and10 added ,florence1 8we unconsciously make up little details that help to fill out the story40 8,now10 said ,marian1 8,i think ,i must forgive some one ,i know1 who is always exaggerating40 8,i know some one who does it all the time10 said ,florence4 8,i don't think that makes it right1 though10 ,ruth protested4 8,no10 ,i answered1 8not right1 but not wrong1 either4 ,when we realize the artist's tendency in us all to turn everything into a story1 first1 we will not judge people harshly for doing it1 and1 second1 we will be careful when we are trying to tell the truth1 not to allow ourselves to be cheated by the artist in us40 8,i think10 said ,virginia1 8people often miss-tell an event1 and get it all twisted1 because they really forget what was said40 8,of course10 answered ,ruth1 8one is not to blame for forgetting40 ,i said3 8,i think that most of us1 unconsciously1 are story-tellers in both senses4 ,many of us are constantly telling ourselves stories about ourselves40 8,oh1 yes10 said ,ruth1 ,marian and ,florence4 ,they gave me a hint of those wonderful romancings4 ,marian is always beautiful in her stories1 8as in a real novel10 she said4 ,florence said she was always as homely 8as a mud fence10 but ,i could see by her expression that none the less she was always triumphant4 ,virginia in her stories was accomplished and a great artist4 ,i forgot to be one of them for a moment4 ,i said3 8,until very lately ,i1 too1 used to tell myself stories about myself40 8,i still do it10 said ,ruth4 ,on the subject of unimportant details and characters1 we had a long talk4 ,we spoke of ,dickens' many characters and interwoven stories1 and ,virginia maintained that many had nothing to do with the plot1 that they were soon forgotten1 and there seemed to be no special reason for them4 ,marian saw1 however1 that at times six or seven plots might be woven into a single story4 ,instead of fitting the standard to ,dickens1 they fitted ,dickens to the standard1 and found1 indeed1 that 8,the ,tale of ,two ,cities10 which had least characters and distracting stories1 was most interesting1 and well constructed4 ,virginia spoke of 8,lorna ,doone10 and we all agreed with her that the long descriptions of how things were done--fishing1 for instance--which the author gave because he was interested in the country1 and which had nothing whatever to do with characters and story1 made it monotonous and almost spoiled an otherwise delightful book4 ,virginia said3 8,he even tells what pattern of suit he wore when he went fishing40 ,they found the same fault with ,scott4 ,indeed1 none of them likes ,scott4 ,the criticisms were amusing4 ,his blonde heroines were always weak1 his dark ones strong1 but none of them interesting4 ,ivanhoe was a flabby nobody4 ,we spoke of ,shakespeare1 of the part his clowns played in the story4 ,marian said3 8,i see in what sense his plays are complete1 and ,i feel in him wonderful understanding of men and great sympathy4 ,but he doesn't uplift me40 8,do you want to be uplifted into the lofty nothing80 ,i asked4 8,is not humanity good enough for you80 ,we spoke1 too1 of 8,little ,women10 a much beloved book4 ,we noticed how ,louisa ,alcott had changed the story to make it a story4 ,i pointed out to them what it was that made melodrama2 namely1 the intrusion of events coming from without1 not springing from the reaction of characters upon one another1 or the intrinsic situation--such as robbers1 marvellous rescues1 or fortunes left by distant relatives4 ,we had a long talk on this subject1 and the children told many stories4 ,but ,i doubt whether all finally quite understood the distinction1 which is often hard to make4 ,is the coming and going of the ships in 8,the ,merchant of ,venice0 melodramatic8 ,i told them ,i should not call it so1 since it was bound up with the whole story1 almost like the persons4 ,i said that the melodramatic was more like life than the purely dramatic1 because in life1 with its thousand relations1 outside events made changes constantly4 ,but the story was more true if it contained within itself its own complete world1 like a miniature universe4 ,each work of art must represent the whole4 8,and this is why10 ,i said1 8in a really well-built play or novel1 a trained person usually can foretell the outcome4 ,suppose that we knew everything in the universe1 and all the relations of all things to each other1 we should be able to foretell every event40 8,perhaps that is why novels grow tiresome10 said ,ruth1 8for we get to know just how they will end40 ,i spoke of the author leaving out his one-sided moral verdict of his own story4 ,after representing life1 the artist should not judge2 first1 because his judgment is usually partial and incomplete1 and breaks the unity2 second1 because he thereby shows lack of understanding and respect for his reader1 who might be trusted to draw his own conclusions4 ,hawthorne's stories are often spoiled by his moral comment at the end4 ,at this point ,i spoke of missing ,henry4 ,i am certain he would not have agreed as readily as the others4 ,i said moral discussions were in place in books on moral subjects1 not in artistic works4 ,i mentioned especially the worth1 ability and good influence of the writers of so-called 8muckraking0 articles in the magazines4 ,virginia waxed enthusiastic4 ,she asked why should ,dickens not write of abuses in his novels1 when by so doing he actually brought about social reforms8 ,i said that for the social reformer they were right1 but not for the artist4 ,i warned her not to confuse the two4 ,here ,marian spoke of ,milton1 and of his giving up his artistic work for years to serve his country in politics4 ,one could not wish he had done otherwise4 ,a man's life comes before art1 before any other expression4 ,i said many of the 8muckrakers0 were men who might have been artists1 but who felt called to work in this more direct way for the beauty of life1 because they could not tolerate its ugliness4 ,but they were not artists2 they were something different4 8,that may be so10 answered ,virginia1 8but just the same ,i admire those brave1 muckraking men more than artists40 8,they are often more admirable10 ,i said1 8but that does not make them artists4 ,if you admire a soldier more than a poet1 that does not make him a poet40 ,they spoke of the reformers working for the present1 the artist for all time4 8,but10 said ,virginia1 8the result of the reformer's work will last for all time1 too40 ,i spoke again of 8for0 and 8against0 in books1 of how we felt that writer to be the greatest who understood and loved the villains as well as the heroes1 and saw the strength and weakness of both alike4 ,they all agreed to this1 and quoted plenteous incidents2 among others1 the outcast in 8,bob1 ,son of ,battle10 which they had all read and loved4 8,how ,i cried over him60 said ,marian2 and ,ruth and ,virginia had cried1 too4 ,here ,alfred came in with his enthusiasm4 8,didn't you cry over it80 asked ,marian4 8,no10 he answered1 8but ,i almost did40 8,oh1 of course not10 she said4 8,i forgot you are a boy40 8,he wouldn't dare admit it1 even if he did10 ,i said4 ,virginia said she usually loved the bad characters more than the good ones4 ,we saw how the false simplicity of villains and heroes--as represented in the poor novel--of all good and all bad1 and their appropriate punishment and reward1 was untrue to life and human nature4 ,surely1 they said1 all men had in them both good and bad4 ,scott1 they insisted1 made this mistake4 ,i spoke of the psychological and the dramatic methods in novels4 ,i said to ,marian3 8,george ,eliot1 of whom you spoke the other day1 is an example of the psychological method40 ,i explained the two methods to them1 the one going into minute details of motive and thought1 the other suggesting to us the motive and thought through the action itself4 ,marian does not like ,george ,eliot4 ,she greatly prefers ,dickens and ,thackeray4 ,i said ,i liked ,george ,eliot1 but still ,i preferred the dramatic method for several reasons4 ,i thought that the passions1 moods and changes of the soul were too complicated ever to be put down by any author so as to give the impression of truth4 ,ruth agreed with me1 and said3 8,perhaps that is why ,i like plays better40 ,to put down how a man would act under any particular circumstances is much more convincing than to tell how he would feel2 for life always expresses itself in creative action4 ,i said3 8,a reader likes to be trusted and understood by the author4 ,he would rather imagine the minute details of feeling as part of the whole swing of action1 to fill out the picture for himself1 to be recognized by the author as a fellow genius40 ,ruth said novels tired her1 because most novelists had only three or four characters which they used over and over again4 ,i answered her that this was because they wrote out of their own lives1 and their characters were usually but different sides of themselves4 ,i said many great painters used only few models4 ,virginia said she had remarked that many painters always painted faces that resembled themselves4 ,at this point1 just as ,i was beginning to speak of wit and humor1 ,virginia's brother came into the room--in this case1 for many reasons1 an unavoidable interruption4 ,i had so far always kept these two hours closed against all visitors4 ,although he sat down in the adjoining room1 and was warned to listen and not to talk1 his presence made them at once self-conscious and superficial4 ,i asked them whether they knew any distinction between wit and humor4 ,virginia answered3 8,i always think of a witty person as one who has good thoughts and expresses them cleverly1 and of a humorous person as a boor and booby1 like that one in the next room40 ,after the laugh had passed1 ,i said3 8,virginia1 ,i can think of only one expression that will fit you just now1 and that is slang4 ,i think you are talking----0 8,through my hat80 8,yes1 exactly4 ,this to me seems the difference between wit and humor3 ,the witty man is he who says or writes clever1 funny things1 just to show how clever and keen he is4 ,conceits are witty1 because wit is essentially conceited4 ,it may be very interesting and entertaining1 but it always makes you think of the author rather than of his characters4 ,it is always superficial1 the trick of words1 and it doesn't keep well through the ages4 ,a pun1 for instance1 is always witty40 8,ough60 said ,virginia1 8not always60 8,bernard ,shaw10 ,i said1 8is a good example of wit4 ,humor is the understanding of the petty foibles1 humors and lovable weaknesses of men4 ,remember that the word humor really means mood or state of the blood1 that it is a word very like the word #8human4' ,humor is always human4 ,it is the large1 genial way of looking at life of him who sees how little men are1 and how great they are at the same time4 ,it is a sense of absurd contradictions1 of the unity of utterly unlike things1 almost a parody of completeness4 ,all humor1 all wit1 everything funny is an incongruous bringing together of things that do not seem to belong together40 8,i suppose10 ,marian said1 8that is why we laugh when we see some one fall in the street80 8,yes10 said ,virginia1 8for their heads and the sidewalk don't belong together40 8,now1 seriously10 asked ,marian1 8what makes me want to laugh when ,i see any one fall1 especially a grown person8 ,and ,i must laugh1 especially if it is a fat person1 no matter how hard ,i may try to be polite40 8,that's because you expect a grown person and a fat person to be dignified1 and to fall is very undignified4 ,imagine his high hat flying one way1 his gold-headed cane another1 and his heels in the air4 ,but if a little boy falls you don't laugh1 because little boys are meant to fall40 8,when my mother falls10 ,ruth said1 8,i can't keep from laughing1 though ,i hate to see her fall40 8,but everything funny grows stale very soon10 said ,marian4 8,that is10 ,i answered1 8because when we get used to a combination it no longer seems incongruous40 8,well10 asked ,marian1 8when you laugh at people because they are boors and funny1 why is that80 8,that is10 ,i said1 8because you feel yourself to be so vastly superior40 8,is it80 she asked4 8,i suppose so40 8,and next time you want to laugh at any one10 ,i said mock-seriously1 8just think of it first1 that you are considering how superior you are40 ,she seemed greatly impressed and quite cast down by this remark4 ,i said3 8,perhaps a good distinction to make between wit and humor is that wit laughs at people and humor laughs with them40 8,isn't satire wit80 asked ,marian4 ,i thought a moment4 8,yes1 surely10 ,i answered4 ,as ,i spoke again of the relation of beauty to our subject1 ,ruth said3 8,what has all this about wit and humor to do with our subject80 8,not much10 ,i said1 8except that it shows how the spirit of fun has a part in harmony2 and that it shows humor to be understanding and a human thing4 ,but it is interesting for itself1 isn't it80 8,yes10 she answered1 8it is very interesting40 ,,ninth ,,meeting ,ruth was unable to come4 ,not a single paper this week6 ,when all but ,florence and ,marian had arrived without papers1 ,i began to be disappointed2 but when they came in1 ,i said3 8,i am going to give up the club40 ,you should have seen ,marian's serious face4 8,why80 she exclaimed4 8,because you haven't brought me any paper40 ,they all were too busy4 ,but ,florence had given ,henry a good little talk on the meeting he had missed4 ,i asked them whether they had enjoyed these meetings on art as much as the first meetings4 ,they all said yes1 quite as much4 ,i spoke again of the relation of our idea to art4 ,it seemed to them all that art was the expression of the religious ideal4 ,virginia said3 8,it relates us with others and gives us sympathy40 ,henry said it was the action of religious feeling4 8,just as10 he added1 8it is said one knows a man by his actions40 8,you know what ,i mean10 said ,i2 8it might be well expressed in a single phrase that would stay in your minds4 ,art is the symbol of completeness4 ,it must be in itself a tiny world1 a miniature universe4 ,do you remember the delight you used to get when you were little1 from a tiny doll's house1 from a little thing that seemed real1 that seemed a small1 perfect world in itself8 ,this joy you get from every work of art1 the joy of a complete world40 8,as in the novel10 said ,marian1 8which is not like real life1 with its incompleteness and distraction1 but has within itself all the people and all the things necessary to itself40 ,i spoke again of the way in which ,i meant to discuss questions of conduct according to the rules of art4 ,i said3 8,life can be made beautiful and complete in the same way1 and by learning these large laws we may avoid the pettiness of moral discussion4 ,you1 being a self1 are the symbol of the whole ,self4 8,now10 ,i continued1 8we will speak of poetry1 of painting1 of all the arts1 and you will see that the laws of all are the same laws4 ,what is the difference between prose and poetry80 ,they mentioned various differences1 such as subject-matter1 form1 manner of treatment4 8,the chief difference between prose and poetry10 ,i said1 8is that poetry is written in poetry40 ,that seemed an evident difference4 8,metre1 rhyme1 musical measure of the words are qualities of poetry alone40 8,but all poetry doesn't rhyme10 said ,virginia4 8,no10 ,i answered1 8but all poetry has metre4 ,tell me another difference4 ,in what way does poetry affect you differently from prose80 8,i know what you mean10 said ,florence4 8,you mean because it has metaphor and simile40 8,that1 too1 but something else40 ,marian answered1 with some hesitation3 8,poetry is emotional4 ,it stirs your feelings more than prose40 8,that is what ,i meant10 ,i said2 8it resembles music because it stirs you as much by the sound as by the sense4 ,and just because it is more unreal and distant1 it seems more real and close and complete in its grip4 ,a thing must be far off to give us the sense of completeness and beauty4 ,music is to me the art of arts1 because it expresses everything and defines nothing2 because it is like life itself1 rather than a description of life40 ,henry assented enthusiastically4 ,i went on3 8,you spoke of metaphor and simile4 ,we find it not only in all poetry1 but in all prose4 ,and what is it but the relationing of things to one another1 the likeness and the bond between things unlike8 ,and so keen is it1 so natural1 so close to us1 that we use it every day1 we are poets every moment in this respect1 for we hardly ever speak without using metaphor4 ,we say a sharp look1 a piercing look1 and so use metaphor4 ,do you see80 ,marian said3 8,when we say in school1 for instance1 that our teacher looked daggers1 we are using metaphor40 8,yes10 ,i answered1 8and even slang is often good metaphor40 ,alfred asked3 8,if you call a person a lemon1 is that metaphorical80 8,surely10 ,i said2 8but ,i think it would hardly do in poetry1 because it is too unsympathetic40 8,how about #bc skidoo80 asked ,virginia4 8,is that simile or metaphor80 8,that10 said ,i1 8is less metaphor than nonsense40 ,i said that in the modern play1 which could not use the figurative language of poetry1 the metaphor and simile were replaced by the symbol4 ,i could not go into this1 however1 as none of them1 except ,florence1 had read any modern plays4 ,so ,i spoke of the fairy story1 and how it often stood for something which was not itself4 8,yes1 like ,brandt10 said ,florence4 ,i did not dwell on this point1 but went on to the subject of taking sides in poetry4 ,i said that good poetry could not possibly take sides2 that all didactic and party poetry was poor4 8,i don't see that10 answered ,henry4 8,no10 said ,florence1 8he wouldn't let me convince him of it the other day40 ,henry went on3 8,take ,whittier's war-time poems2 they were written with a purpose and taking sides40 ,i said3 8,i don't consider ,whittier a great poet4 ,but that's not the point4 ,his war-time poems are some of them good1 perhaps1 but the best are not partisan4 ,a man may sing of freedom1 and still not be partisan1 as a man may sing of his native land1 and need not therefore say mean things of his neighbor40 8,it seems to me10 said ,henry1 8that every work of art should have a purpose40 8,surely10 ,i answered4 8,i never said it should not have a purpose4 ,i said it should not take sides4 ,every work of art has the purpose of being beautiful1 complete and true4 ,so ,i suppose you might say that art is against ugliness4 ,but ugliness is only a discord1 a false vision which art overcomes with its beauty40 8,i understand10 said ,henry4 8,you mean one might be for something without being against anything40 8,yes10 ,i said1 8one can be for completeness1 for unity1 for beauty1 which includes all things4 ,an artist pictures life2 in telling a story he may see that some things lead to ruin and some to happiness1 but he will not say he is for some and against others4 ,he will stand far above them and see them all as they are1 he will love them all1 he will create a complete and individual world40 ,virginia said3 8,i suppose you don't consider ,burns a great poet40 8,yes1 ,i do10 ,i answered1 8except in his didactic poems40 8,well10 she said1 8#8,scots wha' ha' wi' ,wallace bled' is partisan40 8,no10 ,i answered1 8it is martial1 but it gives the foe his due4 #8,break proud ,edward's power4' ,that1 it seems to me1 is a tribute to ,edward40 ,at first they dissented1 but finally agreed with me that most martial poems--all great ones--give the enemy his due4 ,marian spoke1 in this relation1 of ,homer4 ,we considered high-falutin style and books that are all climax1 without rhythm and reservations of strength1 unlike life1 which is all heartbeats and pulsations4 ,florence told of a book which had 8six climaxes on every page40 ,i spoke of the conventional phrases which mar style1 because we feel them to be imitated4 8,they are not original10 said ,henry4 8,no10 ,i answered2 8and originality simply means truth in the writer40 8,we feel10 said ,virginia1 8that he didn't take the trouble to think for himself40 ,then she spoke of having been made1 in school1 to compare the like thoughts of different authors1 and asked whether their being alike made them less original4 8,no10 ,i answered1 8for two might see life in the same way1 each for himself40 ,i went on to speak of music4 8,to me10 ,i said1 8it seems the most perfect of arts1 because it is in itself harmony1 the very word we associate with this idea of completeness4 ,i don't know much of the laws of musical composition1 but ,i know they are the laws of rhythm and harmony1 the laws of all motion4 ,of course1 it is figurative to speak of the music of the stars1 and yet in a sense their motion is music1 because it follows the laws of music4 ,music is the least definite of all arts1 yet the most real and near4 ,it arouses our emotions as nothing else can do40 ,most of them felt as ,i1 that music was most gripping in its effects4 ,marian1 however1 did not1 since she is not at all musical4 ,i spoke of words and intellectual ideas in relation to music4 ,virginia said it made her feel glad to hear music1 that she had to beat time4 ,the others all enjoy music most when it has a literary annotation1 either in opera1 or in concerts with verbal explanations4 ,at least they want to know the name of every melody4 ,in this ,i said ,i agreed with them1 because knowing the name immediately put me into the mood the composer wished1 and saved me those first five minutes of uncertainty which every strange music awakens4 ,henry said3 8,when ,i learn a new piece on the piano my teacher and ,i always talk it over4 ,i have a piece called #8,spring in the ,wood4' ,we say1 #8,now we are in the border of the wood1 now we hear the water rippling far off1 now there are the ferns at the edge4'0 ,we spoke of painting4 ,i explained to them the point of interest1 the point around which all other lines1 colors and interests must centre1 to which all are made subordinate4 ,virginia said3 8,but it need not be in the centre of the picture40 8,no10 ,i answered1 8it had better not1 since that would be monotonous and stiff4 ,but wherever it is1 it makes itself a centre1 and makes the picture a complete whole40 ,virginia told of the plan of completing the central figure in a sketch1 and leaving the rest unfinished--as a substitute1 as ,i showed her1 for the effectiveness of color4 ,all eyes should be directed to the central figure4 ,i went into technical details of lines1 angles and motion1 with help from ,virginia1 to show how color might express mood and action1 as well as did the figures1 and so would make the whole harmonious4 ,virginia spoke of 8curly clouds0 in a picture of a burial1 made at the art school1 where the lines of the clouds were too gay1 and spoiled the solemn effect of vertical lines4 ,from balance of line we went on to balance of light and shade and color4 ,first ,i explained to them--what most of them knew--the complementary colors1 and the cycle of color2 that a picture containing blue and orange1 or green and red1 has within itself all the color there is4 ,think of the hideousness of a blue and yellow or red and blue picture6 8,it would have to be toned down with the third color10 said ,virginia4 ,i spoke of the literary intrusion into painting1 of the necessity of a complete idea in the picture itself2 the difference between illustration and art4 ,a picture may have an illustrative name1 but if it be complete1 beautiful and satisfying without any name1 it is not illustration4 ,what is excellent craftsmanship might be bad art4 ,virginia and ,marian spoke of some pictures in the ,metropolitan ,museum1 which they had been told to admire1 and could not2 some of them pictures by ,meissonnier1 in which satins1 silks and velvets were done to perfection4 ,henry spoke1 too1 of certain pictures of ,german monasteries which were painted for the purpose of picturing the life1 with precise detail1 and were not beautiful4 ,i told them of the difference between art and craft4 ,art is a complete expression of life by one man4 ,craft is part of a big completeness1 the work of one man which has a purpose in relation to the work of others2 as a craftsman may make the cornice in a palace which an artist designed4 ,the craftsman does a part1 the artist plans the whole4 ,marian said3 8,sometimes some one says to me1 #8that picture is perfectly beautiful1' and ,i can't see it so4 ,then again ,i may think a picture beautiful1 and another person will not4 ,why is that80 8,because10 ,i said1 8your taste1 your standard1 is different40 8,is it just taste80 she asked4 8,taste with a reason10 ,i said1 8even if you don't know the reason40 8,i think10 said ,virginia1 8that when an artist expresses himself well1 every one must realize it40 8,not at all10 ,i said4 8,one has to be trained to understand pictures1 as one has to be trained to see40 ,i told them of ,turner1 whose pictures look beautiful to some1 and to others are mere blotches of color4 8,a picture is not what it represents10 ,i said4 8,one must learn to see it4 ,a proof of this is that babies1 quite able to recognize objects1 do not recognize pictures4 ,and so some people are babies all their lives in relation to art4 8,now10 ,i asked1 8do any of you think photographs artistic80 ,i believe ,henry was going to say he did1 but was overwhelmed by the others4 ,alfred said3 8,in a photograph all the unimportant things are there with the important40 ,marian said that there1 as in life1 there was intrusion of inharmonious details4 ,the out-of-focus and blurred photograph sometimes is artistic1 because of the lost details and the effect of distance2 but1 just therefore1 it is untrue to fact4 ,virginia said photographic art was bad art4 ,she said3 8,my teacher gave a good example4 ,if a fire-engine were tearing along the street1 you would be so interested in that you would see nothing else4 ,there might be crowds of people1 but you would not notice them4 ,but if a camera were to be snapped1 they would all be in it and obscure the engine4 ,you see only what is important1 but the camera sees everything40 8,that is a good illustration10 ,i said4 8,and so you see we are story-tellers in vision as well as in narrative4 ,we see things complete and dramatic1 whether they are so or not1 just as we must tell a complete story4 ,do you realize how all the arts are related1 how they all have the same laws8 ,and these1 ,i believe1 are the laws of life4 8,did you ever think of it1 that the artist sees only with his eyes1 whereas you see with your eyes1 fingers1 ears1 with all your senses8 ,you see a table square1 high1 hard1 smooth1 but an artist sees it only in perspective1 from a certain point of view4 ,to get completeness you must limit yourself1 because you cannot see the universe4 ,the drop of water is most complete and perfect when it is a limited1 spherical drop1 not when it is scattered abroad in mist4 8,the artist10 ,i said1 8is one who sees things beautiful1 even when to others they do not seem so2 and to see things beautiful is to see truth40 ,none of the children disputed this much-disputed fact--for to youth it is obvious--so ,i myself had to answer the objections4 ,i said3 8,one might say that in life many things are ugly1 and these things are true1 therefore to see these things as beautiful is not to see them truly4 ,but we believe that the whole universe1 altogether1 could we know it1 would be harmonious and beautiful2 therefore to see things as beautiful is to see them in relation to that truth1 and as symbols of that truth40 ,marian said3 8,we must believe that the whole universe is harmonious2 anything else is unthinkable4 ,we feel it in ourselves40 8,you mean1 because we have the laws of harmony in our own nature80 8,yes4 ,the whole must be harmonious40 ,we spoke of instances in which ugly things could be seen as beautiful4 ,the empty lot across the street1 with its boards1 rubbish and shanties1 is ugly2 but at times1 under certain conditions1 and by shutting out a part with my hand1 ,i see it as a beautiful wild landscape4 ,marian said3 8,near us are some poor1 ugly houses1 that ,i hate to see2 but sometimes ,i see little children at the windows1 who are so sweet and graceful they make the houses look beautiful40 8,there are a great many pictures10 said ,virginia1 8but ,i think there is not much art4 ,do you80 8,no10 ,i said4 8,to be a painter does not make one an artist4 ,do you remember hearing people make the criticism that a picture was pretty1 but not beautiful8 ,prettiness in art is a sad fault1 one that perhaps you1 too1 have found4 ,but do you know just what it is80 ,virginia said she had often seen pictures that were just pretty1 without character4 ,i said3 8,when a painter makes pictures to please the taste of people whose taste he does not respect1 when a would-be artist works to catch applause or money from the crowd by satisfying their bad taste1 and does not even believe in the love of truth and beauty which sleeps in them all1 then the thing he paints is usually pretty4 ,he will paint a little child with a kitten in her lap1 because that is a pretty subject1 but it will be the most affected child and the posiest kitten60 8,it is superficial10 they said4 8,yes1 for he does not know the true character of those for whom he works1 nor care to know his subject4 ,the smirking advertisements one sees are a good example of prettiness4 ,but many artists1 working for money alone1 fall into this cheap1 easy habit of pleasing the worst taste40 8,wouldn't you call #8,the ,vicar of ,wakefield' a pretty book80 asked ,henry4 8,no1 indeed10 ,i answered2 8it is far too genuine and lifelike to be merely pretty40 ,henry insisted it was written for money1 and was merely sweet and pleasing4 ,the others disagreed with him so strenuously1 ,i had hardly a chance to say1 as before1 that one might write for money the thing needful to be said4 ,virginia asked whether ,i did not think ,jessie ,wilcox ,smith's drawings merely pretty8 ,i said ,i thought them so now and then1 but that sometimes her deep love and understanding of childhood made them shine with loveliness4 ,marian said3 8,some people are merely pretty and uninteresting40 8,often10 ,i answered1 8they want just that4 ,they look for superficial admiration1 and show only their superficial prettiness40 8,but1 of course1 that isn't art10 said ,marian4 8,sometimes it is10 answered ,florence4 ,i spoke of sculpture as the ,greek drama of visual art1 a metaphor that appealed to those of them--,florence1 ,marian1 ,henry--who knew enough of ,greek drama1 with its masks and buskins1 and its far-offness1 to understand4 ,the distance1 the unlifelikeness of the material1 is its charm4 ,the colored ,german marbles lose artistic beauty in gaining lifelike color4 8,in that case10 said ,alfred1 8,i should think the process of coloring and the newness of the material would interest one so much as to draw one's attention away from the statue40 8,i don't think it is only that10 ,i answered2 8for surely wax works1 which are quite common1 with all their lifelike color and softness1 do not give us the thrill of reality and beauty that we get from a marble statue40 8,i think10 said ,henry1 8it is just the coldness and hardness of marble1 changed by the artist into shapes of life and warmth1 that make it beautiful40 8,yes10 ,i said1 8exactly4 ,the sculptor expresses his idea in every curve of the human form1 and makes human shapes say universal things4 ,they express by attitude and line power1 beauty1 tenderness4 ,in the #8,mercury1' the lines of that headlong figure1 to half-shut eyes1 represent the curve and angle of flight itself40 ,virginia now spoke of ,michael ,angelo1 and his misdrawing of figures1 which are none the less beautiful and powerful4 ,i said he was so great a genius that his genius1 as often happens1 overshadowed his shortcomings as a craftsman4 ,here we came1 ,i know not how1 on the subject of drama4 ,i said that to me it could never seem a perfect form of art--that is1 the acted drama--because the actors usually obtruded their personality1 and so broke in on the unity of expression--the creation of one mind--necessary to art4 ,but the children1 better at the art of looking on than ,i1 and not so quick to note the significance of personality1 said they forgot entirely the actors themselves1 and felt as though the thing were a piece of life4 ,virginia and ,florence said they felt as if they were the author1 as if by being spectators they took part1 and ,virginia said she always did hate the villains6 ,of architecture we observed that it appealed directly to the emotions1 like music2 that it made us feel1 we knew not why1 glad or sad1 or calm or overawed4 ,virginia spoke of the ,palais de ,justice in ,brussels1 which made her feel very tiny2 and this naturally brought us to speak of the feeling of reverence and awe4 8,whenever we feel small10 ,i said1 8and see another thing as vast1 that vastness is in our minds1 it is our own immense other self which overawes us40 ,they said they did not know what the feeling was4 ,virginia said3 8,when ,i have it1 if ,i try to think of what it is1 it is already gone4 ,but the next time ,i see the same thing1 perhaps some beautiful picture1 that feeling is there again40 ,virginia and ,florence said they never had any reverence for particular people1 because they were older1 for instance4 ,but1 ,i said1 at least they must have reverence for people1 as such1 for the self in all people4 ,they granted that4 ,we spoke of the completeness of that architecture which showed outwardly its inner use1 and the spirit of its land and people2 of distinctly ,american problems1 the skyscraper1 the selfishness of ,new ,york builders1 who did not consider the beauty of the whole city1 and so wrought ugliness4 ,the children gave examples1 and did not agree with me altogether1 ,henry saying that a railroad station built like a ,roman temple made you feel like travelling more than did the gloomy ,grand ,central4 ,when he asked me how about the banks built like ,greek temples1 ,i said that might be more appropriate1 since some of us did worship money6 ,he spoke of the library at ,washington as fitting exactly to its use2 its big1 comfortable rooms made one feel like studying and reading all the day4 8,i wonder if anything could make me feel like that60 said ,virginia4 ,when the others had left1 ,i took a walk with ,alfred4 ,he said3 8,i didn't exactly understand what you meant by my being big when ,i feel little40 8,i meant10 ,i said1 8that when you feel awe before the immensity of the universe1 under the stars1 or by the sea1 the thought of immensity is in yourself1 and it is really yourself who become immense4 ,you realize your whole self4 ,and before that realization your daily life and thoughts and your own small self seem very tiny4 ,it is one part of yourself1 the small part1 standing in awe and wonder before that other immense self40 ,he understood that4 ,i went on3 8,i only mentioned it to-day1 and did not expect you to understand4 ,i often do this1 either to give a suggestion for the next week1 or else to see what really interests you40 8,i think it is a good idea10 he said4 ,,tenth ,,meeting ,virginia could not come4 ,we did have six present1 however1 as we had a visitor1 ,leo1 a boy of sixteen4 ,ruth brought with her a box of candy1 given her by a sympathetic aunt1 who has an opinion1 ,i surmise1 of our club4 ,they all assured me that candy would not disturb their thoughts4 ,marian said3 8,there's nothing ,i can't do1 and eat candy at the same time40 ,i do1 myself1 think it was an improvement4 ,we had a lively and interesting meeting1 and much sweetness4 ,marian wrote a paper on our meeting of two weeks past1 following the notes ,i had made for ,florence to use in her talk with ,henry4 ,it lacked ,marian's usual originality1 as it was built directly on my thought4 ,she even used one phrase of mine1 word for word1 namely3 8,life proves all things by creative action40 8,why did you use it80 ,i asked4 8,because10 she said1 8,i didn't understand what it meant1 and ,i wanted to ask you40 8,i am glad10 ,i said1 8for it is a thing of which ,i meant to speak to-day4 ,all action is creation and self-expression2 everything is changing and in action all the time1 because it is striving to come into better relation with all other things4 ,all art and all life is self-expression and action at every moment4 ,we must create if we would be complete4 ,that is why ,i love the active and creative life40 8,yes10 said ,marian1 8,i understand4 ,you had told us so before4 ,but ,i didn't know it was what you meant by that sentence40 ,now ,i read ,marian's paper for this week3 8,on ,december #fth the ,seekers held a meeting1 in which we continued our discussion on ,art4 ,we first considered the subject of ,art in ,poetry4 ,poetry differs from prose in two essential respects1 namely1 it is farther off1 and it expresses the emotions1 and does so in a musical form4 ,our standard for ,art applies in poetry1 as well as in other things4 ,in connection with poetry we took up the subject of controversy in art1 and especially in poetry4 ,we decided that a controversial poem1 or novel1 is not good art because it is one-sided and incomplete4 ,if a man writes on one side of a question he cannot be really in that sympathetic frame of mind that is necessary for the production of a good piece of art4 ,we next took up art in music1 and decided that music is the most complete or artistic of all arts1 because it is farthest off1 and expresses most completely our ideal4 ,we also considered sculpture1 and noted the fact that the sculpture is the expression in human form of the sculptor's ideas4 ,we also considered painting1 and after we had again applied our standard1 ,miss ,sampter told us that every picture has a central object or figure1 the figure of most importance2 that all the lines of the picture are direct toward it2 and that in every good painting there must be contrast1 and all the primary colors must be in it4 ,it is complete in every way4 ,all the colors1 light and shade1 and the idea of the painter well worked out1 complete it4 ,we considered1 besides1 the subject of architecture1 and said that a building should in some measure express the purpose for which it was to be used40 ,ruth said she understood all this1 and could gather something of our last meeting4 ,she did not quite see what was meant by a thing in art being 8far off40 ,henry told her it meant that though removed from reason1 and not clearly defined or lifelike1 it appealed to our sympathies and emotions1 and we understood it all the better4 ,then ,i read ,henry's paper3 8,in poetry and music1 as in all the other arts1 it is completeness1 complete harmony1 which makes a thing beautiful4 ,of all the arts the most beautiful is music4 ,harmony is everything in music1 and is the principal in musical composition4 ,a piece of music always closes with the first note of the scale1 thus completing the chord4 ,if it were otherwise we would say there was something lacking4 ,the phrase itself shows us that what we want is completeness1 though few people stop to think of its full meaning when they use it4 8,we have said that the farther away we are from something1 the more beautiful it seems4 ,this is true of music1 which1 besides being the most beautiful of arts1 is the farthest away1 for we cannot say anything definite with it1 but must leave so much to the sympathy of the listeners4 ,i like to think of this as a symbol of the beautiful completeness we hope to realize some far-distant day1 and that then there will be something still more beautiful1 that we shall know in times still farther off40 ,i thought this an excellent paper1 and ,i told ,henry so4 ,i said ,i was glad he had written more of musical composition than ,i had been able to tell him4 ,we spoke of some of our past meetings4 ,florence said3 8,i couldn't make ,henry see the difference between wit and humor40 8,i see it now10 he answered4 8,we discussed it in school40 8,so did we10 said ,marian4 8,isn't it queer80 ,they had been taking up drama1 too1 and so their club and school work harmonized4 ,i said3 8,you have heard people speak of the art of life4 ,to me it seems that to make an art of life1 to live it as if it were our creation1 our work of art1 is the best way1 the most complete and beautiful way4 ,you remember1 ,i spoke to you of the three ways of looking at life1 of writing books1 for instance3 ,the scientific way1 the philosophic way1 the artistic way4 ,one can live life in these three ways1 too2 but to me the artistic way seems best40 8,don't you think10 asked ,marian1 8that if we lived as an art1 we should be too apt to excuse ourselves80 8,how do you mean1 ,marian80 8,because10 she went on1 8we should admit the shadows in life as well as the light40 8,the shadows10 ,i answered1 8are not the wrong1 the bad4 ,how can you think so8 ,are shadows in a picture the mistakes in it8 ,shadows make the rhythm and the contrast2 and in life would be repose and sleep4 ,that necessary pulsation of activity and rest alone can make life whole and perfect40 8,i see10 said ,marian1 8that is true40 8,as for blaming ourselves for things past1 ,i think it is silly to do so40 8,what10 they asked1 8is the scientific way of life80 8,it is10 ,i answered1 8living according to small definite truths1 knowing certain separate things to be good or bad for us1 and living according to that knowledge1 without any general aim of life4 ,it is to bathe regularly1 to tell the truth carefully1 to be honest1 to look out for your neighbor1 always because each one of these things is expedient in itself4 ,the philosophic way is to see the final1 complete good1 and to want that once1 to lose yourself and the beauty of your own life in the desperate effort to make the whole world perfect now4 ,suppose1 for instance1 that on ,christmas a starving family came to the door of a middle-class man for food4 ,if he were a scientist in his life he would send the poor family at once to the public food kitchen1 with a ticket of recommendation1 because he did not believe in indiscriminate charity and pauperism4 ,if he were a philosopher he would be horrified at the idea of any man lacking a dinner1 and without further thought would give his whole dinner to the poor1 and go without1 and let his children go without4 ,that is just what ,bronson ,alcott did--the typical philosopher in life--who neglected his own family for the good of the universe40 8,i have often known of people10 said ,henry1 8who went out to do charity and neglected their families40 8,yes10 ,i said1 8but that is sometimes for still worse reasons4 ,now what would the artist in life do8 ,he would be full of the delight of ,christmas feeling2 and he would either share his dinner with the other man--according to circumstances--or ask him in to his table1 if the poor children were not too dirty4 ,he would look out for himself and for the other man1 and do it gracefully1 beautifully4 ,he knows that first of all he must make his own life sane and beautiful1 but he wants to include as many other lives as he can in that life of his1 and to make all his relations with men beautiful40 8,what you call the philosophic way10 said ,ruth1 8is what ,i had always called the artistic way40 8,that is10 ,i said1 8because you have all of you had a ridiculous1 false idea of what the artist is4 ,the scientific life is the life according to particular truths1 without an aim4 ,the philosophic life is the life dreaming of supreme good1 and neglecting the particular1 individual beauty of life40 8,but doesn't the philosophic way help toward that good80 asked ,henry4 8,yes10 ,i said1 8though often it tries only impracticable schemes4 ,the artistic way combines and transcends the two4 ,for the artist must have knowledge of facts1 must know science1 and must love supreme good1 as well4 ,facts according to the supreme good1 life made beautiful to be like completeness1 that is the artistic life4 ,it includes both the scientific and the philosophic40 8,it is as it were the middle way80 asked ,ruth4 8,yes10 ,i said1 8because beauty includes all extremes40 ,henry remarked3 8,it may be the best way1 but ,i wouldn't guarantee to live according to it40 ,i smiled4 8,you mean10 ,i said1 8that you didn't like the idea of asking the poor man in to dinner80 ,he assented4 8,but you misunderstood me4 ,that was only a picture1 a story1 not a law4 ,if we make large laws for life--such laws as those of art--we shall avoid petty moralizing1 which ,i1 for one1 detest4 ,we shall see that every circumstance alters the case4 8,it's just this petty moralizing that is unnecessary1 when one has big laws and standards which he can use in life1 each for himself40 ,we did come very near having a discussion on truth-telling1 but ,i stopped it at once4 ,i was glad to discover1 however1 that ,ruth is not a stickler for literal truth under all circumstances4 8,i don't like little laws laid down10 ,i said1 8because they are never true and necessary in all cases4 ,they make me feel rebellious40 8,yes10 said ,marian1 8they make one feel contrary1 and want to do just the opposite40 ,i spoke of the undeniable fact that all great action1 all history sprang from imaginative thought1 that a deed had to be imagined before it could be done1 that all history was inspired by the bards and prophets4 ,i spoke of even such scientific theories as evolution springing from imaginative thought4 ,they all seemed to have realized this before1 and none dissented4 ,i read to them ,o',shawnessy's ,ode1 8,we are the ,music-makers40 ,florence said3 8,we spoke of the thinker's influence lately1 at home4 ,but ,i always thought of those great men1 not as poets1 but as philosophers40 8,yes10 ,i answered1 8they often were4 ,but they were poets1 too4 ,the greatest artist--as ,i showed you--is a scientist and philosopher as well4 ,goethe to me seems the best example of such a complete man4 ,his life was so many-sided1 and yet so artistic1 so definite in its aim2 it might stand as an example of the artistic life40 ,now1 what the children seemed to know of ,goethe was that he had a great many love affairs1 and did not behave well in any of them4 ,marian and ,henry had a clearer idea1 and knew this was not the whole or the chief part of his life1 nor quite so faulty as represented4 ,henry said3 8,he could appreciate the good points in a woman without always falling in love with her40 ,when ,ruth said she didn't know anything of ,goethe but his lover's weakness1 ,marian turned on her with3 8,now1 isn't it a shame to know that of him1 and nothing else60 ,i told them again that as every work of art was a symbol of completeness1 so every self1 being a self1 symbolized the complete self of understanding and unity2 every man was a symbol of completeness1 of the ,divine ,self4 ,before we went on to enumerate for ourselves the laws of art1 now that we all agreed they would be one with the laws of life1 ,i wished to read aloud some slips from a ,ruskin calendar1 which ,ruth had brought me two weeks before4 ,the most fruitful of conversation were the following3 8,all are to be men of genius in their degree--rivulets or rivers1 it does not matter1 so that the souls be clear and pure40 ,this1 they said1 was exactly our idea of genius in all4 8,good work is never done for hatred1 any more than for hire--but for love only40 ,surely1 then1 not for controversy1 we said4 8,neither a great fact1 nor a great man1 nor a great poem1 nor a great picture1 nor any other great thing1 can be fathomed to the bottom in a moment of time40 8,every great man is always being helped by everybody1 for his gift is to get good out of all things and all persons40 ,this1 ,i reminded them1 was what we had said when we spoke of the good and bad1 that we must use all things for good4 8,the ennobling difference between one man and another--between one animal and another--is precisely in this1 that one feels more than another40 8,doesn't it seem10 said ,florence1 8as if ,ruskin had written those papers especially for us80 8,that last one10 ,i said1 8expresses exactly our idea2 here #8feeling' means the same as #8sympathy1' or #8feeling with4' ,so you find1 all through the old books1 the striving for this same truth1 always vaguely expressed1 never fully understood1 as an ideal1 as a religion of life40 ,ruth asked3 8,don't you think all great religions have always believed in that final unity80 8,not quite in this way10 ,i answered4 8,they have vaguely striven for it and implied it1 but never realized it as the one meaning in life1 the moving force of the universe40 ,i gave each of them a pencil and a piece of paper1 and said we would find out and write down what were the chief laws of all arts1 and then follow that written paper throughout our meetings4 ,i said3 8,it looks like a party1 with the candy and the paper and pencils40 8,yes10 said ,florence2 8and now we are going to play a guessing game60 ,the first law upon which we decided1 after some conversation1 was3 #a4 ,art is the symbol of completeness1 in a definite shape4 ,on this last part1 8in a definite shape10 ,i especially insisted1 showing them how the definite1 the particular1 the finite--the drop as opposed to the mist--symbolized completeness4 ,i said for them ,goethe's poem1 8,ueber allen ,gipfeln10 to show them how so short1 clearcut and simple a thing gave us the sense of immensity4 ,henry said he had thought at one time that if one only knew the truth1 it was not necessary to be a good orator2 one had simply to state the truth4 ,but now he believed the form an essential part of the thought4 ,marian said something of the artistic life as meaning one must have a single aim4 ,i answered her it might be so1 but the single aim would be immense and inclusive4 ,now we went on to the second law1 which we formulated thus3 #b4 ,art is self-expression and self-fulfilment4 ,self-expression means action1 creation4 8,thinking1 writing1 the work of the artist is action10 ,i said4 ,they understood4 ,i quoted3 8,there is only one gift worth giving1 and that is one's self40 8,to give one's self10 ,i said1 8that is action1 that is life1 creation and fulfilment40 8,how so fulfilment80 asked ,marian4 8,because it is always fulfilment to do the thing we love to do4 ,now what comes next80 ,henry said3 8,to leave out the distracting2 to leave out detail40 8,not necessarily detail10 ,i answered2 8certain definite details are essential40 ,they said to leave out the irrelevant1 the inharmonious1 the unnecessary4 ,i said3 #c4 ,to leave out the unimportant4 8,can you see10 ,i asked1 8how that will apply to life80 #d4 ,must have variety and many-sidedness4 ,that is1 contrast1 rhythm1 the all-roundness which makes the whole4 ,we had just begun to speak of the next law when ,i was called from the room4 ,as ,i returned1 ,henry said to me3 8,well1 then1 let us write down3 #8must not be for or against4'0 ,so they had formulated it while ,i was away4 ,i answered3 8,rather let us use the word #8partisan1' which means part1 not whole40 #e4 ,must not be partisan1 and must be sympathetic4 ,now1 ,i said1 art1 #f4 ,must give the impression of truth4 ,i did not linger on this point1 and was glad the children accepted it without question1 for ,i wanted more time to explain it4 ,i went on to the last law1 which was the only one ,i had some trouble in making clear4 ,i asked why was the photograph inartistic8 ,they said because of inharmonious details4 ,i asked1 why is the statue more beautiful than wax works8 ,henry spoke again of the 8distance0 of material1 which just thereby appealed to the sympathies4 ,i wanted to speak of the artist's aloofness1 how he was creator of his work1 within it1 and yet around it and above it4 ,they did not understand4 ,they said1 if he were above it1 he would be unsympathetic4 ,they did not understand the creator's attitude toward himself1 the created2 the dramatic attitude in life1 in which we are both actor and spectator4 ,marian said she thought she understood it4 8,haven't you ever laughed at yourself80 she asked the others4 8,i have sworn at myself10 said ,leo4 ,i meant to pass by the subject1 and leave out the last law1 rather than arouse a self-consciousness1 which was the opposite of what ,i hoped to awaken4 ,but unintentionally the conversation led to a better understanding4 ,i spoke again of reverence1 as ,i had done to ,alfred1 of the small self awed in supreme moments1 before the immensity of its whole self4 8,do you mean10 asked ,leo1 8that it makes us feel how small we are80 ,i tried to make it clear4 ,i spoke of the feeling of nothingness that overcomes us1 when we stand under the stars at night1 and realize them as worlds and suns1 and our planet as a dot of light in immensity4 ,they had all felt so1 except ,henry4 ,he said3 8,it does not make me feel small4 ,i feel that ,i am a part of it all1 and one with the universe40 8,yours is the true feeling10 ,i answered1 8for you are1 indeed1 a part of it1 and the realization of it is within yourself4 ,a kitten in your place would not feel it40 8,i know10 said ,marian1 8that many people do not feel it4 ,for ,i have sometimes walked with some one out in the night1 or by the sea1 and could not speak4 ,and suddenly they said some trivial thing1 which showed they did not feel as ,i did40 ,alfred said he felt overawed by the sea1 because it was so strong and big4 8,you mean10 ,i asked1 8that it makes you feel helpless before its might80 8,yes40 8,it has been said10 ,henry went on1 8that one cannot be an astronomer and not worship1 ,i believe it is true40 8,and now10 ,i said1 8we are coming to the seventh law after all4 ,for by aloofness ,i mean that the artist1 during his act of creation1 feels his own immense self1 feels the whole universe1 and sees himself and all other things as a part in relation to it40 8,i have felt that way sometimes10 said ,florence1 8just for a moment40 8,it is a momentary realization10 ,i answered4 8,don't you think10 asked ,ruth1 8that it is a superior feeling1 though2 a cold1 perfect feeling80 8,no10 ,i answered2 8though it lifts us above petty concern for ourselves1 it does not lift us out of sympathy and action40 ,henry said3 8,when ,i go to ,riverside and see all the lights1 and think of the millions of people1 ,i feel them all40 ,it reminded me of the day ,marian had said she felt so when she thought of all the windows and rooms in all the apartment houses4 8,suppose10 ,i asked1 8that you had failed in a very important examination1 ,henry1 would you feel bad80 8,yes10 he said1 8if it were a very1 very important one40 8,then1 if you went to ,riverside ,drive and forgot yourself in that immense feeling1 when you returned home you would not only be over your sore1 bitter disappointment1 but you would be full of energy to begin work again40 8,yes10 he answered1 8,i would40 8,so1 you see1 it is a creative1 sympathetic1 living aloofness1 not cold and far off40 ,we put down for the seventh law3 #g4 ,aloofness4 ,knowing what we meant thereby4 ,ruth said she had noticed that the artistic life was a selfish ideal4 8,yes10 ,i said1 8selfish in the best sense40 8,it is self-development1 you mean10 said ,alfred4 8,yes10 ,i answered1 8and that selfishness includes the whole world40 8,why use the word #8selfishness1' then10 asked ,marian1 8that has been used in another sense80 ,we spent the rest of the time telling ,leo our idea of ,god and progress4 ,henry1 ,ruth1 ,florence and ,marian did it2 ,florence told him of complete human sympathy1 ,marian of progress toward it as the good1 ,henry explained the poem1 8,abou ben ,adhem10 and ,ruth--when ,leo objected that knowing men was not knowing ,god--quoted a passage from the ,bible to show it was4 8,i always think of ,god as a supreme power10 said ,leo4 ,i told him something of our idea4 ,what ,i cared for was to hear the others talk4 ,all1 except ,henry1 seemed satisfied with a merely human conception of self--that is1 ,florence set the key1 and all but ,henry kept the tune4 ,he spoke of the 8something outside40 ,i remarked that1 as ,i had foreseen1 we no longer used the word ,god4 8,i use it to myself10 said ,ruth4 ,henry said3 8,i use it when ,i speak to other people2 but not here1 because we know what we mean1 without saying it40 ,marian said3 8,we have made a vocabulary of our own4 ,ought we to80 8,yes10 ,i said4 8,perhaps we can impose it on others80 8,i don't think that would be fair or right10 she answered4 8,why not8 ,that is just what every great thinker has done4 ,he has imposed a new vocabulary upon the world4 ,unless our words are good and great and true1 they will not last40 ,,eleventh ,,meeting ,i read ,virginia's paper of two weeks ago3 ,,discussion ,,on ,,art 8,anything to be really beautiful must be complete4 ,the reason for this is that it gives us that idea of completeness which the universe possesses4 ,a picture in which every detail is painted may be pretty1 but it is not beautiful4 ,when you look at a person you look at his face and the expression of it4 ,in anything on which you set your eyes1 you see only the part that interests you4 ,therefore a good picture or a book should only have that part brought forth1 and the rest and unimportant parts should be kept in the background4 ,in fact1 they should only be there to make the important thing more interesting2 to make it stand out40 ,then ,i read ,henry's paper3 8,at our last meeting we reviewed all that we had said about art4 ,we spoke of the three kinds of life1 the artistic1 philosophic and scientific1 and agreed that the artistic life is the one we care for4 ,we made a list of those things which are necessary in art1 so that we can refer to them1 and apply them in judging life4 8,good art #a4 is a symbol of completeness in a definite form4 #b4 is self-expression and self-fulfilment4 #c4 must leave out unimportant detail4 #d4 must have variety and many-sidedness4 #e4 must not be partisan1 and must be sympathetic4 #f4 gives the impression of truth4 #g4 ----0 ,the last law1 the idea of aloofness1 of being above as well as within life1 of being actor and spectator at once1 they do not understand1 and ,i made no further effort to explain4 ,henry said he left it out--for that reason--when writing his paper4 ,i said ,henry had mentioned we did prefer and choose the artistic life4 ,but why8 ,i suspected1 from something they said1 that they did not grasp the reasons4 ,virginia said she didn't care what the reasons were1 she knew she liked it best4 ,the reasons1 at any rate1 had not impressed them4 ,so ,i repeated what ,i had said1 of the artistic life including the other two1 of how the artist must know science and love goodness before he can create beauty4 8,then10 said ,florence1 8the great artists were philosophers80 8,always10 ,i answered4 8,take the ancient religious writings1 such as the ,vedas and the ,bible4 ,they were always poems1 the work of artists who were also philosophers and scientists40 8,scientists80 asked ,marian incredulously4 8,surely10 ,i answered1 8men such as ,moses1 who gave laws on sanitation and daily life1 were the scientists of their time40 8,an artist must understand science10 said ,virginia1 8natural science1 if he wants to paint4 ,and he must know physiology1 too4 ,i am beginning to realize that at school40 ,some one mentioned ,franklin4 8,was he more scientist1 or philosopher1 or artist in his life80 8,i think he was a philosopher10 said ,virginia4 8,no10 ,marian answered1 8he just gathered a lot of bromidic proverbs1 that were as old as the world1 and said them over in an impressive way40 8,but they were philosophical10 ,virginia protested4 8,no10 said ,marian1 8,i don't think so4 ,they were scientific1 for they dealt with little disjointed parts of life40 ,i told them ,i wanted to paraphrase a certain verse in the ,bible1 the verse3 8,faith1 ,hope and ,charity1 but the greatest of these is ,charity40 8,how80 asked ,ruth1 much interested4 8,i would say10 ,i went on1 8#8,truth1 ,goodness and ,beauty1 but the greatest of these is ,beauty'--because it includes the other two40 ,now ,i changed the first law into terms of life3 8,life is a symbol of the complete ,self1 in a definite shape40 ,life must express that ,self in definite and individual lines1 that is1 in beauty4 ,i spoke again of small and great genius1 of art expressing a lesser or a greater completeness1 of 8,jenny ,kissed ,me0 and 8,faust10 ,florence's examples4 8,with people you must have noticed the same thing4 ,some people whose lives seem very limited1 who understand and know little1 still have such harmonious natures that in their spheres they seem complete4 ,but with still other people you feel that their lives are much larger1 that they grasp more of life and possess more1 because they understand more4 ,the more we understand1 sympathize and love1 the larger is our life40 ,marian looked puzzled4 8,what is it1 ,marian80 ,i asked4 8,why10 she said1 8should some people be larger and more complete than others80 8,how do you mean1 ,marian80 8,why is it so8 ,why aren't we all alike80 8,if we were10 said ,henry1 8it would be very monotonous40 8,oh1 ,i know that10 said ,marian4 8,but why is it so1 anyway80 8,marian always asks the unanswerable10 ,i said4 8,and still--if we believe in progress1 in the evolution of self1 don't you see8--some selves are more developed than others40 8,if we believed in transmigration10 said ,marian1 8it would be easy to understand40 8,you know10 ,i answered1 8what ,i think of transmigration4 ,but whether there be transmigration in the usual sense1 or not1 ,i think we all believe that in some way we have lived until now1 that we are not created in one moment1 that we evolve throughout all time40 ,and now ,i made a mistake1 tried an experiment that was not successful4 ,i have had misgivings1 now and then--unfounded ones1 ,i believe to-day--as to the value1 to young people1 of a philosophy of life which does not at once directly and concretely affect their manner of living1 but does so indirectly and slowly through affecting their tastes1 opinions and desires4 ,one of the girls happened to speak of the relation of parents and children4 ,i had realized for a long time that this was among the pressing problems of youth--especially of some of these particular young people--and instead of keeping to my prepared work1 ,i took advantage of the remark1 and launched off into that bottomless subject--without a pilot4 ,i said3 8,i think it is one of the gravest--perhaps the only grave problem--of your lives1 and we might as well try to solve it now1 if we can4 ,what shall we do with our parents80 ,there came a flood of ideas and confessions4 ,i made so personal a call upon each one1 and intimated that ,i already knew so much of their lives1 that they were frank and open with me1 and said to me1 without thinking1 much more1 ,i am sure1 than they would willingly and deliberately have said to each other4 ,they spoke as if to me alone1 even mentioned personal circumstances of which ,i alone had knowledge4 ,naturally1 ,i will not write down that conversation4 ,i told them the difficulty arose from a change for the better in the relation between children and parents1 and that neither one nor the other had fully realized the change4 ,the old relation of fearing reverence had been changed to that of love and companionship4 ,i said1 mock-seriously3 8,of course1 we do know more than our parents can possibly know1 and we are quite able to judge everything for ourselves1 and so we resent being told to do things----0 ,marian interrupted me with a solemn3 8,oh1 no60 and it was a moment before they all realized that ,i was joking4 8,but1 truly10 ,i went on1 8we are so used to having1 and fond of having1 our own way1 that we do chafe and even feel contradictory the moment we are ordered to do anything4 ,don't you1 ,alfred80 8,no10 said ,alfred2 8only ,i don't like to stop if ,i have anything else to do40 8,i hate10 ,marian said1 8to be told to do anything which ,i don't want to do1 and for which ,i see no reason3 going to see people whom ,i dislike1 and who bore me1 for instance40 8,there10 ,i answered1 8the reason is clear4 ,i remember feeling so myself1 and ,i am not glad that ,i was given my own way4 ,young people must know and see and tolerate all sorts of folks1 even pokey old relations1 so that they may learn to know people and be able to choose for themselves as they grow older4 ,to know many is to find some40 ,with that they agreed4 8,but10 ,i went on1 8the trouble is not so much with what you want or don't want to do1 as with irritability and impudence40 8,you mean #8sassing' your parents80 asked ,virginia4 8,yes40 8,i #8sass' mine10 she said1 8when ,i think they will like it4 ,i wheedle my parents1 and so ,i get what ,i want without being disagreeable40 8,oh1 you don't count1 ,virginia10 ,i went on1 8but what ,i mean is answering back1 being unkind and contradictory when we would rather not1 doing all sorts of regrettable things because we are in a temper1 and then afterward feeling mean1 sore and despicable1 and knowing that we were wrong4 ,that sort of ugliness and irritation1 if it's not stopped1 makes mean1 ugly1 irritable characters40 8,i know just what you mean10 said ,marian1 8and ,i know exactly what ,i think of other people who are like that40 8,it is ugly10 ,i said4 8,i dislike it1 because it is not beautiful4 ,how can any one live a beautiful1 harmonious life who begins by being out of harmony in his relation with the person whom he loves8 ,for that is the truth4 ,children often love dearly the parent with whom they are always disagreeing4 ,how shall we get understanding and unity and sympathy in life if we cannot get it with those nearest us1 those we love80 8,of course10 said ,henry1 8our idea of life1 of complete sympathy1 is against all that kind of thing40 8,it is much easier10 said ,marian1 8to know what is right than to do it40 ,we all agreed4 8,but why10 ,i said1 8should we suffer regrets1 and do ugly things1 when there must be some way to stop it80 8,what way80 asked ,marian4 8,well1 first1 what is our feeling toward older people80 8,pity10 said ,virginia4 8,how80 we all asked rather indignantly4 8,well10 she went on1 8you get up for an old woman in the car1 because you are sorry for her1 so that she shouldn't flop all over your shins40 8,pity for the other people60 said ,florence4 7,we are always undecided in the club whether to put ,virginia out of the room or whether to hug her4 ,so1 in our indecision1 we leave her alone47 ,i said3 8,we used to be told to reverence the old4 ,i say to you1 reverence every one4 ,if you think of self as a symbol of the complete ,self1 as the holy thing1 then you will reverence the self in every human being1 in every creature40 8,i don't think10 said ,virginia1 8that we have much sympathy with the self in animals we kill to eat40 8,that10 ,i answered1 8is another question4 ,it has nothing to do with what we are saying now40 8,i think it has10 she protested4 8,then10 ,i said1 8if you reverence self1 and understand and respect the self in every person1 how could you quarrel with any one80 8,you expect us to know an awful lot10 said ,virginia1 8to know every one40 8,certainly10 ,i answered4 8,is not that our idea1 to reach what we desire through understanding and sympathy with every one80 ,they said they couldn't respect every one4 ,some people they couldn't help1 as ,henry said1 pitying4 ,i objected strenuously to that word4 ,all but ,henry agreed with me4 ,it is always a word of scorn4 ,they spoke of 8feeling sorry for0 people who had suffered some loss1 feeling sorry1 but not pitying4 8,then10 said ,marian1 8one ought not to say #8sorry for' but #8sorry with4'0 ,virginia said if a girl's mother had died1 and one had not known the mother1 one might be sorry for her1 but not sorry with her4 ,they had a little argument1 and to stop it ,i said one might be both sorry for and sorry with1 but certainly one would have the 8with0 feeling4 ,ruth objected that when there was an argument ,i always made both sides right4 8,why not80 ,i asked4 8,by the light of complete vision we do see most things as true which first seemed contradictory4 ,our idea of completeness is to include many truths1 and show them to be the same truth40 ,she admitted that4 ,marian spoke of people she liked1 but could not respect4 8,if you knew them from the inside10 ,i said1 8as they know themselves1 you might feel otherwise40 8,yes10 said ,virginia1 8,i have always thought that if anybody knew all about me1 knew me just as ,i know myself1 they could not help liking me40 ,i said3 8,it seems not much to expect of us1 to understand our parents1 who are so anxious for an understanding1 and whom we love4 ,after all1 we do owe them something--when you consider that but for them we would not be here2 and we are most of us rather glad that we are here40 8,yes10 said ,marian1 8,i would like to stay a while longer40 ,now we spoke of many things1 many personal things1 of quarrels and how to avoid them4 ,virginia amused us by saying people often quarreled with her1 but she never quarreled with them4 ,marian said3 8,if there's one thing which makes people feel mean1 angry1 self-reproachful and small1 it is to try to quarrel with some one who won't be made angry40 8,naturally10 ,i said1 8they can't help comparing themselves with the other person40 8,yes10 said ,florence1 8,i am always sorry and angry at myself when the other person keeps cool or is hurt4 ,but when the other person gets angry1 too1 ,i feel as if ,i were right40 8,it's an ugly thing to be angry10 ,i said2 8it makes us so small1 shuts us in40 8,how do you mean80 asked ,marian4 8,it cuts us off from that other person1 makes it impossible to understand at least him1 and so keeps us from completeness and harmony1 actually robs us of part of ourself40 ,was it all the children's fault1 they asked1 when children and parents failed to understand each other8 8,as it takes two to make a quarrel10 ,i answered1 8so it takes two to make a misunderstanding4 ,but one can stop it4 ,remember that older people have often gone through trials in life that have shaken their nerves and made them sensitive and irritable to little annoyances40 ,marian asked3 8,do you mean fussy80 8,yes10 ,i said1 8and it is easy to understand4 ,but the fact that in many families some of the children get along well with the parents1 and others do not1 proves that at least some of the responsibility rests with the children40 ,we spoke of self-control1 of standing1 as it were1 outside and above ourselves--the idea of aloofness--and not working like a machine for the impulse of the moment4 ,i said ,i had known people who had this trouble in youth1 and stopped it with a strong resolution1 because they saw it was a bad1 an ugly and a controllable thing4 ,henry spoke of the old plan of counting a hundred before saying anything4 ,we none of us liked the idea1 possibly because we were tired of it2 ,i said1 for one1 that ,i did not see how counting a hundred could make me change my mind1 whereas thinking might4 ,i said the best plan was to put one's self at once1 as it were1 inside the other person1 and then one could not possibly say the disagreeable thing4 ,henry1 it seems1 has only one difficulty1 that of wanting to express or keep his own opinion at the expense of contradicting his elders4 ,i said one had always the right to express one's opinion1 but one might also do it as an opinion1 say 8,i think10 or 8,i believe02 that one might always consider how the thing said would impress the person listening4 ,marian spoke of people who irritate you by their presence1 whom you dislike and who grate on you1 no matter what they may do or say4 ,then ,i told them of the saving sense of humor2 how1 if we resolve to be amused by people in a pleasant1 genial way1 to see the humor in human life1 we may avoid being hurt by them or hurting them in return4 ,virginia especially agreed with me1 cited incidents of being amused by the disagreeable1 and spoke of ,dickens as one who could be amused by all sorts of people1 even the most 8bromidic0 or disagreeable4 ,marian said ,dickens was amused by every one but his heroes and heroines4 ,they almost always seemed a hardship to him and to others4 ,i said we must use every one for our good4 ,that word to 8use people0 had been employed in a bad sense1 but ,i meant it in a good sense4 8,whenever you are with any one you don't like1 think at once what you can get out of that meeting4 ,every human being has something for you1 and you for him4 ,self always wants to find self40 ,marian and ,ruth immediately thought of people from whom they could get nothing4 ,virginia1 who does get something from everything1 remarked that some people seemed to have very little self4 8,to be a human being at all10 ,i answered1 8how much of self one must have1 compared with the animals60 8,i suppose10 said she2 8that is why some people1 who have not much1 remind me of animals40 ,i said ,i was sorry we had digressed so far1 and feared we had not arrived anywhere1 after all4 ,florence said she liked to confess her sins4 ,and ,marian answered her that it was a bad habit4 8,it is all10 said ,marian1 8what ,i have heard before1 and know to be true1 and don't do1 anyway40 8,nothing new80 ,i asked4 8,not even the plan of trying to feel at once just what the other person is feeling80 8,oh1 yes1 that1 perhaps10 she said4 ,marian seemed to think ,i had given her a great many dreadful 8slams02 but ,i could not see it so4 8,i am sure ,i did not10 ,i said4 8,oh1 no10 she answered quite sarcastically1 8not at all40 ,but she seemed to bear me no ill-will4 ,virginia said ,i wanted them to be good and virtuous4 ,no1 ,i said1 ,i had not thought of that4 8,perhaps10 she suggested1 8good but not virtuous1 or virtuous but not good80 ,i answered3 8,all ,i want you to do is to satisfy yourselves40 8,is that all60 exclaimed ,marian4 8,after you told us how we could never be wholly satisfied1 how we should always want something more60 8,the beautiful life must be harmonious10 ,i said4 8,disjointed beauty is not beautiful4 ,you remember1 we spoke of the city1 how a beautiful house might be made to look not at all beautiful by being placed next to a high wall1 or in any position where it did not fit2 how the city could not be beautiful until all the people combined to build a harmonious city40 8,by itself the house would be beautiful1 anyway10 they said4 8,yes10 ,i answered1 8but in ugly surroundings its beauty would be half lost40 ,virginia said3 8,if ,i saw a very beautiful little girl between two ugly monkeys1 ,i think the little girl would look all the more beautiful40 ,marian answered3 8,i would immediately imagine her petting or fondling the two monkeys1 and then it would look beautiful40 ,it turned out1 however1 that ,virginia's monkeys were figurative1 and that she meant ugly children4 ,this was disconcerting to ,ruth1 ,marian and ,florence1 and caused prolonged giggles4 ,i said that would simply be contrast1 not discord1 that contrast might please and make even the ugly look beautiful1 but discord1 two beautiful houses so placed together that neither looked well1 two colors that 8killed0 each other1 these were ugly4 ,beauty had to find for itself or make for itself the right surroundings1 in order to be truly beautiful4 ,florence said3 8,i think it is a shame people should be liked just for their looks4 ,i know girls who are liked just because they are pretty1 when there's nothing to them1 and others who are homely1 but much nicer1 who are liked less4 ,i try never to let it influence me40 ,henry said he never did let it2 that he always liked people for what they really were1 and not for looks4 8,i can't help it10 said ,virginia4 8,i know a girl who is horrid in every way1 and when she is away ,i can't bear her2 but the minute ,i see her ,i forgive her1 because she is so beautiful40 8,perhaps10 ,i said1 8if you knew her from the inside1 as she knows herself1 you might think that no one could help liking her40 8,no10 said ,virginia2 8she's one of the people who1 ,i feel sure1 cannot think that of herself40 ,marian agreed with ,virginia4 ,she said when she met people she was interested in the good-looking ones1 and always judged them by their faces4 8,that is different10 ,i said1 8to judge people by the character written in their faces1 as we judge them by all things4 ,but though all beauty is good1 the beauty of the personality1 of life itself1 is surely best40 ,,twelfth ,,meeting ,through inevitable circumstances the club had been discontinued for six weeks4 ,but ,i was in personal touch with all the members during this interval4 8,we have not met for so long10 ,i said1 8,i wonder whether you have forgotten anything of what we had done80 ,they all assured me that it was clear in their minds4 ,henry said3 8,it has had time to sink in40 8,i am glad10 ,i went on1 8that we happened to stop at the end of a part2 that now we begin anew at a new thing4 ,but ,i am a little afraid to go on4 ,for now we are going to speak of morals1 of goodness40 8,why are you afraid80 asked ,marian4 8,because ,i am so afraid we are going to moralize1 to become petty40 8,don't be afraid of that10 said ,marian2 8,i have had too much experience to be likely to do it40 8,well1 then10 ,i said1 8first of all we must find out what we consider good1 what we mean by the good--that misused word--and to distinguish between the true and the artificial good4 ,have you any ideas about it80 ,none of them had any definite idea of what they meant by the good1 or of the distinction between the goody-goodiness which repelled them1 and the goodness which they loved4 ,they thought immediately of 8good0 people who are unlovable or stupid4 ,virginia and ,marian exchanged remarks about a girl they had met that morning at ,sunday-school2 and all through the meeting1 until ,i found effective means to stop them1 they referred to her as an example4 8,now10 ,i said1 8,i will tell you of the true good1 and by the light of it you will clearly distinguish the artificial4 ,you remember the first law of art40 ,henry had the paper with him4 ,it was3 8,art is a symbol of completeness in a definite shape40 8,so the good1 too1 is a symbol of completeness in a definite shape10 ,i said4 8,goodness is always of relation4 ,it means the right relation1 sympathy and unity of those who know each other4 ,and the good man is the man who makes a complete world1 a symbol of the perfect awakened universe1 out of those few people whom he knows--that is1 of whose existence he is aware--and of all that he knows in the universe1 which is a small part of the whole4 ,he makes it complete and perfect1 by making all his relations with life complete1 and understanding and beautiful4 ,you realize that a ,robinson ,crusoe1 alone on his desert island1 if he never expected to see human beings again1 could not be either good or bad40 8,yes1 he could10 said ,virginia1 8in the way he treated the animals40 8,that is right10 ,i answered4 8,if you include the animals as selves1 he could still be good or bad in his relation with them4 ,but you see that goodness is of relation4 ,it is having our relations right1 good and sympathetic1 as far as they reach4 8,that1 then1 is the law1 the only law4 ,all moralities and systems were made to uphold and fulfil that law1 and they all change with the needs of man and his circumstances1 but that one law is always the same1 is always true1 is the spirit which makes all actions either good or bad4 ,for ,i believe there is no action in itself either good or bad1 but all must be tested by this law4 #8,is it good8' means3 ,does it make for true and understanding relations between men8 ,do you agree with me80 8,yes10 they said4 8,take the laws of ,moses1 or any system of laws10 ,i went on1 8and you will see that they were made by men1 who realized in themselves the one supreme law1 the law of progress toward the human whole4 ,these systems of laws1 if followed by people incapable of seeing the broad way for themselves1 would lead toward that end4 ,but the lesser laws change with circumstance1 as a path changes with the landscape4 ,take the ,mosaic laws4 ,the first laws1 #8,thou shalt have no other ,god1' #8,thou shalt not take his name in vain1' and #8,thou shalt keep the ,sabbath1' seem to us now much less important than some later laws1 such as #8,thou shalt not steal1' #8,thou shalt not kill1' and so on4 ,but if you stop to think1 you will see that these first were most necessary2 for the people's idea of ,god1 so much more limited than ours1 was still1 like ours1 the reason for their morality1 the law of laws1 the #8,i ,am' that gave meaning to goodness4 ,in their condition1 if they had not reverenced and feared ,god1 they would not have kept the laws of ,moses4 ,the actions or ways of life we often hear called good1 but which arouse in us a feeling of contempt1 as if it were goody-goodiness1 or self-righteousness1 are actions according to petty laws of goodness1 by people who do not know the spirit1 the great law above all laws4 ,sometimes they are actions no longer good at all1 acted according to petty laws that we have passed4 ,do you see what ,i mean80 8,give me an example of what you mean10 ,marian said4 8,many conventions are an example10 said ,henry4 8,yes1 they may be10 ,i answered4 8,conventions10 said ,virginia1 8are neither right nor wrong40 8,no10 ,i answered1 8they are usually a matter of convenience4 ,but some people do make the mistake of calling them right or wrong4 ,then again you will hear people argue whether or not it is right to tell the truth1 under all circumstances40 8,you mean10 ,henry said1 8that they argue whether or not it is good to tell the truth as truth1 not whether the truth will help us toward better relation40 8,exactly40 8,i think10 said ,virginia1 8to tell the truth to hurt people's feelings is wicked40 ,now they were just going to have an argument as to truth-telling1 when ,i reminded them that this was what we did not want to do4 ,marian spoke of school laws1 and said that these were often without force or reason1 and that she saw no great harm in breaking them4 ,when ,i remembered the folly of laws in many schools1 ,i could not disagree with her4 8,of course10 she said1 8one gets out of sympathy with that class of mortals called teachers40 8,hardly10 said ,i1 8if one is honest at all times4 ,and perhaps the meanest1 most cowardly lie is the lie of evasion and shirking of punishment in such a case40 ,henry said3 8,teachers ought not to ask boys and girls1 #8did you do this or that8'0 8,you are right10 ,i answered2 8but1 again1 no boy or girl of spirit1 courage and character would hesitate to answer truthfully4 8,self-sacrifice10 ,i said1 8is a good example of the sort of action that is called good in itself1 when it is not at all so1 but has only a definite and limited purpose in the scheme4 ,i wish to explain it to you4 ,but first ,i want to be sure that you understand this idea of good4 ,is it new to you80 8,yes10 said ,marian1 8,i never thought of it in that way before40 8,you all have said so little10 ,i went on1 8,i am afraid you may not fully understand40 8,there is nothing to say10 answered ,marian1 8for it grows so naturally out of everything we have done40 8,our whole thought is like a chain10 said ,virginia1 8link within link40 8,alfred10 ,i said1 8you are so silent1 you don't give us a chance to see how bright you are4 ,now1 tell me1 what is the good8 ,what do ,i mean8 ,i want to be sure you understand40 ,he hesitated4 8,the good is completeness1 harmony40 8,yes10 ,i said1 8but ,i want it more definitely4 ,the good is a sign of that completeness4 ,to the truly good man1 as much as he knows of the world1 or dreams of it1 is his whole self4 ,and he wants that whole self to be right4 ,the good man cannot be wholly good until every one else is so4 ,the world must be perfect to satisfy his desire for good40 ,ruth said3 8,it is what you told us before1 that we cannot be perfect unless the universe is perfect4 ,but it seems to me that a man may be just as good1 though others are bad40 8,yes10 ,i said1 8he can do his best to fill out the gaps and make his relations right1 but his goodness will not wholly satisfy him4 ,on the other hand1 the self-righteous man1 who lives according to precepts and rules1 is easily satisfied with himself4 ,goodness is beauty4 ,the good is always the beautiful action4 ,but goodness1 according to laws and precepts which are outworn1 which we have left behind us1 is no longer beautiful for us40 ,virginia pointed out that in this1 then1 goodness differed from art1 for the objects of art remained beautiful through hundreds of years4 8,six hundred years ago10 she said1 8men painted pictures which probably cannot be equalled to-day40 8,but10 ,i answered1 8a man trying to paint like ,raphael now1 would not paint beautifully40 8,no10 said she2 8but if he tried to paint like ,franz ,hals or ,rembrandt he might40 8,not at all10 ,i answered4 8,of course10 she admitted1 8he would have to paint like himself1 to be himself40 8,surely10 said ,i1 8and so with goodness4 ,each man has his own particular goodness1 according to his circumstances and nature4 ,but1 just as a beautiful picture is eternally beautiful1 so goodness in the past1 though it no longer seems good to us for practice1 is always delightful to think of1 though it would be horrible to imitate4 ,for instance1 the self-imposed poverty of ,st4 ,francis of ,assisi40 ,we spoke of asceticism and the ideals of self-sacrifice1 and then of self-sacrifice itself1 as preached in our own lives4 8,in the first place10 ,i said1 8we must get clear in our minds the meaning of happiness4 ,people will say to you again and again that the aim of life is happiness4 ,but if each one of us were to speak of happiness1 and use the same word1 we would each mean something different4 ,now1 what is happiness80 8,it is having fun10 said ,virginia4 8,yes10 ,i said1 8that is all right4 ,but that's only repeating the same thing4 ,what is it that makes us happy80 ,florence answered3 8,having what you like40 8,yes10 ,i said1 8but more than that4 ,it is having what you want most4 ,if you liked pie1 but you liked ice cream better1 then pie wouldn't satisfy you1 would it80 8,no40 8,what would80 8,ice cream and pie both10 said ,florence4 ,we decided1 however1 after some thought1 that we would give up pie for ice cream4 8,and this10 ,i said1 8is the meaning of self-sacrifice4 ,it is giving up what we want for something we want still more4 ,and as the thing we want most of all1 and for which we would give up everything else1 is complete harmony1 sympathy and understanding1 you see that in all our self-sacrifices we are giving up what we want for what we want still more4 ,we are giving up our smaller for our larger self40 8,that is just what ,booker ,t4 ,washington said at the lecture this morning10 ,virginia went on4 8,he said he had never made a single sacrifice1 but he had always done the thing he loved to do most4 ,it is fun to do good4 ,it makes us feel so virtuous4 ,and we do it because we like most to see other people happy40 8,that is what ,i mean1 ,virginia40 8,i don't think it is so1 always10 said ,ruth4 8,i think often people are just forced to give up things and sacrifice themselves1 when they don't like it at all40 8,that's different10 ,i said1 8if it is enforced4 ,i meant voluntary self-sacrifice40 8,even so10 she went on1 8suppose you are going out somewhere1 and you have to stay at home with some person who is ill1 just because you are asked to do it4 ,you don't like it1 but you do it1 anyway40 8,probably10 ,i answered1 8you love that person and that person's pleasure far more than you do1 say1 the theatre40 8,no10 said ,ruth1 8perhaps you don't love the person at all40 8,but you love to feel virtuous10 ,virginia said1 8and all the time you stay at home you are saying bad things1 mentally1 about that person40 8,but you stay from choice1 you please your bigger self and its demands for beauty10 ,i went on2 8you give up what you want for what you want more40 8,yes10 ,virginia said1 8for you would be uncomfortable and unhappy if you went40 8,you see how silly and childish it is10 ,i continued1 8to give up anything for nothing1 to deny yourself pleasures1 to make sacrifices for their own sake4 ,that is one of the false virtues which make people self-righteous1 #8goody-goody' and ridiculous4 ,i know a girl who gave up eating butter during ,lent because she liked butter1 and she thought it noble to deny herself40 8,yes10 said ,virginia1 8and ,i know girls who won't take sundaes during ,lent1 but drink sodas instead1 because they like sundaes better40 ,i read aloud to them a ,ruskin quotation that ,ruth had brought some time ago3 8,recollect that #8mors' means death1 and delaying2 and #8vita' means life1 and growing2 and try always1 not to mortify yourself1 but to vivify yourself40 8,you see10 ,i said1 8,i believe in being selfish1 in the very largest sense4 ,i believe the whole world1 all that ,i know and love1 to be my whole self1 and ,i want to make that as good1 as true1 as harmonious as ,i can4 ,what people usually call selfishness is only self-limitation1 cutting yourself off40 8,yes2 it is making yourself little40 8,exactly4 ,take selfish people1 and you will find that they are not only making others unhappy1 but making their own lives very small and narrow40 8,they are unhappy themselves10 said ,florence4 ,i told them a story of three apple seedlings4 ,the first said3 8,i will not grow2 there is so little room2 ,i will not help crowd out the others40 ,he died1 a weakling4 ,the second said3 8,i will not bear apples1 because the effort might spoil the glossy appearance and fulness of my foliage40 ,he was good to look at1 but--useless4 ,the third one said3 8,apple-trees were made to bear apples4 ,i like to do it1 ,i want to do it1 and ,i will40 ,and he did1 and so served himself and many beside4 8,i never could understand the morality10 ,i said1 8that tells us to live only for others40 8,it would be impossible10 said ,henry2 8one has to live first for one's self40 8,and last for one's self10 ,i went on1 8for that biggest self which is our own life in relation with all that we know4 ,if we lived only for others1 others would still live for others1 and so on1 with no end and no sense4 ,it is like that idea of living for future generations40 8,what of it80 asked ,marian4 8,i am particularly interested40 8,that we shall live for future generations1 and the future generations shall live also for future generations1 and so on forever and ever60 8,unless it were all for the last generation10 said ,henry4 8,but that will never come10 ,i answered1 8or1 if it does1 it will surely not be worth while4 ,i believe that whoever lives the best life for himself1 and does the thing he is most impelled to do1 for his whole big self1 is also best for all others4 ,he must be1 since they are a part of him40 8,it seems to me10 said ,marian1 who had been dreaming1 8that there is no absolute truth4 ,when people claim that they have found the whole truth1 and try to explain it to me1 ,i never feel convinced40 8,does our idea strike you so1 ,marian80 ,i asked4 8,oh1 no10 she said1 8not at all4 ,you never make positive statements40 8,no10 ,i answered1 8,i am willing to grant that what seems true to me now may one day be included in a larger truth40 ,we spoke a few words1 here1 of envy4 ,they agreed at once that artistic envy1 the envying of capabilities and talents1 was impossible to one who felt that others were doing things for him1 that what he lacked in himself he would find in others1 for his satisfaction4 8,but10 said ,florence1 8there are so many other kinds of envy1 where other people having the thing does you no good40 8,that's true10 ,i said2 8a beggar1 for instance1 envying the rich people in a restaurant for their food1 will not lose his hunger through seeing them eat40 ,i told them of the danger and difficulty of our philosophy of right and wrong1 how ,i hesitated to tell it to them for fear they might misuse it1 and how much harder it was to guide one's self by so big a standard than by an unbeautiful1 ready-made morality of little laws and precepts4 ,he must take the straight and narrow path1 who cannot guide himself across the prairies by the path of stars and planets4 ,virginia insisted on my repeating some facts ,i had told her lately4 ,a young ,french girl of good education1 made desperate by poverty and lack of work1 slashed a picture in the ,louvre1 in order to be arrested1 get shelter and food1 and attract attention to the injustice of her lot4 ,we discussed such cases1 and decided that where society did so great a wrong1 the lesser wrong might be part of the cure4 8,i cannot judge people10 ,i said1 8when circumstances drive them to do wrong in self-defence40 ,we came near forgiving every one1 when ,i reminded them of the sternness of our standard4 ,it made us lenient with others1 who did not--and perhaps could not--know that they might master circumstance1 and that the whole world was their whole self4 ,but with ourselves it made us terribly exacting4 8,some people are like animals10 said ,virginia4 8,i can't understand them1 and cannot sympathize with them40 8,that10 ,i said1 8is your loss1 you superior animal4 ,ruskin says somewhere1 and quite truly1 that who cannot sympathize with the lower cannot sympathize with the higher40 ,now ,virginia plunged off into a stream of delightful nonsense1 told us how she sometimes loved and sometimes hated herself1 how1 if she was very happy1 she had to pay the penalty of reaction1 and how interesting she was1 altogether4 ,as a punishment we made her keep still for five minutes by the watch4 ,i hoped ,alfred would talk instead4 ,suppose we punished him by making him talk for five minutes6 ,florence said3 8,what ,i like most of all is to be liked4 ,i often envy people their lovableness40 8,naturally10 said ,i1 8that is what we all like most1 isn't it8 8,and the truly good person1 in our sense of good1 is also the lovable1 beloved person40 ,marian and ,virginia exchanged glances4 ,they were thinking again of that girl in ,sunday-school1 who1 they said1 was thoroughly good1 but not at all lovable4 8,the good person10 ,i said1 8is also the intelligent1 sympathetic person4 ,sympathy1 understanding love1 is the great virtue4 ,i have made a list of seven virtues4 ,would you like to hear them8 ,first1 ,love40 ,that1 they said1 included all the others4 ,yes1 ,i answered1 it was the chief4 ,second1 ,courage4 ,courage1 they said1 to do as we believed4 ,third1 ,trustworthiness4 ,they all agreed4 ,fourth1 love of knowledge4 ,fifth1 love of beauty4 ,sixth1 insight4 ,seventh1 a sense of humor6 ,during this time ,virginia and ,marian were fitting each virtue to that girl1 and found her lacking only in the latter ones1 but no more lovable or interesting than before4 8,ruth10 ,i said4 8,yes40 8,are you sure they are not speaking of you or me80 8,i don't know10 she answered2 8perhaps40 ,they protested4 8,do you know the girl1 ,ruth80 ,i asked4 8,yes1 ,i do40 8,well10 ,i said1 8please bring her to the next meeting4 ,she interests me40 ,ruth promised1 despite the protestations and explanations of ,marian and ,virginia4 8,you would know1 then1 of whom we had been talking10 they said4 8,very well10 ,i answered1 8she shall stay away on one condition40 8,what is that80 8,that you don't mention her again4 ,i always feel10 ,i went on1 8that when any one is badly spoken of1 ,i am being criticized behind my back4 ,just as when a race1 such as the negroes1 for instance1 is unjustly spoken of1 ,i feel like fighting for my rights2 for ,i take it as a mere matter of chance that ,i didn't happen to be one of them4 8,florence10 ,i continued1 8is quite right in wanting to be loved4 ,it is the best thing in the world40 8,except loving10 said ,virginia4 8,of course10 ,i answered2 8but to want to be loved by those we love for what we really are1 and truly to wish to be what they can truly love1 that is the whole of goodness1 ,i believe4 ,the only difference between vanity and true worth is that the vain person wishes to appear to be what is lovable--which is very unsafe--and the truly good person wishes to be it40 8,you mean10 said ,henry1 8that vanity is company manners80 8,yes40 8,i don't know10 ,florence said4 8,i have liked people who used #8company manners' for some company1 and not for others40 8,i have known people10 said ,marian1 8who were always agreeable and sweet1 and appeared to want every one to like them1 and yet were not a bit lovable40 8,naturally10 ,i said1 8the person who wishes to be loved for what he is1 is also willing to be hated for it1 if he must1 by those who think otherwise40 ,i said there was a man of whom we had heard much during the last days 7because of his centenary7 who seemed to be exactly what we meant by good4 ,this was ,abraham ,lincoln4 ,we spent some time speaking of him1 the man who1 it seems to me1 might have inspired a new ,american religion4 8,we always sympathize most with those10 said ,henry1 8who sympathize with us40 8,we love them most10 ,i said1 8but the man of large heart will often sympathize with people who understand him no better than they understand the sunshine3 with the bad man1 for instance40 8,that is true40 8,in the drama of life10 ,i said1 8he who loves beauty and his whole self will live so as to make that whole beautiful1 and for this joy and beauty will gladly give up his petty satisfactions4 ,for remember that the good life is the beautiful life1 and the influential life4 ,indeed1 every life in this drama has immense influence40 8,for good or bad10 said ,henry4 8,yes1 surely40 8,i thought not10 answered ,florence2 8each one has a very1 very small influence40 8,in the universe1 perhaps1 but we know nothing1 and can know nothing1 of that4 ,we cannot make comparisons with infinity4 ,but with those we love1 who know us1 in our own family1 our own circle of friends1 the influence of each one is immense4 ,think of any family you know1 of your own family1 and see how much difference each one makes in the whole1 how each one changes the whole4 ,each one influences all the others1 and makes the tone and color of life1 whether he will or not40 8,i suppose10 said ,henry1 8that even those who have no influence1 who do nothing1 could have an influence40 8,they can't help having it1 for good or bad4 ,and people can know they have this influence1 and use it consciously1 to make life about them as they wish it to be4 ,as a woman who comes into a house1 if she loves beauty and order1 will set it in order at once and make it beautiful1 so that it will be all changed because of her1 and for her pleasure1 so in life we can set all things in order and change them to our wish1 by our presence and character40 8,i don't think10 ,ruth said1 8that the good is always beautiful4 ,often the thing we have to do is disagreeable40 8,for instance1 what80 ,i asked4 8,in school work1 for example4 ,we have to study subjects that are hard and disagreeable1 simply to pass40 8,you mean that you have to do disagreeable things to get what you want4 ,naturally4 ,that is self-sacrifice4 ,and you cannot always do things as you would like to do them4 ,the woman in the house might find ugly wallpaper1 and not be able to change that4 ,but she would find other means of making things look better4 ,people can have conscious influence2 and the difference between those who make life good and beautiful1 and those who attract attention to themselves1 is the difference between the play in which all the actors are good1 and combine to make a beautiful play1 and the one where there is a star who wants a poor cast to set off her charms1 and produces an inartistic and uneven play40 8,i don't see how one could have conscious influence10 said ,marian2 8it seems to me one lives unconsciously all the time4 ,i like to dream4 ,i am not fond of acting4 ,i don't believe ,i would ever have any conscious influence40 8,to dream and dream and keep on dreaming1 and not act1 is impossible10 ,i said4 8,but10 asked ,florence1 8isn't it just the dreamers who do all the great things80 8,surely10 ,i answered1 8one cannot help influencing people1 even by one's dreams4 ,but you1 ,florence1 you must realize how much difference each member of a family makes40 8,yes1 ,i do40 8,and ,virginia1 ,i believe1 has often made conscious effort toward cheerful influence1 and knows what ,i mean4 ,you1 too1 ,ruth2 ,i am certain you know exactly what ,i mean1 and ,i hope you and ,marian will talk it over2 for it is an interesting subject40 8,yes1 ,i know well what you mean40 ,as we left ,i asked ,alfred to write a paper for me4 8,for10 ,i said1 8they will begin to think you stupid if you show no sign of intelligence4 ,and even ,i would like a tangible proof of what ,i really know1 that you do grasp exactly the spirit of what we say40 ,,thirteenth ,,meeting ,marian was absent4 ,i read aloud ,henry's paper3 8,last ,sunday we met for the first time in almost two months4 ,we had finished talking about art1 and we started on a new course in which we shall apply our standard of beauty4 8,our topic last ,sunday was ,goodness4 ,good is a much-abused word4 ,we often speak disdainfully of a person1 as being a goody-goody1 but usually this person1 though not necessarily bad1 is not good according to the standard of to-day4 ,in the last generation1 and even in some places to-day1 the good child is the one which does its work conscientiously1 and spends all its spare time at sewing or doing odd jobs around the house4 ,the #8good man' does his work faithfully1 never swears or lies under any circumstances1 and follows his religion1 as it is set down for him by others1 absolutely to the letter4 8,in speaking of bad1 one kind we mentioned was that which was once good1 but which we have left behind us in our progress4 ,this is true of that old standard4 ,we have said that what we want is complete sympathy4 ,that which is beautiful is the symbol of completeness1 and the good is beautiful2 and therefore the man with a warm1 sympathetic heart is the good man4 ,a splendid type of this sort of man is ,abraham ,lincoln1 a man who suffered with the sufferer1 and rejoiced with the happy2 a man with charity for all and enmity toward none4 8,we condemn the selfish man1 but the man who does so much for others that he does nothing for himself1 is to be criticized just as much4 ,hillel says3 #8,if ,i am not for myself1 who will be for me8' 8,there is really no such thing as self-sacrifice1 for if you voluntarily give up one thing for another1 it is because you like it better40 ,i said that this paper proved to me1 what ,i had already suspected1 that in the last meeting ,i had dwelt too much on one side of our subject1 and not enough on the other4 8,perhaps10 said ,henry1 8,i spent too much time describing the man who isn't truly good80 8,no10 ,i answered1 8,i don't mind that4 ,but you say #8the man with a warm and sympathetic heart is the good man4' ,to be the truly good and great man1 one must have more than a warm and sympathetic heart1 more1 even1 than a feeling of kindliness and sympathy for one's fellows4 8,you speak of ,lincoln as a man #8with charity for all and enmity toward none4' ,but ,lincoln was much more than that4 ,this alone would not have made him great and splendid4 ,what did80 ,henry said3 8,he was a man of determination10 and1 before ,i could answer1 ,alfred went on3 8,he was a man of large sympathies40 8,yes10 ,i said1 8it is the combination of the two2 it is more than both4 ,i mean that the great and good man is the man whose final far-off aim is the unity and completeness of man1 who shapes his life and his work toward that aim1 who works for it1 lives for it1 sacrifices himself and all things to it2 and such a man was ,lincoln4 ,he made mistakes--he used them for his cause4 ,his morality1 his law1 was the union--that symbol of the larger union--and for this immense self-fulfilment he worked with his might1 and died for it40 8,yes10 said ,henry1 8and the great man must make mistakes1 and go beyond them4 ,roosevelt1 for instance1 is always making mistakes1 and then acknowledging them1 and going forward once more40 8,surely4 ,and so ,lincoln worked for the union1 in sympathy with all men40 8,in one speech10 said ,henry1 8he asked ,davis1 his opponent in the ,house1 to #8help him save the union4'0 8,now1 ,henry10 ,i said1 8there is another thing in your paper--if you don't mind my saying it80 8,not at all40 8,i mean that when you quoted ,hillel you should have finished the quotation3 #8,if ,i am not for myself1 who will be for me8' and #8but if ,i am for myself alone1 what am ,i then8' ,you did not bring out the idea of the large and small self1 of sacrificing the small self to the large1 because you love the large self above all else1 not because you like it better4 ,this morning ,i heard a lecture by ,professor ,royce1 of ,harvard1 and it is curious that he used exactly the same words we used in speaking of self-sacrifice4 ,he said we sacrifice the small to the large self40 ,at this point ,ruth came in1 and brought ,marian's paper4 ,i read it at once3 8,our meeting of the ,seekers of ,february #adth was very interesting4 ,we talked about goodness4 ,first we tried to define good1 and finally reached the conclusion that goodness means being in a harmonious relation with all our fellow-beings4 ,we should try to make our life like some beautiful picture or other work of art1 making it a complete and harmonious whole4 ,all our friends and acquaintances1 everything we see1 hear1 do or know1 help to make this picture2 and if we try1 we can consciously make it what we want4 ,we are masters of our lives1 and if we remember this1 it will influence all our thoughts and deeds4 ,we also spoke of happiness1 and decided that each one has a different kind of happiness1 depending on what he wants most4 ,we also spoke of self-sacrifice4 ,there is really no such thing as self-sacrifice1 because when we give up one thing it is always because we think another finer1 and because we want the other more4 ,we cannot have every detail in our picture as clear as the main idea1 and we must give up something to bring out this idea40 ,we all thought this paper excellent4 ,i told ,ruth briefly what we had said before she came2 and then we spoke at length of the importance of living our belief1 of working for the cause1 of giving ourselves to the large self4 ,i said3 8,every great man has always done just that1 whether he was writer1 philosopher1 artist1 statesman or scientist2 he has always devoted himself to a work which aimed toward the great union40 ,florence said3 8,you mean not like the philosophers1 simply to dream of the good1 but like the artist1 to work it out8 ,didn't you say that1 when we spoke of choosing the artistic life80 8,no10 ,i answered1 8not quite4 ,the philosopher and dreamer also work for the supreme good1 by showing what it is like1 and pointing the way which men afterward go40 8,that is what ,i always thought10 said ,florence4 8,yes10 ,i answered1 8the philosopher is the teacher of teachers4 ,but ,i chose the artistic way of viewing life1 because it combines the philosophic and the scientific way1 the vision and the work40 ,virginia now said3 8,but sometimes men who work for completeness1 and whose motives are all good1 do harm1 anyway40 8,what do you mean80 8,jesus1 for instance10 she said4 8,he has done so much harm throughout the ages1 which he never meant to do40 8,it was not he who did the harm10 ,i answered2 8it was the people who misunderstood him and misused his words4 ,no great man ever does all that he sets out to do4 ,he cannot1 since his aim is no less than perfection40 8,i hate perfect people10 said ,virginia1 8or to think of any great man as perfect1 because it is so inhuman4 ,i read a book for children1 lately1 about ,jesus1 which made him out a perfect child4 ,it was full of contradictions1 for it said first that he was a wonder1 who walked1 talked and thought earlier than other children1 and then it said that he was human1 and understood all human weaknesses4 ,i think that to know men a man must have human weaknesses and imperfections40 8,yes10 ,i said2 8and ,i never thought of ,jesus as unhumanly perfect4 ,he1 too1 had his temptation and weakness to fight and overcome4 ,indeed1 only the petty man could be perfect40 8,but he would not be perfect10 said ,henry4 8,no10 ,i answered2 8but according to his standard1 he might think himself so4 ,the great man1 the ,jesus1 the ,lincoln1 could never be perfect1 for his perfection could only come with the completeness and beauty and goodness of the whole world4 ,you said of ,jesus that he did harm1 because the doctrine made from his words did harm4 ,but you must see that until all men are great men1 every man must suffer so4 ,take ,lincoln1 for instance4 ,if he had lived1 and kept control of the ,government1 surely the evils of the reconstruction period would have been avoided4 ,you might say1 then1 that ,lincoln did harm1 because his work led to all that wrong and unhappiness40 8,but it has all come right now10 said ,henry4 8,hardly10 ,i answered2 8it is not nearly right1 even to-day40 8,and ,i suppose10 ,virginia said1 8that finally the work of ,jesus and of every great man will come right40 8,and ,lincoln's work10 said ,florence1 8will come right sooner1 because it is not so large as the work of ,jesus40 ,now ,i said ,i wanted to go on to a subject which seemed to me especially interesting1 the question of the making of laws and regulations4 ,was it not a curious thing that men's minds1 outrunning their other powers1 should see clearly the great good for which they strove1 and should make regulations for themselves1 which they were even unable to keep8 ,henry and ,ruth did not think it at all curious that people should make regulations for themselves1 but it did seem strange that they were unable to keep them4 8,to me10 ,i said1 8it seems a wonderful thing that the sense of beauty and fitness should be so strong in the mind of man1 should so far outrun his impulses and his body1 that he creates for himself laws and regulations which he then tries to follow1 as one sets up a ladder which he afterward tries to climb4 ,of course1 we no longer believe in revelation1 in the old ,biblical sense1 but to us it means revelation from within4 ,we do not believe that ,god dictated his laws to ,moses1 but that ,moses created his laws from his own sense of love and beauty4 ,man made his own laws4 ,and his laws outrun him40 8,some people10 said ,ruth1 8make laws for the other people1 who are not up to them40 8,no10 ,henry said2 8isn't it really all the people making laws for themselves80 8,yes10 ,i answered1 8for finally it is the few making laws for all1 for themselves1 too4 ,it is humanity making laws for humanity4 ,every time a man does wrong and knows he is doing wrong1 he is breaking one of his self-made or self-chosen laws4 ,his mind outruns his powers4 ,when ,coleridge wanted to break himself of the opium-eating habit1 he used to hire men to stand in front of the drug-stores and prevent his going in4 ,he tried to overcome himself with himself40 8,i like ,coleridge10 said ,virginia4 8,i like people with weaknesses1 who try to overcome them40 ,i said ,i liked them1 too1 that there was no sight so stimulating as that of fights and conquests1 as seeing the very thing we longed for1 the opposition beaten1 the difficulties overcome4 8,but even the weak people who fail to win10 said ,virginia2 8,i like them1 too40 8,so do ,i10 ,i answered2 8the fight itself1 even the failure1 the human longing1 is worth while4 8,but ,i want you to see clearly one thing about all laws and regulations1 and that is that they are substitutes4 ,they are substitutes for understanding love1 or1 rather1 they are the forerunners of understanding love1 the path of beauty and fitness which the mind makes for itself before all our desires are strong and harmonious enough to fulfil the supreme desire4 ,laws are the framework on which the house of love shall be built4 ,but when the house is finished1 the framework shall no more be seen2 nor is it of value in itself1 but only as that which upholds the house4 ,i would like to talk with you of certain special laws of this kind4 ,and the first is justice40 8,i was just going to say that10 said ,ruth2 8it was on my lips40 8,i was thinking of it1 too10 said ,henry4 8,i am sorry10 ,i answered1 8that ,i did not give you the chance40 ,we talked of this subject1 and agreed that although justice1 the sense of equity1 was a great and necessary virtue and a serviceable tool1 it was but the tool of love1 and less than love1 and that if our understanding1 our sympathy and possession of life were complete1 we would no longer think of justice1 nor praise it2 that the rigid laws of justice1 which must oftentimes change1 were forever at the service of love1 which made changes and overcame laws4 8,some people are not so far advanced as others10 said ,virginia1 8and the others lift them up with laws4 ,some people are undeveloped1 like animals40 ,we could not help laughing at ,virginia1 with her eternal animals4 8,you remember10 ,i said1 8,i spoke to you of past virtues that were good in their time1 because the time was ripe only for them1 and that in their own setting interest and delight us1 and remain forever beautiful1 like old pictures1 but which would now be ugly1 bad and out-of-place4 ,revenge is an example4 ,how the old stories of revenge stir and even uplift us1 and yet how hateful is the idea of revenge in modern life6 ,you remember being thrilled and stirred by the heroism of some old duel1 whereas you could find no beauty or heroism in any duel at the present time40 8,i think10 said ,ruth1 8it is often the language in which the thing is put that stirs us40 8,it is the spirit of the time and place10 ,i said4 8,no language could make a duel in ,new ,york1 among educated people1 inspiring or heroic4 ,with war it is the same4 ,old wars and wars among savages may inspire us1 because of the heroism and comradeship of the fighters4 ,but among modern nations even the justified war must be somewhat disgusting1 because now far more heroism is required in other works1 and comradeship can mean no less than all mankind4 8,now10 said ,i1 8can any of you think of another virtue1 like justice1 which is a substitute for understanding love80 8,yes10 said ,florence2 8,i think that pity is40 8,pity80 ,i said4 8,yes--perhaps4 ,still1 that is somewhat different4 ,pity was good once1 because it was feeling1 and feeling is the root of all understanding and sympathy4 ,but self-torturing pity seems to me a weakness4 ,sympathy is quite a different1 a stronger1 a braver thing4 ,who agrees with me80 ,first1 they said1 would ,i explain exactly what ,i meant8 8,sympathy seems to me understanding and love1 such as you have for yourself4 ,you are willing to suffer1 since it is a part of life and a part of the way4 ,you want to suffer for the cause1 if necessary2 not otherwise4 ,but you don't pity yourself4 ,you would be ashamed to make so much of your pain4 ,so you do not pity others4 ,you love them1 you feel with them1 you help them bravely4 ,you can bear their pain without making a fuss over them1 as you would bear your own4 ,you consider them as strong and brave as yourself40 ,they all agreed with me1 save ,virginia4 ,she said3 8,if ,i step by accident on the foot of a little dog1 and he cries out1 then that hurts me4 ,and ,i think it is good1 because then ,i know how ,i would feel if ,i were a little dog1 and ,i try not to do it again4 ,isn't that pity80 8,perhaps10 ,i said2 8we are apt to pity lower creatures4 ,but there is no good in the mere feeling of physical pain that goes with such things1 of the pain and thrill up and down your spine when you hurt any creature accidentally1 and hear it cry out40 8,don't you think10 asked ,alfred1 8it is only because they cry out that we feel it80 8,maybe10 ,i said1 8for the cry makes us know of the pain4 ,at one time1 however1 a virtue was made of the mere suffering with others2 and ,i suppose in its good time this was necessary1 because it developed the feeling which makes sympathy possible40 8,i think it is good10 said ,virginia1 8for when my sister was ill1 ,i did not know how she felt1 or understood her1 and so ,i couldn't sympathize with her2 but later ,i understood1 and then ,i wished ,i had felt with her as she did4 ,it would have been better40 8,perhaps10 ,i said1 8for it would have taught you to feel4 ,to know how others feel is the best thing in the world4 ,but to let that feeling overcome and crush you1 to pity them1 is weakness4 ,i think it is a weakness we have all felt1 and longed to overcome1 when we suffered so much with others that we were unable to act40 8,yes1 indeed10 said ,ruth4 8,to be strong to help and strong to do1 not overcome with world-sorrow10 ,i said1 8to face suffering in ourselves and others as something to be overcome and used60 ,virginia spoke of a curious calmness in herself that made her not act excitedly when anything happened1 but always wait first to see the outcome4 8,if a child falls in the street10 she said1 8,i don't go rushing toward it as some people do1 but wait to see if it will pick itself up40 8,but if it fell out of a window10 said ,ruth1 8,i suppose you would rush forward40 8,no10 she answered1 8not unless it were necessary4 ,i would wait to see what happened4 ,when my hat blows off1 ,i never go rushing after it till ,i see where it is going to stop40 ,the juxtaposition of a falling child and a falling hat was disconcerting4 8,i know how ,virginia feels10 ,i said2 8it is the artist in her always looking on at all that happens4 ,it is a good way1 too4 ,now what other virtues are there1 like justice1 that are really substitutes for right feeling80 ,they could not think of the others4 ,so ,i mentioned honesty1 which is much like justice--even a form of it2 steered clear of a reef of arguments on truth-telling1 showed them how honesty would not even be mentioned where there was perfect love1 and went on to the next and most important1 namely1 duty4 ,they had not thought of it in this way before4 ,they all disliked the word duty4 ,i spoke again of the girl who stays home from the theatre with some one she does not love1 because she feels it to be her duty4 ,why does she do it8 8,because she chooses10 said ,alfred2 8she wants to do it most40 8,but why80 ,i asked4 8,she may think10 said ,ruth1 8that the other person would do the same for her40 8,but she may not think so10 ,i said1 8and still she would stay40 8,because10 said ,virginia1 8she would feel good afterward40 8,yes10 ,i said1 8in a sense it is that4 ,it would give her satisfaction40 8,i would do it10 said ,ruth1 8but ,i don't think ,i would feel any particular satisfaction afterward40 8,but10 ,i said1 8if you didn't do it1 you would feel dissatisfied with yourself4 ,and therein lies the explanation of duty4 ,duty is a substitute for love4 ,it is the substitute the mind imposes on us when our feelings will not fulfil the scheme of beauty and order which is our strongest desire4 ,to do your duty is to fulfil your strongest desire--lacking the great love4 ,love shall overcome duty4 ,duty means only debt4 ,it is limited1 small4 ,it is the ugly framework that love must make before it can build its beautiful dwelling-place4 ,the strong man always does his duty1 because he flinches at nothing that is on the path1 but more and more he loses duty in love40 ,virginia said3 8,i think it is fun sometimes to hate things1 such as hating to go to school40 8,why80 8,because to do a thing you hate to do makes you feel good sometimes4 ,i like it40 8,we have come to love the hard thing10 ,i said1 8because it is the growing thing4 ,we get to fancy that when we do something hard we must be getting ahead1 because generally it is true40 ,virginia said3 8,i like the poem by ,rebecca of ,sunnybrook ,farm3 #8,when joy and duty clash1 ,let duty go to smash4'0 8,i wish joy and duty were the same10 ,i said1 8and that is just what they are when love conquers4 ,you have to do your duty when love fails1 and so it often seems an unpleasant job40 ,i spoke now of promises1 and of how unnecessary they would be were it not for our failures in love4 ,then we went on to speak of obedience4 ,we said that where love was perfect one would not think of obedience or disobedience4 ,obedience is a substitute for understanding4 ,he who understands does not obey4 ,he acts4 ,we spoke of necessary obedience1 the substitute1 and then of the family where parents and children were so much at one that obedience was never mentioned4 8,a person out of such a home10 said ,virginia1 8would not have enough to struggle against4 ,i don't like people who are just perfect1 and have nothing to overcome40 8,we will never reach perfection10 they said2 and they all1 save ,henry1 agreed with me that the greatest joy in life was working for1 rather than achieving our desires4 8,but when we reach perfection10 he said1 8we won't wish for it any more40 ,i refused to argue that problematic point4 ,i said3 8,be sure the strong and good man will always find something still to fight and overcome40 ,we spoke now of how disobedience might be a virtue1 of the rebels in wars for freedom1 and the child who would refuse to obey his parents1 if they ordered him to do what he thought bad2 the thief's child1 for example4 ,i said3 8,the framework is for the house--not for itself--and if it doesn't suit the house1 it must be pulled down40 ,now we had an amusing talk on conventions1 in which ,henry objected to full-dress suits1 bouillon cups and polite lies4 ,but ,i showed them how good and necessary were conventions properly used1 since they saved us weighty discussions on trivial matters4 ,i said it was a good thing we didn't have to waste time and energy deciding what we would eat for breakfast each day4 8,but10 said ,henry1 8if some day ,i don't care to eat oatmeal for breakfast1 ,i don't want to feel obliged40 8,no10 ,i said2 8don't be a slave to convention40 ,i went on3 8,if all things were right1 then conformity would be good--though uninteresting--but in this growing world we need reformers who smash and reform things1 whenever conformity becomes deformity40 ,you notice that ,alfred spoke more at this meeting4 ,i had told him that if he did not help us along1 and show what he meant and thought1 he was not living up to our idea of completeness and work in unison4 ,,fourteenth ,,meeting ,i read ,henry's paper3 8,a good man will bring those with whom he comes in contact into harmonious relations with himself4 ,it is not enough to have a good heart4 ,many people are always meaning to do good1 but never do it4 ,it is the actions that count2 for we said3 #8,art 7good7 is self-expression and self-fulfilment4' 8,many things which we call virtues are only substitutes for love and sympathy1 which we are outgrowing4 ,the principal ones are justice1 honesty1 conformity1 obedience and pity4 8,men have not perfect sympathy1 but often do things at the expense of others4 ,therefore man1 realizing his weakness1 has made for himself a set of laws40 ,i objected to his use of the word 8pity0 along with the other substitutes4 ,we had another short talk on the subject4 ,virginia said3 8,i would rather commit suicide than be pitied40 8,then10 ,i answered1 8since we do not wish to be pitied1 we could not1 with perfect sympathy1 do so unto others40 ,virginia went on3 8,when a person who has some trouble or loss makes a great fuss over it1 ,i must say ,i don't think very well of him40 8,we expect people to bear life bravely10 ,i said1 8and to help them do it1 to do it altogether4 ,a man who is prevented from helping by his own pity is like a man who1 when he saw another blind1 put out his own eyes in sorrow1 instead of leading the blind40 ,i said ,i wanted to speak of a subject that seemed especially to interest ,virginia4 ,i meant patriotism1 but patriotism in a large and unusual sense4 ,what were their ideas on this subject8 ,virginia implied that patriotism was not good1 8because whenever you are patriotic for your own country1 you have to be patriotic against other countries4 ,you seem to be praising and helping your own at the expense of others40 8,that10 ,i said1 8is just the trouble with the false view of patriotism1 and that view has grown out of wars and conquests4 ,for1 naturally1 whenever people fought for their country1 they had to fight against another4 ,but ,i see patriotism--and any loyalty or faithfulness--in a larger relation4 ,think for a moment what the word patriotism really means1 in its verbal root1 and you will see how it grows1 how it begins at home1 and ends by including the world4 ,what does it mean80 ,henry remembered that it came from a word meaning 8,father40 8,yes10 ,i said1 8it meant1 originally1 loyalty to our fathers1 to our family2 and so you must see what it would finally mean40 8,because10 asked ,ruth1 8we are related to the whole world80 8,yes10 ,i answered1 8we are related to the whole world1 we are children of all the nations2 but most of all1 of course1 children of our fathers2 so that1 beginning at the centre1 we shall spread to all sides1 yet not lose the centre4 ,the definite thing1 the love for this land1 this home1 will come first1 and include all the others4 ,we will be patriotic for our ,father1 the world40 8,do you suppose10 asked ,marian1 8that an ,englishman could be patriotic for the ,united ,states80 8,yes10 ,i said1 8and ,i am glad you asked that1 for it gives me a chance to tell you what forms patriotism is beginning to take4 ,an ,englishman1 or ,american1 may be patriotic for ,anglo-,saxonism all the world over2 for the ,english language and literature everywhere2 he may dream of it as the world-language2 and then1 surely1 he is patriotic for these ,states1 as well as for ,england4 ,i am not going to preach patriotism to you4 ,i know you are all patriotic for this country1 for ,americanism1 for the idea of democracy which ,america upholds4 ,surely the schools1 from first to last1 dwell so much upon it that an ,american child can hardly help being patriotic40 ,i was surprised at the burst of answers4 ,marian said1 on the contrary1 the school with its continual1 boring insistence on patriotism1 almost made one hate it2 that no children liked to sing the patriotic songs4 ,ruth objected that singing patriotic songs was not patriotism4 ,alfred1 ,marian and ,ruth spoke of the boredom of patriotic holiday celebrations in school1 how the well-known men got up and1 as ,alfred put it1 8said the same thing each time40 ,marian said they had patriotism 8thrown at them in chunks40 ,florence added1 she thought we felt unpatriotic1 because we didn't want to be like those who expressed that kind of patriotism4 ,we concluded1 however1 that after all we were patriotic in spite of the schools1 and that ,america stood for something big1 definite1 wonderful4 ,i told them that if only they had been away from it more1 they would understand it better4 ,and they all admitted that ,america1 insulted with false criticism1 would arouse them like a personal insult4 ,the picture1 with its central1 definite object1 still suggests universal things4 ,so one must begin with loyalty to first things1 to family and ,state1 before one can be loyal to the universe4 ,i spoke of those ,french ,socialists whose patriotism for the whole world had carried them to the point of unpatriotism to ,france1 so that in a war they would wish to see their own country destroyed4 ,their loyalty to working-men the world over made them careless of the state at home4 8,only to working-men60 cried ,virginia4 8,but ,i think one need be just as loyal to the rich1 and that they are quite as much in need of reform and help40 8,i agree with you10 ,i answered4 ,ruth said she could understand those ,french ,socialists very well1 and to her it seemed that from their own point of view they might be right4 ,i answered3 8,from their own point of view1 of course4 ,and they do want final1 universal good2 but they don't see that to gain the large one must preserve the small1 that the universal must begin with the particular40 8,like some philosophers10 said ,henry4 ,we discussed the subject of war--all disbelieving in it--without coming to any definite conclusion as to what we would do under any particular circumstance4 ,virginia asked whether it would be wrong of a man1 if his country went to war1 to refuse to fight because he disbelieved in war4 ,henry said he thought it would be better to do as the fighting ,quakers did1 to fight1 so that the war might soon be ended4 ,ruth said if all people refused to fight1 war would end4 ,i agreed with her1 but said also3 8,if a man disbelieves in fighting1 still1 when he is struck1 he defends himself--that is1 if he has any spirit4 ,so ,i would expect a man1 no matter what his convictions1 to defend his country when it is threatened and attacked40 8,do you think10 they asked1 8that ,russians can be patriotic for ,russia80 8,yes10 ,i said1 8and that is a patriotism of which we have not yet spoken1 or perhaps thought4 ,it is the patriotism that seems unpatriotic4 ,the ,russian revolutionists are patriotic1 not for the ,russia of to-day1 but for the ,russia that will be1 for the ,russia they are going to build1 for the nation in their hearts4 ,often the most patriotic man is he who criticizes his country1 who fights against the present state of things1 who appears disloyal because his loyalty is large4 ,such were the colonists1 loyal to the union and independence40 ,i quoted that slogan at the time of the ,spanish-,american war3 8,my country1 right or wrong1 my country still40 ,they were indignant at such an appeal1 and agreed with me that blind loyalty was slavishness4 ,i told a story to illustrate what ,i meant4 ,suppose a family to be in grave debt1 but careless about paying1 and unwilling to make sacrifices4 ,one member1 with the family honor at heart1 insists on these sacrifices and hardships for all1 until the debts are paid4 ,his brothers and sisters may accuse him of unkindness and disloyalty1 but he will be the truly loyal one4 ,now1 ,i asked1 what was the next law in art8 ,henry brought out his paper and read3 8,must leave out the unimportant40 8,yes10 ,i said1 8and the next one reads3 ,must have variety and many-sidedness4 ,do you understand at all how these apply to life80 8,you don't mean10 asked ,marian1 8that we are never to do anything unimportant1 that we are always to be thinking about it80 8,no10 ,i answered1 8certainly not4 ,but ,i mean that we are to have a definite aim in life1 that we are to know what we want most of all4 ,then we can avoid everything which interferes with this aim4 ,we are to choose the sort of life that will help us to be what we wish to be1 that will make us whole and harmonious40 8,i don't know what ,i want to be10 said ,marian4 8,i don't think one need have a definite conscious aim40 8,you do not quite understand me1 ,marian10 ,i answered4 8,you need not choose now what your profession will be1 or what definite thing you want most4 ,very few people as young as you have done that40 ,marian said3 8,florence has40 8,florence80 ,i asked4 8,she said she loved most to be loved40 8,we all do10 said ,henry2 8to be loved1 and to love others40 8,i would like10 said ,florence1 8to dance as well as my dancing teacher40 ,i expressed grave doubts as to the permanence of this ambition4 8,but10 ,i said1 8what ,i mean1 ,marian1 is that you want to be a certain kind of person1 that you must have an idea of yourself which1 even unconsciously1 you try to attain2 and it is this ideal1 this vision of the self you wish to be1 and mean to be1 that should color and shape your life1 as an artist's idea of his central figure and meaning controls his whole execution40 8,i'm sure ,i don't think of it all the time10 she said2 8,i like just to live along1 and dream1 and be what ,i happen to be40 8,now1 ,marian10 ,i answered1 8you are saying what you think is true4 ,but ,i will show you that it is not4 ,you live for your desired self1 even unconsciously4 ,do you not remember doing or leaving undone certain little things which your ideal of yourself wanted otherwise1 and then reproaching yourself for days for this small lapse into selfishness or unkindness80 ,they had all had this annoying experience1 as well as ,i myself4 ,marian told how1 when she was quite a small girl1 something had happened that she had never forgotten4 ,a little beggar-girl1 with only rubbers over her stockings1 came to the door and asked ,marian for old clothes4 ,marian had been reading stories1 and was longing to act them4 ,but her mother was out1 and she had not the courage to do anything2 so she turned the child away with a mumbled excuse about her mother's not being at home4 ,and she had never forgiven herself4 ,marian saw that what ,i meant by a definite aim in life was1 after all1 indefinite enough to suit her4 ,virginia said3 8,when ,i want to do some kind or good thing which it is hard to do1 because ,i lack courage1 ,i make up my mind that ,i will do it anyway1 without thinking2 ,i walk right in1 and then the rest is always easy and pleasant40 8,in other words10 ,i answered1 8you manage yourself4 ,i do believe it is good to know what you want to be1 and how you want to be it1 and then to avoid strenuously everything that interferes40 ,we spoke of wasted and worthless conversation with 8outsiders10 and ,i warned them all against boring people1 or allowing themselves to be bored4 ,it is better not to talk at all4 ,virginia said she always made people amuse her1 which seemed to us a good way4 ,i suggested getting people to tell of themselves1 since all human nature is interesting4 ,but ,ruth objected that people who did it were the worst bores1 and only conceited people would do it4 8,at any rate10 ,i said1 8please don't get into the habit of making flat conversation1 for then you yourselves will degenerate into bores40 ,and we decided that merriment would cover many ills4 ,we spoke of the worth of knowledge4 ,the boys and girls have to study subjects unprofitable to them1 for the sake of passing certain examinations4 ,this1 of course1 is a definite sacrifice for a definite reason4 ,but it is necessary1 in all studying1 to choose some subjects and to sacrifice others4 ,i said ,i would very much like to know everything4 8,yes10 ,henry answered1 8,i always wish ,i might know everything there is to know40 8,but1 of course1 we can't10 ,i said1 8and so we have to choose first that knowledge which we need1 which will make our life as we wish it to be40 ,alfred told us how he had chosen to study ,french and ,german instead of ,latin1 because they seemed more necessary to him1 though he would like to know them all4 8,and10 ,i said1 8the thing you love you shall seek with your might4 ,you must definitely want to be a certain sort of a person in life1 else you may be no sort of person4 ,have you noticed how some people1 who were quite charming in youth1 #8peter out' when they grow older1 how they lose all interest in things1 and become dull8 ,to me that seems unnecessary4 ,age may be just as full1 interesting and active as youth1 to those whose life has a definite aim and meaning40 ,henry said3 8,yes1 ,i wish to live long4 ,i have heard people say they would not like to be old1 and to be a burden to others40 8,but you10 ,i answered1 8mean to live long and not be a burden to others40 8,yes10 he said4 8,you must concentrate10 ,i went on2 8you must get out of life only what you need and want40 ,florence said she couldn't concentrate in her studies1 except when she loved them4 ,naturally1 ,i answered1 it was strong love that made us concentrate4 ,virginia said3 8,i used to study1 only instead of studying ,i looked out of the window40 8,but now1 at your art10 ,i answered1 8you work with concentration1 because you love it40 ,henry remarked that perhaps1 when she was looking out of the window1 she studied the landscapes4 ,at this point ,marian1 hearing voices in the next room1 whispered to ,ruth whether she knew who was there4 8,strange10 ,i said4 8,until you spoke of it1 ,i did not notice any voices4 ,do you love this club8 ,well1 ,i do1 too2 and when ,i am here1 no matter what happened before1 or will happen afterward1 or may be happening now1 ,i think of nothing but what we are doing1 ,i forget everything else4 ,do you remember the difference between the painting and the photograph8 ,the photographic plate takes every detail1 unimportant and meaningless2 the picture contains only that which makes it complete and beautiful4 ,let your life be a picture1 not a photograph4 ,do not let your life be a sensitive plate that cannot defend itself against any impression4 ,let it be an artist's work1 chosen1 complete1 beautiful4 ,leave out what does not concern you4 8,now1 what is it10 ,i asked1 8which all of us do love best1 and which includes all our lesser loves80 ,henry answered3 8,you mean complete sympathy and understanding40 8,yes10 ,i went on1 8and all our lives are different1 definite expressions of that desire40 ,we spoke a few words of those people who mistake the means for the end1 who make an end of business1 athletics1 or even study1 so that they forget these are only a means to the end1 and destroy or waste their own powers in some pettiness4 8,each life10 ,i said1 8must be a different1 definite expression of the longing for unity40 8,definite80 asked ,marian again4 8,if ,i were always to be thinking what sort of person ,i meant to be1 ,i would be dreadfully self-conscious40 8,no10 ,i said1 8you would not think it1 you would live it4 ,desire is a habit4 ,self-consciousness of the stilted sort attempts to realize what sort of person you appear or are1 and then to act your part4 ,then you usually fail1 and you are usually wrong in your estimate4 ,but know what you long to be2 and then be it1 because of your strong desire4 ,it is not necessary to have chosen your life-work now1 but you will choose it some day1 and meanwhile you want to be ready and open for it4 ,you and ,alfred have not yet chosen1 nor need choose4 ,but the others believe they have chosen4 ,and there is no reason why each one should not do just what he sets out to do4 ,each life and each moment of each life is tremendously important4 ,each man is as great as he loves to be4 ,the difference between the great genius and the common1 scattered man1 is the difference in desire4 ,great desire makes great deeds4 ,it is not so much capacity1 so called1 as the desire1 the concentration and the belief that you can40 8,self-confidence10 they said4 8,yes1 surely4 ,when a man has his call1 when he feels that he must do a thing1 then he can4 ,did you ever think of the word #8calling1' what a tremendous thing it means80 8,vocation10 said ,ruth4 8,yes10 ,i said1 8your vocation4 ,some of us have our call early1 and some late1 but we can always follow it to the end with love and courage4 ,i believe that each one of you is going to do great things4 ,i want you to believe that you are going to be great1 for then you will40 ,henry said3 8,i mean to be a great man4 ,i know ,i can1 if ,i work for it4 ,when some one found fault with me for criticizing ,lincoln1 because ,i was nobody1 ,i answered that ,i meant to be greater than ,lincoln4 ,and ,i do40 8,and you shall4 ,and ,i believe that ,virginia will be as great an artist as she means to be4 ,and ,i believe that if ,florence persists1 she shall dance better than ,isadora ,duncan1 and make of dancing a great and noble art40 8,it is so10 said ,marian and ,ruth4 8,it is an expression of the highest art40 8,surely it is10 ,i said4 8,and ,i believe that ,ruth will reform the whole kindergarten system1 and give us new and finer ideas on education40 8,i will10 said ,ruth4 8,i believe it and know it1 too10 said ,marian2 8she had her call early4 ,she has always been teaching little children40 8,ambition is good10 ,i said2 8it is best4 ,he who desires great things will do greatly4 ,genius is desire4 ,and great genius is most desire4 8,each one10 ,i said1 8will then be a person with a meaning1 but for all that a large1 many-sided person4 ,do you understand1 ,marian8 ,in a picture there is light and shade1 and contrast makes completeness4 ,so in life1 rest and work and play1 merriment and seriousness1 study and exercise1 and all the many different things that make up life are needed to make it whole4 ,i believe in concentration1 in variety40 8,what do you mean10 asked ,florence1 8by concentration in variety80 8,i mean10 ,i said1 8that we will make every activity in life the sort we need1 that our pleasures will suit our studies4 ,our taste and liking in every kind of thing will harmonize4 ,we will like only good nonsense4 ,even our recreation must have a certain character1 and satisfy our taste4 ,each person stands for a definite vision of life40 ,virginia said3 8,at the academy show last year1 you remember that picture by ,pischoto of an ,italian garden1 with a fountain8 ,it was calm1 the water poured down softly1 all was still4 ,at the ,spanish exhibition1 ,i saw a picture by ,sorolla of the same spot2 but it was jubilant1 the water leaped1 the sun sparkled1 everything was gay4 ,it was the difference in temperament that made the same spot unlike40 8,yes10 ,i said2 8,i am glad you told us that4 ,for ,i believe each person must be a rhythm in life1 must stand for himself1 and be a force and a measure of life to those about him40 ,we spoke a few words more1 to make this clear2 and then ,i read to them two slips from the ,ruskin calendar1 which ,ruth had brought3 8,all that is highest in ,art1 all that is creative and imaginative is formed and created by every artist for himself1 and cannot be repeated or imitated by others40 8,remember that it is of the very highest importance that you should know what you are1 and determine to be the best that you may be40 ,next meeting will be ,ruth's meeting on ,christian ,science4 ,,fifteenth ,,meeting ,we had our meeting on ,christian ,science4 ,i wish to record it in so far only as it related to our planned work1 as ,i think neither ,ruth's exposition nor our answers were original or enlightening4 ,i had given her a list of topics4 ,the first was the idea of ,god4 ,in this we found we agreed1 and it gave occasion for much reviewing4 ,ruth had translated all her ideas from the vocabulary of ,christian ,science to that of our club1 and this helped her to shape her thoughts4 ,we spoke at some length of the personal and universal self4 ,they called it 8two selves10 and ,i answered them that it was only one1 the one including the other4 ,with the subject and matter and spirit we had some trouble4 ,they all understood what ,i said1 but failed--,i1 too--to understand ,ruth2 and we are not sure now whether she and ,i agree4 ,marian said3 8,scientists speak of #8dead matter1' of all matter as dead4 ,is that so80 ,i repeated my ideas on spirit and matter--all form is an expression of spirit--and also insisted on the limitations of our knowledge4 ,i said3 8,matter seems never to be dead1 because when one force takes leave of it1 another comes into possession1 and decay is always the beginning of new life40 ,marian answered3 8,you mean the particles in this table are held together by a force80 8,surely40 8,what is it8 ,does it feel80 ,again ,i pleaded ignorance4 ,we spoke of form as the eternal changing expression of spirit1 of time as merely the measure and rhythm of progress or change4 ,so ,ruth found me willing to grant that all bad was a condition1 not an unalterable thing1 and that time was only a convention4 ,concerning immortality ,ruth believed all ,i do1 and more besides4 ,alfred now agrees with me4 ,he1 too1 feels that in some way he must continue to be4 ,of the individual--or soul--,ruth thought as ,i4 ,we also agreed on moral good and bad1 and on the use and manner of prayer4 ,marian asked me3 8,why1 if mind force forms body1 can we not make our bodies perfect at once80 ,i answered her that mind force had formed our bodies in the past1 as they were now1 and that our present1 mental force was making future physical conditions2 that all things went slowly1 and the results of the past were inevitable4 ,i spoke of the influence mind and action had on the body1 on circulation1 for instance4 ,i said again that physical perfection could not be the aim1 but only one of the conditions of progress4 ,on the subject of disease and cure ,ruth and ,i disagreed entirely4 ,but this we both held to be not tremendously important4 ,i do not care here to record the arguments--not in the least bitter or heated--which we gladly left in air4 ,none of us was in the least convinced by ,ruth1 and we were frank--she1 as well as we--in our expressions of opinion4 ,so we found ,ruth was with us in all that mattered1 and had been candidly with us all the while4 ,the children said the club had not changed their views1 but enlarged and ordered them4 ,i read aloud the ,christian ,science prayer ,ruth had brought some weeks ago3 ,,my ,,prayer 8,to be ever conscious of my unity with ,god1 to listen for his voice1 and hear no other call4 ,to separate all error from my thought of man1 and see him only as my father's image1 to show him reverence and share with him my holiest treasures4 8,to keep my mental home a sacred place1 golden with gratitude1 redolent with love1 white with purity1 cleansed from the flesh4 8,to send no thought into the world that will not bless1 or cheer1 or purify1 or heal4 8,to have no aim but to make earth a fairer1 holier place1 and to rise each day into a higher sense of ,life and ,love40 ,we liked all of it1 save the words 8cleansed from the flesh40 ,ruth explained that this meant cleansed from the idea of evil in the flesh4 8,then10 ,i answered1 8the author should have said1 though it is less poetical1 #8cleansed from the prejudice against the flesh4' ,i would agree with that40 ,virginia again suggested the subject of animal consciousness1 by telling ,mark ,twain's story of the cat and the ,christian ,scientist4 ,ruth said that just now she was studying this subject4 ,florence asked3 8,do you believe jelly-fish are conscious80 ,i reminded them of ,cope's theory of consciousness and desire as the cause of life1 and of the higher consciousness swamping the lower4 ,they remembered it1 and were interested4 ,virginia said3 8,it is like the stars1 which are always there1 but cannot be seen when the sun shines40 8,yes10 ,i answered1 8the light of our larger consciousness hides those lesser feelings40 ,we spoke of other religions and creeds1 and ,henry used the term--referring to ,unitarianism--8a mild form of ,christianity40 ,marian asked me whether mine was an absolute belief in an absolute truth4 8,because10 she said1 8,i don't believe any one can find the absolute truth40 8,you must see10 ,i answered1 8that ,i believe in a growing truth4 ,why else had we called ourselves ,seekers8 ,and ,i believe we will be seekers all our lives4 ,all ,i have given you is a direction40 8,i am not sure10 answered she1 8that ,i want just one direction40 8,he who would go in all directions at once1 must stand still10 ,i replied4 8,perhaps ,i must10 she said4 8,i believe only one thing absolutely1 and that is that ,i am immortal4 ,and ,i don't think ,i believe that just because ,i like to40 ,still1 when ,i questioned her on the whole self1 and progress toward sympathy as the good1 she fully agreed4 ,she is afraid of accepting too much4 ,this is a large truth1 different for each one1 able to include all1 growing1 forever changing1 and forever the same1 like life itself4 ,i said3 8,we will always be ,seekers together40 ,i now read ,henry's paper3 8,we spent a few minutes in speaking of ,patriotism4 ,patriotism is loyalty to our fathers1 and from this it comes to be loyalty toward our country1 and then to the whole world4 ,no one should be patriotic to the extent of #8,my country right or wrong1' nor should any one be so patriotic in the cause of humanity as a whole as to forget his duty to his country and his home4 ,the patriotic man is not always the right man1 but the man with #8,firmness in the right as ,god gives him to see right4' 8,many people spoil their lives1 and even those of others1 by putting unimportant things on a level1 or perhaps higher than the really important questions of their life4 ,there are women who try to teach or do settlement work because they think it a duty1 even though they have no taste or ability in those lines1 and their right place is in their own homes4 ,the farmer who comes to the city and tries to be a business man1 will not1 as a rule1 succeed4 ,every man has some work at which he is best1 and he should find out what his calling is1 and then give his best efforts to that4 8,to represent light in a picture1 we must have shadows1 and without variation life would be dull4 ,hobbies are very good2 and if a business man delights in visiting picture galleries1 or baseball games1 he will be better off if he gratifies these hobbies40 ,henry's paper aroused some comment4 ,they criticized ,henry for saying one should not be 8so patriotic in the cause of humanity as a whole as to forget his duty to his country40 ,they said patriotism for humanity must be patriotism for one's own land4 ,we agreed that his error was one of words rather than of meaning4 ,the girls teased him about his opinion on woman's whole duty1 and accused him1 truly1 it seems1 of being opposed to woman's suffrage4 ,i said ,i wished it were not out of our present plan to argue all those questions1 but we would not discuss definite social or political problems at all1 since the girls and boys had neither the experience nor the judgment to profit by them now4 8,do you mean10 asked ,marian1 8whether the very rich man ought to keep his money1 or throw it out on the street to everybody80 8,yes--if you wish to put it that way40 8,i am certain10 said ,florence1 8no one could change my views on social questions40 8,no10 ,i answered1 8probably not4 ,but no doubt you will often change them for yourself40 8,very likely10 she said4 ,i now read ,marian's paper3 8,our discussion last week at the club was on various subjects4 ,the first was patriotism4 ,we should be patriotic for our own country and the whole world4 ,if we are rightly patriotic for our own country1 we will be so for the whole world4 ,it is not patriotism to say ,i am for the whole world1 but not for my own country4 ,this would be very inconsistent4 ,patriotism does not consist of saying your own country is always right1 and that another is wrong because it is not your own4 ,we also discussed the question of choosing professions1 and agreed that we should always choose what we like1 whether it is conventional or not4 ,it is better to be a good dancer than a poor teacher4 ,in doing work for others1 we ought not to choose settlement work because our friends are doing it1 or because we or some one else thinks we ought to4 ,if it is work that appeals to us1 we should do it2 but1 if not1 we might go among the young people of our own circle1 and help them4 ,another thing we spoke of was boring and being bored4 ,never bore any one or allow them to bore you4 ,if you don't know anything to say worth while saying1 keep still4 ,if some one else bores you1 look at them from some standpoint such that1 if they don't interest you1 at least they make you laugh at them4 ,if possible1 don't frequent the society of people that bore you40 ,they asked1 had ,i not said it was wrong to laugh 8at0 people4 ,yes1 ,i answered1 malicious laughter was bad1 as malicious criticism was bad1 but there was a kindly laughter1 that laughed with people1 and smiled at their superficial weaknesses in a loving way openly1 as we smile at our own4 ,in this way we often laughed at1 and with1 the people we loved most4 ,but1 ,i said1 let us never forget or disrespect the self1 the growing1 wonderful self in every creature1 especially in every human being4 ,now ,virginia and ,marian have their troubles4 ,they do dislike certain people1 and they like talking about them4 ,virginia said a fool was a fool1 and continued to be a fool1 even if you thought of him as a developing self4 ,marian objected that though she agreed with me1 she couldn't live up to it4 ,i said3 8,i am not going to tell you what to do1 or preach you a sermon4 ,only ,i want you to see the thing in a true light4 ,i find it impossible to sympathize with some people1 and ,i cannot help disliking those who have done harm to any one ,i love4 ,but ,i look upon it as a weakness and limitation of myself1 which ,i mean to overcome4 ,remember that every self you fail to understand is a limitation of yourself4 ,every judgment you make of another is a judgment of yourself4 ,i wish one could say1 not3 #8,i hate that person1' but #8,i am one who hates that person'2 the hate being a quality of your own1 and reflecting only upon yourself40 8,i have said of people10 said ,virginia1 8that ,i did not see how they could have any friends40 8,but they did have friends10 ,i answered1 8and the limitation was in your power of seeing4 ,when you speak ill of a person1 you are defining yourself40 8,it would be much pleasanter10 said ,virginia1 8to think it was a definition of the other person40 8,no doubt10 ,i answered2 8do as you please1 but remember what you are doing4 ,realize your limitation as such1 at least40 ,marian said3 8,i would like to be able to think of myself as perfect40 8,at once1 ,marian1 dear8 ,then make a little set of rules for yourself1 and follow them1 like the petty moralists1 and be perfect4 ,but we1 of the growing truth1 cannot reach perfection4 ,at least1 we want to know what is good1 and strive for it4 ,i can tell you more than ,i can do1 because ,i see ahead4 ,let us remember that with our judgments and sympathies we are measuring ourselves40 ,,sixteenth ,,meeting ,i read ,henry's paper1 which expressed his point of view3 8,this meeting was spent in talking of ,christian ,science4 ,we agree that we are seekers for a great truth and complete harmony1 which we call ,god4 ,we also agree in believing in immortality1 though we do not know what our existence will be like after that of our present state4 8,the difference seemed to lie in our idea of matter1 and1 as the belief in this is closely connected with the idea of cure1 we did not agree on the latter subject4 8,i believe that matter is the creation of spirit2 and science tells us that no matter ever ceases to exist1 though it may change its form4 ,as ,i understand it1 the ,christian ,scientist says that what we call matter is not permanent1 and therefore does not exist at all4 ,but when he says it is not permanent1 ,i think he only considers it as a definite shape1 such as a house or a table1 and he overlooks its different forms4 8,if the ,christian ,scientist's idea of matter were correct1 his idea of cure would also be correct4 ,i think he says3 #8,there is no matter1 and therefore1 there can be no material suffering4 ,consequently1 all pain and sickness are spiritual conditions4' ,to all those who believe in matter as a real and permanent thing1 this idea is impossible40 ,i said3 8,i must insist on my ignorance on this subject4 ,matter to me seems permanent1 a something that constantly changes form1 unknowable except in form2 thus form always seems to me the expression of an idea1 that is1 of the spirit4 ,i know matter only through spirit or consciousness40 ,they all agreed4 ,now1 ,i said1 we would go on to the next law in art1 and see what its application might be4 ,did they like1 ,i asked1 to take up each law of art in turn1 and see what was its relation to life8 8,yes10 ,henry said1 8and doing so makes the laws in art much clearer to me4 ,when you tell me their application to life1 it helps me to understand their meaning in pictures40 8,that10 said ,i1 8depends upon your temperament4 ,another might find just the opposite to be true1 that knowledge of the laws of art made them clearer in life40 8,yes10 said ,virginia1 8,i do40 8,the next law10 ,i said1 8is3 #8,art must not be partisan4'0 8,it seems to me10 said ,marian1 8the application of that to life is quite clear already40 8,why1 how would you explain it80 ,evidently one must take sides in life4 ,how1 then1 not be partisan8 ,virginia said3 8,everything has two sides40 8,yes10 ,i answered1 8and the question is how to use them both1 how to be for1 and yet not against4 ,every work of art is for something2 it stands for beauty1 order1 completeness4 ,but it is against nothing4 ,the moment it stands against something1 it is not art4 ,lincoln's life shows so well what ,i mean4 ,i wonder whether you will understand how80 ,but they did not4 ,henry said it was because he stood for the ,union1 but not against slavery1 and looked upon emancipation as only a side issue1 to be used for the sake of the ,union4 ,the others said still more uncomprehending things1 and so forced me to tell them what ,i meant4 ,i said ,lincoln stood for a cause1 for an idea1 and not against any man4 ,he wanted to win all to his side1 to make his side the whole1 the ,union4 ,be for a cause1 for a purpose1 mean something1 and strive for its fulfilment2 but do not be against persons1 against parties4 ,after all1 men can be won only if you are also for them1 as ,lincoln was also for the ,southerners4 ,he was willing to work with his political enemies for the ,union1 since he felt no enmity to men4 8,no10 said ,henry1 8for his ,secretary of ,state1 ,stanley1 was his political enemy40 ,the ,red ,cross nurses are not less at one with the purpose of their country1 though they nurse and tend with equal kindness the wounded foe4 8,then10 ,virginia went on1 8,dickens is not a great artist in those parts of his books where he becomes bitter1 and hates the characters of whom he writes80 8,no10 ,i answered1 8surely not40 8,one feels that writer to be much greater10 she said1 8who sympathizes with and understands and loves even his worst characters4 ,and ,i think ,dickens has not a good influence in those books where he arouses hatred of people1 and does not help the feeling of sympathy40 ,we spoke of political reforms--they are quite unformed and uninstructed in social thought--and then went on to school factions4 ,was it not true that they admired most the boy or girl who worked for a cause1 without bitterness against any person8 ,they spoke of class presidents and school parties1 and discussed the thing among themselves4 ,ruth said that the best class president was always the one who had most enemies1 for some girls liking her so much1 many others were sure to dislike her4 ,i answered3 8,the person who stands for a purpose will have many against him1 and he will not care4 ,but he will not be against them4 ,and in the end he will win1 as ,lincoln has won the ,southerners4 ,they may still be bitter against the ,north1 but they join the ,northerners in honoring ,lincoln1 the man1 for they know he worked for them4 8,you may have noticed that so far we have spoken of self-development and personal growth2 and to you1 at present1 that is the most important thing4 ,but ,i want to speak a few words of sympathy with those we do not know1 of our relations with the world of all men40 ,i said they had too little experience to form definite ideas on that tremendous1 complicated thing called society4 ,i wanted to give them only a few of my ideas that might come back to them later1 when they understood more4 ,i said3 8,i want you to think of society as a big self1 as the rest of yourself1 as one vast whole1 in which each man in so many mysterious ways affects each other man1 that none can be right until all are right4 ,have you ever thought of the relations of people with other people whom they never know1 of all the things that are done for us by strangers80 8,yes10 said ,florence1 8,i have thought of it1 for we once spoke of it in another class40 8,consider it10 ,i went on1 8this table at which we sit1 the clothes we wear1 the food we eat1 everything1 everything that we use1 is made for us by so many hands1 all related to us and all affected by our need and use of them4 ,have you ever thought what the word ,democracy means80 ,yes1 they answered1 they knew4 ,henry said it meant all people should have their rights4 ,i said it meant even more4 ,did they remember the three old catchwords of ,democracy3 ,equality1 ,fraternity---- 8,and ,liberty10 said ,ruth4 8,yes1 and ,liberty4 ,but ,i do not believe that all people are equal40 8,no10 said ,virginia1 8,i am quite sure they are not40 ,i went on3 8,democracy stands for this1 that they all have the right to be equal4 ,we must grant this1 not for any altruistic reason1 but because we need and want them all1 because we want to miss nothing4 ,we want each one to have the right and the chance to develop to be the best he may be1 because that1 too1 will be best for us4 ,and we feel that every living being is capable of immense development4 ,for there is one thing in us all that is equal2 whether it be big or little1 it is the same in us all1 and that is self4 ,i feel reverence and wonder for self4 ,every baby seems marvellous to me for this reason2 he is a new self4 ,and whenever ,i stop to think1 when ,i am with strangers1 and with people1 no matter how uninteresting1 ,i have the strong feeling of kinship and mystery4 ,do you ever feel so80 8,sometimes10 said ,virginia4 8,i feel that way in snatches40 8,i never think about it10 said ,marian1 8but sometimes the feeling comes40 ,florence said3 8,i feel that way with things more than with people40 8,what do you mean80 8,i mean1 for instance1 with the ocean or mountains40 8,but10 ,i said1 8there you cannot know4 ,with people it is so real and close40 ,the trouble is1 they cannot feel so with those they dislike or wish to criticize2 and this subject comes up again and again1 with amusing variations4 ,virginia takes dislikes to faces2 ,florence cannot 8stand0 some people whom she greatly admires2 ,marian will not be deprived of the pleasure of 8knocking0 one particular girl4 ,from what ,i gather1 their gossip is not of the malicious sort1 and this over-criticism and sensitiveness is1 as ,i told them1 a weakness and limitation of youth4 ,they have not yet learned to use the good of people for their own good4 ,for people in the street1 however1 they often have intense sympathy2 and kindness for the stranger4 ,marian spoke again of the apartment houses behind her school1 with their hundreds of windows4 8,you would like to tear their walls away1 wouldn't you10 asked ,ruth1 8to see what is going on80 8,i don't know10 said ,marian1 8but ,i can't help thinking of all those different lives in there40 ,virginia said whenever her mother saw strangers who looked as if they liked her1 she spoke to them4 8,that10 ,i answered1 8can seldom be done1 except with children2 because1 you see1 the world is not as we wish it1 though it might be better were it so2 and since the other person may not understand1 we dare not try to understand him4 ,often on a sunny1 happy morning1 when ,i get into a car1 ,i feel like greeting the motorman1 and every person ,i meet4 ,but how can ,i8 ,they would misunderstand40 8,perhaps10 said ,virginia1 8that is the motive of the fresh young men who sometimes try to speak to you on the street40 8,there's just the trouble10 ,i answered1 8that it isn't their motive1 and so it cannot be ours40 ,ruth told us how at the ,christian ,science church that morning she had left something undone which she regretted4 ,she said3 8,there was a young man who did not seem to know any one1 and he looked lonesome and uncomfortable4 ,i felt as if ,i ought to go up to him and make him welcome1 but ,i had not the courage40 8,and ,i think you were right10 ,i answered her1 8for he might not have understood your motive4 ,and yet again he might4 ,it is hard to tell4 ,i am sorry to say we have often to wrong people in this matter40 ,i spoke of the sufferings and the wrongs of society1 and of how we must realize that these are our sufferings and our wrongs4 8,yes10 said ,marian1 8but what can we do8 ,we can't do anything40 8,there is very little we can do1 except to be on the right side1 and therefore ready to do4 ,i want to have you see the thing as it is1 to be conscious of the whole1 as your whole self1 so that you will act according to that knowledge40 8,don't you think10 asked ,marian1 8that a great many people act the same way1 without knowing why they do it80 8,yes10 ,i answered1 8or else they are only half conscious1 or think they have some other motive4 ,but ,i believe in being fully conscious1 and doing things with freedom and from conviction40 8,i don't believe10 said ,marian1 8that while ,i act ,i think of why ,i am acting40 8,no10 ,i answered1 8,i am quite certain that you do not1 and that you never will4 ,no man thinks while he acts4 ,the thinking is done long before4 ,and then the action comes of itself4 ,if you always think and feel a certain way1 the good1 true way1 you need not trouble over your actions4 ,they will be right4 ,do you suppose the man who gives up his life to save another thinks of what he is doing1 and why8 ,he is doing what he must4 ,but all his life long he has been thinking in such a way1 and living in such a way1 that no other action would be possible40 ,i said again the quotation from ,st4 ,augustine3 8#8,love ,god1 and do as you please1' for if you love the good1 wholly1 you can do only the good4 8,remember10 ,i said1 8that if the contagiously sick are not cared for1 we shall all be ill2 and1 just so1 starvation1 poverty1 sin1 hurt each one of us1 wherever they be1 and must be cured for our own sake4 ,let us get over the self-righteous1 sentimentally virtuous feeling which ,i fear charity has given many people4 ,for that reason ,i have always disliked the word #8charity4'0 8,yes10 said ,ruth1 8so have ,i40 8,but the virtuous feeling is very pleasant10 ,virginia said4 8,hardly10 ,i answered1 8so sane and sound as the pleasant feeling of helping ourselves1 all together40 8,the word #8charity1'0 said ,marian1 8comes from a ,greek word meaning gratitude1 the word #8charis4'0 8,i had always thought of it10 ,i said1 8as coming from the ,latin #8carus1' meaning love4 ,but that is interesting4 ,for gratitude is always a debt paid4 ,and so1 ,i fear1 all our charity is a debt partly and never wholly paid4 ,the most that a man can give1 being able to give1 still leaves him more than his share4 ,and that is why ,i seldom have the joy untainted1 of which ,virginia speaks40 ,virginia said it made her glad to see people happy because of her4 ,she said3 8,once three of us gave a little boy a ten-cent plaything1 and it made him so happy we felt as though we had done something fine40 ,ruth agreed with me that it was impossible to overcome a feeling of personal guilt at the sight of misery4 8,you see10 ,i went on1 8that for the rich poverty is as bad as for the poor4 ,drunkenness and misery ask their price of the rich man40 8,yes10 said ,virginia1 8for to see poor and drunken people bothers the rich man40 8,she is quite right10 ,i said2 8poverty does and must bother the rich man1 and that is just why he must get rid of it4 ,wells1 the socialist1 once said he dared not let any man be sick or poor or miserable1 and bring up sick1 poor1 miserable children1 for he could not tell what man's grandchild would one day marry his grandchild40 8,that is an interesting way of looking at it10 said ,marian4 8,i never thought of that40 8,so you see10 ,i went on1 8we can no more praise ourselves for helping to better the world than we can praise people--except for their good sense and wisdom--when they put up hospitals for contagious diseases1 and separate those who suffer from them4 ,did you ever think of it1 that to take care of the weak strengthens the strong8 ,the man who cares for two gets the strength of two40 ,florence asked3 8,what if there were no weak80 ,a good question1 but an unanswerable one1 from lack of experience4 8,it is good10 ,i went on1 8to use our powers1 to strengthen them2 and we can use them only through others4 ,i have heard people say it is foolish for the strong to spend themselves on the weak4 ,to me that seems untrue40 8,yes10 said ,virginia1 8what is their strength for1 if not to use it60 8,sparta10 ,i said1 8has left no trace but her history1 because she cared only for physical strength1 and wasted the strength and power that are in weakness40 8,i wish she had not left her history10 they said1 thinking of the hard names4 8,everything leaves history10 sighed ,marian4 8,we can use all men10 ,i went on1 8and every man does something for us that we cannot do for ourselves4 ,the world is like a vast body1 in which hand and head do each its part2 and the head shall not despise the hand40 8,i don't like to think of it in that way10 said ,ruth1 8to think of different people as different parts of the body1 for some would have to be way down at the foot40 8,oh1 ,ruth10 ,i answered1 8,i believe you are despising the foot6 ,that is because you don't think well enough of the body4 ,but ,florence knows better4 ,she probably thinks her feet the most important part of all4 ,when ,i spoke of the body1 ,i meant that each part was equally necessary to all the others4 ,but ,i suppose each one of us here would like to think of himself as a brain-cell40 8,we like to flatter ourselves10 said ,henry4 ,i spoke to them of the modern trend in judging crime and meting punishment4 ,henry already understood this4 ,we spoke of 8homes0 instead of prisons1 of treating the bad as abortive and undeveloped1 as moral idiots and invalids1 and of using for our good and their happiness all the powers they possessed4 ,we would hate badness1 but not the bad man4 ,how could we8 ,each one acts according to his desires1 and in that sense selfishly2 and our character depends on how large we are1 how much we desire4 ,the man who wants to be richer than his neighbor will act otherwise than the man who wants to share and enjoy the riches and happiness of all his neighbors1 and make the whole world his home4 ,our desires are the measure of our growth4 ,and some are more developed than others4 8,some are so undeveloped10 said ,virginia1 8that they seem almost like animals40 8,i wondered why ,virginia hadn't mentioned that sooner10 said ,marian4 ,we went on to the next law1 that art must give the impression of truth4 ,how does it apply8 ,i said they must see that the telling of truth was not the whole of true relation4 8,and there may be even a kind of truth-telling which is essentially untrue2 ,i mean truth told maliciously1 truth told for the purpose of hurting4 ,that makes an untrue relation between people1 even though it be true in fact2 just as the ugly picture1 truly representing an ugly thing in an ugly way1 does not seem true40 ,virginia said3 8,as if one woman said to another woman3 #8,i saw your husband drunk last night1' and the other woman knew it already4 ,it would be quite true1 but unnecessary40 8,exactly40 ,i spoke of the importance of praise and encouragement to others1 and of kind1 true criticism4 ,at first they all protested that they did not like over-much praise4 ,no1 ,i said1 not over-much1 nor praise alone2 ,i hated to be 8damned with faint praise10 but ,i loved praise and blame combined in such measure1 that ,i felt the thing done was worth doing1 and yet saw where it was wrong1 and how it might be righted4 ,i said all teachers ought to praise and blame in this fashion--never forgetting the praise4 8,they don't have time for it in school10 said ,ruth4 8,ruth10 ,i answered her1 8just for a teacher of small children1 such encouraging critical power is most necessary40 8,yes10 she said1 8,i know4 ,i mean to have it40 ,i went on3 8,when ,i criticize a child's drawing1 for instance1 and find six wrong lines in it1 and one right line1 ,i will insist on the worth of that right line1 and show how the other six can and ought to be made equally good4 ,one can always point to the wrong1 without hurting1 when one insists on the right40 ,and now we passed to a difficult and engrossing subject3 what things are worth while in personal social life4 ,at this period of life it concerns the girls chiefly2 but it could not be skipped for that reason4 ,and the boys were interested listeners4 ,i spoke again of 8prettiness0 in art4 ,did they remember8 ,virginia said1 those painted merely prettily who tried to please the crowd for the sake of money or applause4 ,yes1 ,i answered1 they tried to please those who could not understand them or truly judge them4 ,and so there is a prettiness of manner and life which appeals to the stranger and acquaintance1 but does not win the friend2 the merely social prettiness1 that has no true worth4 ,what did ,i mean8 asked ,florence4 8,i mean10 ,i said1 8a mixing of values--giving up what is worth more1 for what is worth less1 and1 usually1 because we don't realize what we are doing4 ,for instance1 ever so many will go to much greater trouble to please acquaintances than friends1 and even ask their friends to #8let them off' for the sake of their acquaintances40 8,that is10 said ,florence1 8because we know our friends will forgive us40 8,yes10 ,i answered1 8and it is a poor reason1 for finally we will not have any to forgive us40 8,i know a girl10 said ,marian1 8who has ever so many acquaintances1 and no friends40 8,when ,i think of society10 ,virginia said1 8in the large sense of all people1 the only class ,i don't think of as belonging to society1 are just the society girls40 8,that10 ,i answered1 8is foolish2 for they do belong to it1 and can be a very important part of it1 if they wish40 ,marian looked puzzled4 8,it is all right10 she asked1 8isn't it1 for girls to go into society80 8,surely10 ,i answered2 8not only all right1 but very good1 if they do it in the best way4 ,but ,i think it a terrible waste for girls to do nothing but go into society1 to live only for that1 and rest only for that1 and care only for the superficial show of it1 for luxury and money-spending40 ,we spoke of luncheons and parties1 and all sorts of festivities where decoration and show count1 and tried to put decoration in its subordinate place4 8,people are apt10 ,i said1 8to lose the real thing in the glamor1 to care to outdo each other only in expensiveness and show1 instead of remembering that pleasant surroundings are merely surroundings4 ,like the woman who would spend all her time on her household1 and waste herself to make it beautiful1 instead of remembering that its beauty could count only as a setting for herself and her greater work4 ,it's a pity to waste good art on poor subjects40 8,one must be all-sided10 said ,marian1 8you told us so4 ,i know a girl who did college and society and housekeeping all at once40 8,and all well80 ,i asked4 8,i think so10 she answered1 8though ,i'm not so sure about the college part40 8,that is just the danger10 ,i said1 8and a danger ,i wish you all to avoid4 ,i don't want one of you1 when you leave school1 to degenerate into a frivolous1 silly society girl4 ,you won't1 will you80 ,they all said they wouldn't4 ,virginia and ,ruth were positive they couldn't4 8,because10 ,i went on1 8many girls do it who seemed serious and intelligent while at school4 ,i will tell you why they do4 ,they are apt to think school in itself so intellectual1 that they particularly avoid1 at other times1 thinking seriously or reading good books or having sensible conversations4 ,and1 indeed1 school does keep them thinking1 but not of their own accord4 ,so1 when they are graduated1 they stop all thinking1 go into society1 and wait to get married40 8,and some women10 said ,marian1 8get so uninteresting after they marry60 8,yes10 ,i answered1 8it is true1 and it is a pity4 ,naturally1 every girl expects to marry1 and has the right to expect it4 ,but if she folds her hands and waits for it1 or goes out and dances and waits for it1 she will hardly be fit when the time comes40 8,i think it is disgusting10 said ,marian1 8for a girl to be #8on the market4'0 8,so do ,i10 ,i answered4 8,and no wonder that those girls1 when they marry1 become dull and #8settled1' and do not grow with their children4 ,for1 you see1 they were #8finished' when they left school4 ,i believe that when a girl leaves school she should go on working and growing and learning all her life long1 whether she marry or not40 ,virginia said3 8,i have learnt so many1 many things since ,i left school last year40 8,of course10 they answered1 8at art school40 8,no10 she said1 8,i don't mean that4 ,i learn more out of school than in it40 8,the independent woman10 ,i said1 8who has some work and aim1 who can support herself if need be1 and who does some definite work in life1 whether or not she supports herself1 will not stagnate when she marries1 because she has been growing all the time4 ,when her children grow up1 she will grow with them1 and learn and change and think all her life40 8,must she do some definite thing80 asked ,henry skeptically4 ,florence said3 8,i know you think1 ,henry1 that she should be good and help around the house40 8,i think10 ,i said1 8that she must have a definite thing to do in life1 though not necessarily to support herself by money-making4 ,she may study1 if she should wish to prepare for more difficult work1 or she may have a household of people to care for1 and even other people's children to bring up1 just as a married woman might40 ,good manners and politeness next engaged our attention4 ,ruth is a great stickler for manners1 especially in boys1 and not a very good judge of character1 so she has to make much of evident1 superficial characteristics4 ,marian1 on the other hand1 is an excellent judge of character4 ,marian asked me whether ,i thought manners important1 and what ,i thought politeness meant4 ,i said good manners were the natural expression of kindness1 but that one often met good people who were bores1 nevertheless1 simply out of awkwardness2 that many young boys were so1 and ,ruth ought to teach them better4 ,we quoted some examples of false good manners1 good simply for effect1 which usually were self-exposed at last4 ,i said3 8,that people with kind manners are thought the best-bred and finest1 is but another sign that the world of men goes in #8our' direction40 8,yes10 said ,marian1 8,i see how you mean40 ,ruth granted she cared too much for good manners1 since they did not always mean what they professed to mean4 ,to ,florence they seemed unimportant1 in others1 as an index of character4 ,florence said3 8,i act differently with each person1 because ,i believe a different way will please each person40 8,yes10 ,i answered1 8we all do it unconsciously2 and that is why we are as many people as we know40 ,she went on3 8,when ,i am with people who like to be serious1 ,i talk seriously2 and when ,i am with people who like to fool1 why1 then ,i am jolly and silly40 8,but how about your own taste and personality80 ,i asked4 8,does that count80 8,when ,i am with some very proper people10 said ,florence1 8,i love to shock them40 8,yes10 ,i answered1 8it is a temptation4 ,but1 please1 ,florence1 make the people do what you choose sometimes4 ,you remember that you want to be like a picture1 and not only like a looking-glass40 8,i like to be the controlling person10 said ,virginia1 8and make people do what ,i choose40 ,ruth said3 8,i don't believe people are ever their real self with me1 and it is very annoying4 ,they always try to seem better40 8,that is10 said ,marian1 8because they know you have such high ideals40 8,yes10 ,ruth went on1 8,i suppose you tell them4 ,and then they show me only their good side40 8,ruth10 ,i answered1 8if that be true1 it need not trouble you4 ,if you can really make people always show you their good side1 you should be glad to have the power4 ,for people's good side is a pleasanter side to see2 and it is excellent practice for them to show it4 ,i want you each to be a power and a purpose in life40 ,afterward ,i had a little talk with ,florence4 ,i said3 8,i am afraid ,i was speaking for your benefit4 ,do you mind80 8,no10 she answered1 8but ,i am not going to be that sort of society girl40 ,i walked homeward with ,virginia and ,henry4 ,virginia told me that the club made her think1 that things we said came back to her weeks and weeks afterward1 and gave new meanings to life4 ,next week we are going to have the last meeting4 ,henry asked me whether we were going to speak of 8,aloofness40 8,yes10 ,i answered1 8and it will include all we have said until now40 ,,seventeenth ,,meeting ,i read ,henry's paper3 8,we should not be partisan4 ,do not fight against any one as an enemy1 but as a friend who tries to help another1 by thwarting his wrong purpose4 8,again we can go to ,lincoln for an example4 ,when he was president1 ,lincoln sent to his great political enemy1 ,douglas1 and asked for his aid in the approaching struggle4 ,again1 when the war was almost over1 and those about him said that the ,southern leaders would have to be severely dealt with1 he told them that though he could not avoid the hated war1 now that their end had been gained1 he wanted peace1 and bore no malice toward his ,southern countrymen1 whom he would deal with as leniently as possible40 ,then ,i read ,marian's paper3 8,at our last meeting of the ,seekers we took up the application of the two next-to-the-last principles of ,art to life4 ,the first1 #8do not be partisan1' we understood easily4 ,but how to stand for a cause without being partisan1 is more difficult to understand4 ,by this we mean being for a cause but not against another1 and being broad-minded enough to understand the other side4 ,in doing this all personal attacks are1 of course1 eliminated4 ,the next principle1 that art gives the impression of truth1 when applied to life means being1 first1 truth-telling4 ,however1 if by telling the truth we unnecessarily wound a person1 we had better say nothing4 ,to tell the truth for the purpose of hurting some one is almost as bad as telling a lie40 ,i said ,i thought it was almost worse4 ,i asked why had ,henry and ,marian both left out an important part of our last meeting1 the part on our larger social relations8 ,had we not made it impressive enough8 ,for a moment they all were puzzled4 ,was it at the last meeting we had spoken of that8 ,when ,i reminded them of what had been said1 they remembered4 ,but ,henry added3 8,i did not think we said it at the last meeting4 ,it seemed longer ago4 ,perhaps because that is something we have spoken of at all the meetings1 right along40 ,i said ,i thought all but ,alfred and ,ruth were not greatly interested in larger social questions4 ,their family and school life were more absorbing4 ,i said3 8,i know ,alfred is interested in social and political problems1 because he has told me so4 ,you see1 even though he won't talk to you1 he does sometimes talk to me40 ,alfred blushed4 ,he answered3 8,i care more about those outside relations than anything else40 ,marian said3 8,i am interested1 too4 ,but last time1 just in the midst1 we got off to the subject of #8knocking' people4 ,and so ,i don't think we quite finished40 8,perhaps10 ,i asked1 8we had better go over it again to-day8 ,and yet ,i think not4 ,you do seem to understand4 ,i don't think you can form your social and political opinions now1 and ,i don't care to talk much of these things4 ,you see1 the boys still have five years before they need to vote4 ,and for the girls1 ,i imagine it may be even longer40 8,i don't know10 said ,ruth1 8,i don't think it will be much longer40 8,but10 ,i went on1 8we spoke of other things1 too4 ,didn't we speak a great deal of woman's life80 8,you mean choosing professions1 and society1 and so on80 asked ,marian4 8,yes40 8,it is strange1 too10 said she1 8that ,i forgot to write about it4 ,for it impressed me very much1 and ,i was talking of it only the other day1 when some girls were at the house40 8,now10 ,i said1 8we will speak of that strange thing1 aloofness1 the spectator's point of view1 that a while ago you could not understand4 ,and ,i think to-day you will understand at once1 for it is the sum and completeness of all we have said4 ,do you think you know now what ,i mean by aloofness8 ,what do you think1 ,henry80 8,i think it means10 he said1 8understanding with sympathy all the people about you1 and the outsiders40 8,yes10 ,i said2 8but it means more than that40 ,alfred looked as if he knew4 8,well1 ,alfred80 8,doesn't it mean10 he asked1 8being able to criticize and judge yourself80 8,yes10 ,i said4 8,that is nearer2 it means both1 and more than both4 ,it means being not only in yourself1 but above and around1 judging all things as if you were all the people1 from the point of view of the whole world4 ,you know what we mean when we say ,god4 ,we mean that whole1 the whole ,self4 ,it means seeing life from ,god's point of view4 ,it is as if we were spectator and also actor2 doing our own little part in our own little lives1 and yet seeing the whole1 and caring most for that whole1 and acting our part in relation to it1 to please the vast spectator4 ,have you not yourselves had that experience8 ,have you not1 even in exciting moments1 suddenly felt as if you were outside yourself1 looking on at yourself1 and judging80 8,yes10 said ,marian1 8,i often do4 ,sometimes ,i laugh at myself4 ,i see how foolish ,i am1 but ,i go right on4 ,for the actor and the spectator do not always agree40 ,i said3 8,all goodness and power in life spring from making the actor and spectator agree1 making the larger self include and manage the smaller self1 and move it as a player moves a pawn4 ,for1 remember1 it is not two separate selves1 but one self1 a vast sense of all life1 inclusive of this smaller self which we control4 ,do you not realize that all heroism1 all great and noble action is done so1 in the spirit of the whole1 for the vast spectator within us8 ,when a man dies for a cause1 he is that cause1 he is far more than his own small self1 and he gladly dies for that which includes and fulfils him4 ,when a man gives up his life to save another man1 he sees the whole thing as from above4 ,he and the other man are one1 are part of the same life1 and he spends himself for himself4 8,fear10 ,i said1 8cowardice1 loss of self-control in crises1 always comes when the actor forgets the spectator1 when the spectator loses control4 8,if ever you have been in any exciting crisis1 and kept cool and above fear1 then you will know what ,i mean2 how you think of the whole1 of all the people1 and seem to be and control the whole40 ,ruth said she knew one never thought especially of one's self at such a time4 ,experiences1 however1 were scarce4 ,virginia spoke of the time she was with me in a burning trolley car1 and how she had been interested rather than excited4 ,but then she was a very1 very little girl4 ,ruth said she didn't remember how she felt when she was almost run down by an automobile4 ,marian asked3 8,one is not always conscious of the spectator80 8,no10 ,i answered1 8one is conscious of him only at rare moments4 ,for it is the actor who acts and lives1 and the spectator controls him4 ,the spectator is oftenest silent4 ,he watches4 ,and he must choose40 8,but is the spectator always sure80 asked ,marian4 8,sometimes you cannot tell what seems to you best1 until you talk it over with others40 8,the spectator10 ,i said1 8judges and chooses according to all he can know4 ,surely1 he chooses in relation with others4 ,he can use all experience2 he goes even beyond his sorrow and pain4 ,do you understand8 ,he goes beyond sorrow and pain1 and uses them4 ,do you remember ,i spoke to you once of all things being a memory1 of the body itself being a memory8 ,the basis of all sympathy is experience and memory4 ,so the spectator grows and uses everything4 ,he is1 as it were1 in partnership with the whole1 with ,god4 ,and he rises on his own knowledge4 ,the higher he goes1 the farther can he see4 ,do you understand that aloofness1 the judging from the standpoint of the whole1 of the whole self1 is the basis of morality8 ,it is the part judging and living for the whole4 ,those who know this make the laws for all1 according to their knowledge2 and the others1 who are only actors1 whose spectator is not wide awake1 have to obey40 ,at first they protested4 ,was this true8 ,they did not understand4 ,henry asked did ,i mean making laws to control anarchists8 ,i explained how some had to be forced to conform1 even for their own good1 and how the others were free1 because the law that was good for all1 they knew to be best for themselves4 ,i said3 8,my own limited personal life is my weapon and means1 the only weapon and means ,i have to come to completeness4 ,i will always remember that it is a means1 something to use2 but it is my only means1 and for that reason it is important and precious to me above all else40 8,you mean10 said ,virginia1 8that you don't want to dream away your life1 like the ascetics of the middle ages1 who dreamed of the whole1 but didn't do their part80 8,yes10 ,i said1 8exactly4 ,it is as if we were all watching a vast chessboard1 all together interested in the game1 but each able to control only one pawn1 and yet anxious to play in such a way as to win the game along with the others1 each for the sake of the whole4 ,and that pawn is our own life2 the only power we have40 8,aren't we ourselves the pawns80 asked ,marian4 8,no10 said ,henry2 8then we couldn't manage them40 8,we are both pawn and player10 ,i said2 8for if we were only the pawn1 in the crowd of little players1 we could not see ahead1 and would go blindly forward without aim4 ,one must be above the board to see it40 ,and now ,i asked3 8,shall we look once more over all we have said in these few months80 ,they answered that it seemed to them this last meeting had been a review4 8,yes10 ,i answered1 8aloofness1 which a while ago you could not understand1 is now wholly clear to you2 and more than that1 it includes all we have said40 8,it doesn't include it all10 said ,henry1 8but it finishes and rounds it out40 8,and our little club is finished10 ,i asked1 8artistically finished80 8,yes10 they said4 8,i have noticed that sometimes some of you call it #8class4' ,is it a class8 ,is it not rather a club2 have we not all gone forward together80 ,ruth answered3 8,it is each or both4 ,sometimes we speak of it as class1 or club1 or lesson40 8,surely it is a lesson10 said ,henry1 8because we have learned something from it4 ,whatever you learn from is a lesson40 ,well1 after all1 ,i suppose ,i have given them my thought2 and that is what ,i must have meant to do4 ,i asked them what practical result the ideas had had upon their lives4 8,do you mean in action80 asked ,marian4 8,i never stop to think of it when ,i act1 but ,i find that ,i refer my thoughts again and again to this standard1 when ,i don't mean to1 or expect to40 8,it is a habit of thought10 ,i answered1 8and our habits of thought unconsciously make our actions40 8,yes10 said ,virginia1 8things that happen are always bringing to mind the things we speak of here40 8,but we have not yet reached an absolute1 stiff conclusion1 have we80 insisted ,marian4 8,no10 ,i answered2 8we are going to be seekers all our lives--are we not8--comrades in the search for light80 8,surely10 they said4 8,and10 ,i went on1 8,i want something more of you4 ,i have noticed that you all are very shy about talking of the club to outsiders4 ,but it seems to me that it is worth while telling your thought and your truth1 that you must not only seek1 but share what you find40 8,you mean10 said ,virginia1 8that we should try to get converts1 like the ,catholics80 8,yes10 ,i answered1 8converts to seeking40 8,it is very hard10 ,ruth said1 8to talk to outsiders of these things4 ,i can tell my mother4 ,she understands4 ,but we have made a language of our own at the club1 and other people don't understand it4 ,when ,i begin to tell them1 they ask3 #8,what sort of language are you using8'0 8,that is a pity10 ,i answered1 8and yet we could hardly help it4 ,perhaps we should have tried to use other words40 8,no10 said ,ruth1 8,i think it is a very beautiful language1 and we must use it4 ,but it makes it hard to tell others40 8,people don't want to understand10 said ,henry4 8,when you begin to tell them what it is about1 they make up their minds they won't understand such things4 ,they set out with that idea40 ,marian said3 8,i often speak of certain things we discussed1 just as the other day ,i was speaking of women's professions and social life4 ,but it is impossible to tell the whole idea4 ,one would have to begin at the beginning40 8,yes10 ,i answered1 8it would be a whole course4 ,so you have to content yourself with telling the unessential parts4 ,but ,i hope that you will absorb this idea into your life and your actions1 and then find new words in which to tell the same truth almost unconsciously1 words that will be made clear to all through your own experience4 8,we see clearly how each one of us will draw strength and judgment from his limitless whole self4 ,and the knowledge of our greatest desire will make us teach our lesser desires to follow it1 will make us shape and use the whole of our life for the thing we want and love4 8,and now ,i wish to ask you each a question4 ,what particular thing or power seems most dear and necessary to you in your own life1 in order to fulfil your aim4 ,alfred1 tell me4 ,do you know8 ,or do you want time to think of it80 8,what ,i want most10 said ,alfred1 8is the power to calculate and judge how things are going to turn out4 ,to plan well40 8,what ,i want most10 said ,marian1 8is to be the sort of girl ,i wish to be4 ,to be like my idea of myself40 8,what ,i want most10 said ,virginia1 8is to have fun1 to be happy40 8,what does that mean80 asked ,henry4 8,happiness1 for each one of us1 is having what we want most40 8,well10 said ,virginia1 8,i like life to be pleasant for me and for all the people about me40 8,what ,i want most10 said ,florence1 8is to be loved40 8,only to be loved1 or to love1 too80 8,to be loved and to love40 ,ruth said3 8,that is what ,i want most1 too40 ,henry said3 8,i agree with them40 ,they all seemed to wish they had said it4 ,virginia added3 8,if you are happy1 you are loved40 8,lately10 said ,i1 8this last week1 a leader of clubs told me he had asked this same question of a club of boys4 ,i wanted to see what you would answer40 8,what did they answer80 8,they1 all but one1 answered #8,money4' ,the one said he wished to make beautiful things40 8,that is a fine answer10 ,virginia said4 8,i'm sure ,i would like him40 8,i know10 said ,henry1 8a great many boys feel that way4 ,i happen to know of that club4 ,one of those boys said to me lately1 what he wanted most was to have lots of money1 so he could enjoy himself4 ,but ,i think after he had the money1 he would not find the enjoyment satisfying40 8,of course10 ,i answered1 8money is necessary to life2 that is1 the means of life are necessary to life40 8,but one can earn those10 said they4 ,marian said3 8,if ,i were as strong1 capable and good as ,i would like1 and just the sort of person ,i mean to be1 it would be easy to earn money40 ,ruth said3 8,if one is loved and loves many people1 one is sure to find some way of getting enough money to live4 ,i don't mean that people will thrust it on you1 but you are sure to find the way to get whatever you need40 ,i said3 8,money is only1 as it were1 a certificate of power2 for so much work1 you are given the means to go on working and living4 ,but the great problem is to make the work itself worth more to us than the payment4 ,and ,i am afraid with most people it is not so4 ,money is a means for work1 for life1 for fulfilment4 ,if things were properly adjusted1 and society perfect1 each man would work for his livelihood at the work which he loved most to do40 ,virginia said3 8,i would rather be a pauper than not be an artist40 ,i answered3 8,i hope each one of you will find the means to do the work you love1 and make it your livelihood4 ,for that is the only way to justify both work and wage40 ,then ,i said3 8,before we part and plan to meet again1 ,i am going to tell you something very exciting4 ,i am almost afraid to say it40 8,what is it8 ,tell us1 quick40 8,do you remember1 ,i told you ,i was keeping minutes of the club80 8,yes1 that is why you wanted our papers40 8,well1 they are not ordinary minutes4 ,they are an exact account of all we have done and said40 ,and then ,i told them of this book4 ,they were delighted4 8,we are all going to be put into a book10 they said4 8,yes10 ,i answered1 8it will be a book1 and you are all to be in it4 ,but who knows whether any one else will care8 ,perhaps it will never be published40 8,even if it isn't published10 said ,henry1 8it will be a book40 8,what will it be called80 they asked4 8#8,the ,seekers1' of course40 8,you ought to call it #8,the ,pathfinder1'0 said ,henry4 8,that would sound more romantic and interesting1 and attract people40 ,would ,i dedicate it to them8 they asked4 8,no1 certainly not10 ,i said2 8you are all helping me write it4 ,we will dedicate it to all ,seekers40 ,what names would ,i use8 they asked4 ,i would use their right first names1 ,i said4 ,weren't they willing8 ,yes1 yes1 they were willing4 8,for10 ,i said1 8one could scarcely make up prettier names3 ,i like them all1 ,marian1 ,ruth1 ,florence1 ,virginia1 ,henry and ,alfred40 8,yes10 answered ,marian1 8we like our own names40 8,and you have really helped me to write it10 ,i said1 8for ,i have all your papers4 ,that's why ,i wanted them1 to prove that ,i was not inventing the whole thing40 8,are you putting them in just as we wrote them80 asked ,marian4 8,yes1 exactly40 8,oh1 please10 she begged1 8correct my spelling and my bad construction40 8,i will correct your spelling and your punctuation1 but nothing else40 8,oh1 please10 she said1 8change the places where ,i repeated myself4 ,i wrote them so hastily40 8,i suppose10 ,i said1 8that what was good enough for me will be good enough for any one4 ,don't you think so8 ,i always wanted to write a book like this1 and as ,i didn't have brains enough to invent it alone1 ,i made you help me4 ,it is a real live book4 ,we have lived it together40 ,now they asked me crowds of questions4 ,had ,i put in all the nonsense8 ,yes1 every bit4 8,then we will laugh at ourselves10 said ,marian4 ,had ,i put in every time ,virginia mentioned animals8 ,yes1 almost every time4 ,it must be very interesting1 they said4 8,did you write down every time we laughed80 ,no1 ,i took that for granted4 ,and did ,i write down when ,florence said brother ,arthur told her things8 ,yes4 ,and would ,i leave that in8 ,certainly4 ,and would ,i let them see it8 ,yes1 as soon as possible4 ,,appendix ,the notes used by the leader at each meeting1 and slightly remodeled afterward1 as experience showed them to be faulty1 are here presented1 in the hope that they may be of use in some other club4 ,certain clubs have been formed by some of the original ,seekers1 in which the text of the book itself is being read aloud and discussed4 ,but were an older person leading the club--and that is always to be desired--he might find it far more stimulating and fruitful to conduct the meetings by directing the conversation along the line of these notes4 ,no doubt if he made this use of my experience1 he would1 by adding his own1 give new value to the outcome4 ,,notes ,,first ,,meeting ,why ,are ,our ,religions ,unsatisfying1 and ,what ,shall ,we ,do8 ,i4 ,,conditions ,,to-,,day3 a4 ,religions destroy religion4 ,if you are wrong1 ,i might be wrong4 b4 ,men cling to traditional1 half-conscious belief1 or build up an ethic or agnostic faith1 because man must live by faith4 ,,ii4 ,,historic ,,reasons ,,for ,,present ,,conditions3 a4 ,initiated and popular religion in history3 #a4 ,india2 castes and the ,brahmans4 #b4 ,egypt2 secret priesthood1 annexed beliefs1 and interpretations of myths4 #c4 ,greece2 ,rome2 early ,catholicism2 the priests4 b4 ,analysis of initiated and popular belief3 #a4 ,myths of ,orpheus2 of ,moses and the ,burning ,bush2 of the divine parentage of ,jesus4 #b4 ,the initiated is the religion of poetry and prophecy1 of symbols4 ,these1 taken literally by the people1 become a religion of idols and prose4 ,one is a moving spirit1 the other a graven image4 ,words can be idols4 c4 ,the modern trend3 #a4 ,democratic spirit 7since ,reformation7 destroys initiated religion1 keeps popular religion4 #b4 ,science destroys popular myths4 ,,iii4 ,,what ,,must ,,we ,,do ,,to-,,day8 a4 ,scientific knowledge destroys popular myths1 but does not replace religion3 #a4 ,every scientist has a philosophy or faith4 #b4 ,science fosters new popular delusions1 built on its literal facts1 such as atheism and scientific superstitions of half-knowledge4 b4 ,there is absolute religious knowledge3 #a4 ,its record in history3 ,moses1 ,jesus1 etc4 #b4 ,its testimony in our own selves3 7,what do we know87 c4 ,in a democracy every one must attain this knowledge2 each must be initiated2 every man shall be a prophet4 ,,iv4 ,,what ,,does ,,each ,,one ,,believe ,,concerning ,,god8 7,question for next week47 ,,second ,,meeting ,god1 and the ,meaning of ,progress ,i4 ,,the ,,idea ,,of ,,god ,a ,,personal ,,conviction3 a4 ,a realization to be achieved1 but1 after that1 silence on the subject4 ,sacredness of the word4 b4 ,members' individual ideas of ,god4 c4 ,my idea stated3 #a4 ,god as ,self 7read from ,vedas71 as the completion of myself4 8,i am that ,i am40 #b4 ,the aspiration toward complete sympathy1 consciousness 7selfhood7 as the aspiration of ,god1 and the aim of progress4 #c4 ,the idea of 8holiness0 meaning 8wholeness40 ,,ii4 ,,historic ,,ideas ,,of ,,god3 a4 ,the inner meaning of polytheism3 many aspects of one ,god4 b4 ,the inner meaning of trinity3 the three as one1 as the contrast of life1 and its unity4 ,a true paradox4 ,myself1 the other ,self1 and love1 the holy spirit4 c4 ,the inner meaning of dualism3 the two are two sides of one thing1 the negative and the positive4 ,light makes darkness4 d4 ,personal1 parental1 and all other ideas of ,god are included in our larger view4 ,the unity embraces all ideas and diversities4 ,,iii4 ,,progress ,,as ,,the ,,trend ,,toward ,,complete ,,self3 a4 ,throughout history the only progress has been toward greater understanding and brotherhood3 #a4 ,the value of railroads1 telephones1 etc4 b4 ,the good is whatever leads toward understanding1 sympathy1 wholeness4 c4 ,the bad is whatever does not lead thither3 #a4 ,the bad is what was once good1 and has been passed4 #b4 ,or sometimes it is the necessary result of an experimental progress4 #c4 ,things are not 8good0 and 8bad10 but better and worse4 ,therefore evil itself is proof of progress4 d4 ,the will toward good is in the world and ourselves4 #a4 ,dissatisfaction is the will toward progress4 #b4 ,we use all bad things for the great good that we love4 7,this meeting might be divided into two1 one on ,,god1 and one on ,,progress47 ,,third ,,meeting ,matter and ,spirit ,i4 ,,short ,,review3 a4 ,what is the aim of life8 b4 ,how do you explain good and bad8 ,,ii4 ,,are ,,matter ,,and ,,spirit ,,antagonistic1 ,,or ,,like ,,good ,,and ,,bad1 ,,to ,,be ,,explained ,,through ,,each ,,other8 a4 ,all matter has shape or idea3 #a4 ,matter takes the shape of spirit4 #b4 ,we know only the spirit1 or idea1 because all things come to us through our senses4 #c4 ,pure matter1 if it exist1 is a thing we cannot experience4 ,,iii4 ,,matter ,,is ,,the ,,medium ,,through ,,which ,,spirit ,,expresses ,,itself3 a4 ,expression is the means for reaching understanding4 b4 ,all expression1 at present1 is through so-called material means4 ,,iv4 ,,spirit ,,can ,,do ,,all ,,things ,,in ,,the ,,future3 a4 8,immovable0 physical conditions are the result of will or spirit in the past4 #a4 ,our ancestors4 #b4 ,the mental beginnings of all physical ills4 b4 ,spirit force is the only shaping force in a universe of spirit or will4 #a4 ,one can1 therefore1 control the physical4 #b4 ,one can shape one's destiny4 ,,fourth ,,meeting ,evolution ,i4 ,,the ,,place ,,of ,,evolution ,,in ,a ,,religious ,,enquiry3 a4 ,we must believe in that1 or in special creation4 #a4 ,every religion has a theory of creation4 #b4 ,evolution is a theory of creation4 b4 ,it may throw light on the means of progress4 ,,ii4 ,,evolution ,,means ,,descent ,,of ,,all ,,creatures ,,from ,a ,,common ,,one-,,celled ,,ancestral ,,form3 a4 ,physical proof of the theory3 #a4 ,in likeness of structure4 #b4 ,in rudimentary organs4 #c4 ,in geological records4 #d4 ,in the ,law of ,recapitulation4 ,,iii4 ,,theories ,,of ,,the ,,process ,,of ,,evolution3 a4 ,natural ,selection3 #a4 ,variations in all directions1 and adaptation4 #b4 ,adaptation a struggle for life4 4 ,for place4 4 ,for food4 4 ,for protection1 through imitative color or form4 #c4 ,the value of artificial selection as partly showing us the processes of natural selection4 #d4 ,what natural selection fails to explain4 b4 ,the theory of ,sexual ,selection1 and its shortcomings4 c4 ,the auxiliary theory of ,isolation4 ,,iv4 ,,the ,,philosophical ,,significance ,,of ,,evolution3 a4 ,evolution a self-evolving of uncreated life4 #a4 ,wish1 desire1 love cause all change and creation4 #b4 ,progress is from within1 of our own will4 #c4 ,change or re-birth necessitates death4 4 ,death makes room for young4 4 ,we die for the sake of life4 b4 ,evolution and the aim of life3 #a4 ,fitness and harmony the test of life4 #b4 ,it goes from likeness to unlikeness and recognition4 #c4 ,pain1 disease1 death and changing standards of good and bad are the path of progress toward wholeness and understanding4 c4 ,evolution the simplest1 clearest proof of relationship4 ,note4--,for reference and illustrations1 the first volume of ,romanes' 8,darwin and ,after ,darwin0 is more convenient to use and show than ,darwin's own works4 ,,fifth ,,meeting ,prayer ,i4 ,a ,,communion1 ,,not ,a ,,begging3 a4 ,in a world that goes toward its own desire--which is also ours--it is folly to ask one's vast ,self for anything4 b4 ,prayer is a momentary consciousness of the vast ,self which is ,god4 ,,ii4 ,,the ,,value ,,of ,,prayer3 a4 ,to be conscious1 by an effort1 of the vast oneness1 gives us renewed calmness and strength4 b4 ,to pray for what we can be is to call forth the power to be it4 c4 ,prayer puts us in a state of mind in which we draw upon the endless source of power and possibility3 #a4 ,the value1 therefore1 of prayer before sleep4 ,,iii4 ,,the ,,manner ,,of ,,prayer3 a4 ,by conscious words that give the communion4 b4 ,by an occasional state of mind4 c4 ,by every creative action4 d4 ,by the whole attitude of our life4 ,,sixth ,,meeting ,immortality ,i4 ,,importance ,,to ,,us ,,of ,,an ,,opinion ,,concerning ,,death ,,and ,,immortality3 a4 ,we know we must die soon3 #a4 ,speak of the numberless generations of life4 b4 ,we live according to our expectations3 #a4 ,relation throughout history of beliefs concerning immortality and of the morality of peoples4 #b4 ,good and bad effects of belief in heaven and hell4 ,,ii4 ,,knowledge ,,concerning ,,immortality3 a4 ,what is ,knowledge8 #a4 ,the relativity of all knowledge4 #b4 ,knowledge through conviction loses force when there is disagreement4 #c4 ,knowledge through analogy is like circumstantial evidence4 b4 ,we know3 #a4 ,that matter and force do not die4 4 ,we know of nothing that is positively mortal4 #b4 ,that life works in a certain direction4 #c4 ,that death and re-birth are the means of moving in that direction1 i4e41 of progress4 #d4 ,that this progress is of the spirit or self4 #e4 ,that we are forever a part of the world1 related to the whole4 #f4 ,as we know nothing but consciousness or self1 we believe it must be immortal1 though we have no proof4 ,,iii4 ,,the ,,theory ,,of ,,race-,,immortality ,,as ,,an ,,ideal3 a4 ,it is more improbable than self-immortality4 #a4 ,all planets die4 #b4 ,the last generation1 dies1 too4 b4 ,it is not true immortality3 #a4 ,the thing we cannot transmit is the ,self which loves and seeks4 ,,iv4 ,,memory ,,and ,,personality3 a4 ,admission of ignorance and indifference4 ,why8 #a4 ,everything is a memory and a prophecy1 since everything exists forever1 and advances4 #b4 ,the body is a memory4 #c4 ,memory must continue at least in its results on the self1 if not more definitely4 b4 ,love and ,meeting3 #a4 ,love may have other satisfactions than we dream of4 #b4 ,we are all one1 and cannot be separated4 ,v4 8,i ,,am0 ,,expresses ,,immortality3 a4 ,each least thing is eternal and universal4 ,,seventh ,,meeting ,the ,meaning of ,beauty ,i4 ,,beauty ,,is ,,the ,,symbol ,,of ,,completeness ,,and ,,harmony3 a4 ,this is the reason beauty delights us3 #a4 ,it pictures the aim and desire of our whole life4 b4 ,the smallest thing can be as a universe in itself1 if it be complete and harmonious1 i4e41 perfect3 #a4 ,a drop as well as a planet2 a dog1 in his way1 as well as a man2 a day as well as a century4 ,,ii4 ,,the ,,good1 ,,the ,,true ,,and ,,the ,,beautiful ,,have ,,the ,,same ,,end1 ,,and ,,are ,,sought1 ,,respectively1 ,,by ,,philosophy1 ,,science ,,and ,,art3 a4 ,philosophy seeks the whole at once1 therefore can never reach that completeness4 b4 ,science seeks individual truths1 not the moral truth1 or aim3 #a4 ,darwin1 the philosophical scientist4 c4 ,art gives us that completeness1 our aim1 symbolized in a small and definite shape4 ,,iii4 ,,genius ,,is ,,the ,,common ,,human ,,quality1 ,,distinct ,,from ,,talent3 a4 ,the ,genius differs not in kind1 but in degree1 from his fellows4 b4 ,the desire for understanding and completeness1 present in some measure in all1 is genius4 c4 ,the understanding in the spectator is akin to the genius in the artist4 ,,iv4 ,,talent ,,is ,,the ,,power ,,of ,,expression3 a4 ,to see all things as distinct wholes1 impersonally4 b4 ,the skill to portray1 and to handle material4 c4 ,genius and talent vary in degrees of relation in different artists' work3 #a4 ,the great idea1 imperfectly executed4 #b4 ,the small idea in perfect form4 ,v4 ,,art ,,as ,,the ,,symbol ,,of ,,completeness ,,and ,,creative ,,expression3 a4 ,the sublime lie of the ,symbol1 truer than fact3 #a4 ,the effect of removal from life1 of unreality1 in relation to beauty4 ,it seems more self-sufficient4 b4 ,a complete vision must not take sides3 #a4 ,when art is partisan1 for something1 it is also against something4 ,complete representation4 c4 ,creative art gives us the joy of play1 of creation3 #a4 ,play--interplay--is the progress and will of life1 and work but a name for the disagreeable but necessary part of the game4 ,,eighth ,,meeting ,art ,i4 ,,reason ,,for ,,sthetic ,,enquiry3 a4 ,art 7creation7 is the service of religion4 b4 ,laws of beauty 7completeness7 may give us laws for life4 c4 ,will prepare us to deal more sanely and surely with the involved problems of conduct4 ,,ii4 ,,art ,,in ,,the ,,novel3 a4 ,completeness in the story3 #a4 ,exclusion of unimportant and irrelevant matter4 4 ,the 8story-teller0 in us all4 4 ,the distractions of real life1 with its far-relatedness4 4 ,the 8outside0 event in melodrama too like life4 #b4 ,exclusion of author's one-sided moral verdict4 #c4 ,must not be 8for0 some characters1 and 8against0 others4 b4 ,understanding of ,life in novel3 #a4 ,false simplicity of poetic justice1 of all good1 and all bad4 #b4 ,cant phrases offend because they appear imitative1 not sincere4 #c4 ,psychological and dramatic treatment3 4 ,dramatic writer trusts reader's insight4 4 ,action is more convincing than description of motive4 #d4 ,humor and wit3 4 ,humor is knowledge of human nature1 its contrasted greatness and littleness4 4 ,wit is a juggling of words into contrasted or incongruous effects4 4 ,both are a bringing together of the incongruous1 in a paradox of unity4 ,,ninth ,,meeting ,art 7,continued7 ,i4 ,,art ,,in ,,poetry3 a4 ,difference between ,poetry and ,prose3 #a4 ,poetry is 8set to music10 and the rhythm carries part of the message4 #b4 ,this unreality or distance from life makes it more complete and beautiful in itself4 #c4 ,the emotions and imagination picture completeness more easily than the intellect3 4 ,because the desire for completeness is a feeling4 b4 ,completeness and understanding in ,poetry3 #a4 ,metaphor and simile a relationing of far-off things4 #b4 ,symbol in ,play replaces them3 4 ,the ,fairy-story4 #c4 ,taking sides destroys poetry4 #d4 ,exaggerated and conventional phrases are weak because they are insincere4 ,,ii4 ,,art ,,in ,,music3 a4 ,music is itself harmony and completeness3 #a4 ,the most intangible and removed1 it is yet the most satisfying symbol of completeness and harmony4 ,,iii4 ,,the ,,opera3 a4 ,its attempt to combine all the ,arts in one harmonious expression4 ,,iv4 ,,art ,,in ,,painting3 a4 ,unity or completeness in painting3 #a4 ,point of interest2 with radiating lines1 balance1 and other means of making it prominent4 #b4 ,the cycle of colors1 complete color1 and the contrast of light and darkness4 #c4 ,a story1 not embodied in the picture itself1 but needing words of explanation1 spoils unity4 #d4 ,unnecessary detail1 detracting from central interest and motive1 also spoils unity4 b4 ,truth in painting3 #a4 ,falseness of photographic truth1 because of its lack of unity and purpose4 4 ,the 8out-of-focus0 and imaginatively planned photograph sometimes artistic4 #b4 ,perspective1 the painter's vision of the single complete experience4 #c4 ,to see beauty in things is to see the truth4 #d4 8,prettiness10 the result of catering to the shortcomings of the spectator's taste1 is a violation of the artist's taste or sense of completeness and truth4 #e4 ,knowledge of life 7anatomy7 is necessary3 4 ,one must understand life to portray it4 ,v4 ,,sculpture3 a4 ,the ,greek ,drama of the visual ,arts3 #a4 ,the unlifelikeness of the material1 the removal from life1 makes it more beautiful1 and a truer symbol4 b4 ,expresses idea through attitude of the human form4 ,,vi4 ,,architecture3 a4 ,like music's1 its appeal is to the emotions1 without definite sense or lifelikeness2 but speaks as life itself4 b4 ,to be complete1 it must express outwardly its inner use and meaning4 c4 ,to be sincere1 or true1 it must express the spirit of land and people4 ,note4--,this ninth meeting might profitably be divided into two4 ,,tenth ,,meeting ,shall ,we ,make an ,art of ,life8 ,i4 ,,truth1 ,,goodness ,,and ,,beauty1 ,,but ,,the ,,greatest ,,of ,,these ,,is ,,beauty1 ,,which ,,combines ,,the ,,other ,,two3 a4 ,science is knowledge of facts4 b4 ,philosophy is vision of truth or aim4 c4 ,art is using our knowledge to create what we seek4 ,action and purpose4 ,,ii4 ,,art ,,is ,,self-,,expression1 ,,creation1 ,,action1 ,,relationing3 a4 ,all life1 all being1 is action1 or self-expression4 b4 ,all power in the world is imaginative1 creative thought-power3 #a4 ,all things must be imagined before they can be known or done4 ,,iii4 ,,all ,,great ,,action1 ,,all ,,goodness1 ,,all ,,power ,,in ,,life ,,follows ,,the ,,same ,,laws ,,as ,,art3 a4 ,therefore let us discover the laws of all arts1 and see whether they can be applied to life4 ,,iv4 ,,the ,,message ,,of ,,all ,,the ,,arts3 a4 ,all have the same laws3 #a4 ,art is the symbol of completeness in a definite shape4 #b4 ,is self-expression and self-fulfilment4 #c4 ,must leave out the unimportant4 #d4 ,must have variety and many-sidedness4 #e4 ,must not be partisan1 and must be sympathetic4 #f4 ,must give the impression of truth4 #g4 ,must be aloof1 that is1 separate from life1 and see things1 as it were1 from a distance1 in their wholeness4 ,v4 ,,review ,,and ,,conclusion3 a4 ,each smallest thing can symbolize the whole3 #a4 ,each human life is a symbol of the complete ,self1 in a definite shape4 #b4 ,each is deserving of reverence3 4 ,reverence is the small self awed before its own vastness4 ,note4--,as the eleventh meeting was somewhat of a digression1 and as the notes taken were covered in later meetings1 it is here omitted4 ,,twelfth ,,meeting ,what is ,goodness8 ,i4 ,,each ,,life1 ,,to ,,be ,,good ,,or ,,beautiful1 ,,must ,,be ,a ,,symbol ,,of ,,that ,,perfect ,,or ,,complete ,,life ,,for ,,which ,,we ,,long3 a4 ,life--the symbol of complete ,self in a definite shape4 b4 ,the good man makes all he knows and touches a complete1 harmonious whole3 #a4 ,goodness is always of relation4 #b4 ,one cannot be perfect till all are so3 4 ,therefore goodness implies modesty4 ,,ii4 ,,false ,,and ,,true ,,good3 a4 ,the one law of ,love1 and its petty1 changing codes3 #a4 ,true good of changing harmonious relation4 #b4 ,false good of outworn custom and rule4 ,,iii4 ,,the ,,meaning ,,of ,,self-,,expression3 a4 ,the small and large ,self3 #a4 ,the whole world is the whole of me4 #b4 ,serve1 not others only1 but others as part of yourself4 b4 ,self-sacrifice3 #a4 ,giving up one thing for a greater thing4 #b4 ,happiness is whatever we want most4 #c4 ,if completeness is the aim of life1 then all lesser happiness is sacrificed to it4 #d4 ,if life is a drama1 a whole1 we give up our selfish satisfaction to see that whole self satisfied4 c4 ,creation is ,self-expression1 is endless1 higher rebirth3 #a4 ,all action reveals the actor4 #b4 ,life is a drama1 in which we feel ourselves to have equal prominence with others1 and conscious power of control3 4 ,we cannot help having influence4 4 ,let us shape our influence for the whole4 ,,thirteenth ,,meeting ,self-fulfilment ,through ,overcoming ,limitations ,i4 ,,envy1 ,,its ,,narrowness ,,and ,,blindness3 a4 ,every man serves me who does for me what ,i cannot do for myself3 #a4 ,each one fills out my shortcomings4 b4 ,use1 instead of coveting4 ,,ii4 ,,self-,,regulation ,,in ,,despite ,,of ,,self3 a4 ,the moral sense of beauty1 an intellectual sense of completeness1 makes us regulate and suppress our desires3 #a4 ,hence we make laws which are substitutes for understanding love4 b4 ,the substitutes necessary until love conquers1 are3 #a4 ,justice4 #b4 ,honesty4 #c4 ,duty4 #d4 ,binding by promise4 #e4 ,obedience4 c4 ,conventions1 their changes and their convenience4 ,,iii4 ,,some ,,virtues ,,changed ,,by ,,love',s ,,demands3 a4 ,revenge1 the first expression of ,loyalty3 #a4 ,our admiration for such expression in its own early time4 b4 ,pity1 the developer of ,feeling3 #a4 ,degenerates into ,weakness and ,impotence4 #b4 ,is an ,insult3 4 ,a strong man does not pity himself4 ,should not pity other strong selves4 #c4 ,strong ,sympathy1 and our common ,working for the great ,happiness1 should replace pity4 c4 ,reverence for special people1 with ,fear3 #a4 ,self-reverence means reverence for all selves4 #b4 ,reverence the old--and the young1 too4 #c4 ,the reverence with love replaces the reverence with fear4 ,,fourteenth ,,meeting ,loyalty1 and ,conscious ,allegiance to our ,individual ,aspiration ,i4 ,,patriotism2 ,,its ,,meaning3 a4 ,we are children of all we can love and serve3 #a4 ,the growth of loyalty1 from the family to the world3 4 ,war as a fighting for peace4 b4 ,patriotism in its growth1 like all progress1 must include the small in the large1 though in seeming disloyalty3 #a4 ,disloyalty to one's country cannot be loyalty to the world4 #b4 ,but wholesome criticism often seems disloyal3 4 ,the loyalty of revolutionists4 ,,ii4 ,,conscious ,,choice ,,in ,,self-,,development3 a4 ,know what you want most to be4 b4 ,eliminate whatever interferes with your choice2 make life a work of art1 not a haphazard photograph4 #a4 ,concentration4 #b4 ,choose and subordinate your studies for their worth to you4 #c4 ,prefer friends to acquaintances4 #d4 ,do the work at hand 7charity at home71 and be sure your service harmonizes with your knowledge and your whole life4 #e4 ,never degrade the end by making an end out of the means4 7,business1 athletics1 study1 must always be means47 c4 ,dare to desire the utmost1 unflinchingly3 #a4 ,greatness comes from persistent desire rather than from inborn skill4 d4 ,youth and old age3 #a4 ,desire and service can continue throughout life4 ,,iii4 ,,variety ,,and ,,rhythm3 a4 ,varied life with single ,aim3 #a4 ,concentrate on one thing at a time1 but not on one thing all the time4 #b4 ,the meaning and worth of ,knowledge4 #c4 ,never be bored1 or bore3 4 ,sense of humor2 and use of silence4 #d4 ,work and play1 exertion and rest1 must harmonize3 4 ,even your pleasures will reflect your character1 or taste4 b4 ,be a rhythm1 a measure1 a force like music in the life all about you4 ,note4--,the fifteenth meeting was spent on ,christian ,science1 and is therefore omitted from the notes4 ,,sixteenth ,,meeting ,social ,relations ,i4 ,,the ,,avoidance ,,of ,,bitter ,,partisanship3 a4 ,take sides1 not with persons1 but with causes4 b4 ,use all4 ,be for all1 and against none4 ,,ii4 ,,social ,,sympathy3 a4 ,humanity as a vast ,self3 #a4 ,democracy means we have all the right to be equal3 4 ,faith and reverence for self in all4 4 ,service is larger self-service4 4 ,each does his part2 hand and head4 #b4 ,to keep well1 to be satisfied1 we must care for the sick and miserable3 4 ,starvation4 4 ,old age4 4 ,contagion4 b4 ,to care for the weak strengthens the strong3 #a4 ,to destroy the weak is dangerous loss4 7,rome and ,sparta47 c4 ,in passing judgment on crimes1 hate not persons but their acts3 #a4 ,each acts according to his desire or needs4 #b4 ,punishment as preventive and cure4 ,,iii4 ,,truth ,,in ,,personal ,,relations3 a4 ,truth-telling not the whole of ,truth3 #a4 ,malicious truth-telling is not truth4 #b4 ,worth of kind1 true criticism and praise4 b4 ,our judgments of people judge us3 #a4 ,our limited understanding4 #b4 ,say3 8,i am one who hates1 or loves10 etc4 c4 ,whom shall we please1 and how8 #a4 ,the morality of good manners4 #b4 ,vanity1 the pretended worth2 and true worth or loveableness4 #c4 8,prettiness0 in manner1 pleasing those who cannot understand us4 #d4 ,social frivolity1 overdress and luxury1 and its result of friendship4 4 ,show is for those we do not love4 7,resembles 8costly material0 in art47 ,,iv4 ,,women ,,and ,,work3 a4 ,the true preparation for marriage4 b4 ,social life and service4 c4 ,knowledge as mere show2 or as power4 ,,seventeenth ,,meeting ,aloofness and ,creation ,i4 ,,seeing ,,life ,,as ,a ,,spectator1 ,,from ,,god',s ,,point ,,of ,,view3 a4 ,the collective personality3 #a4 ,psychological fact3 ,we are often outside ourselves in tense moments4 #b4 ,getting far away from oneself in self-criticism and judgment4 #c4 ,our reasonableness in crises4 #d4 ,all heroism is self-forgetfulness for the sake of the whole4 ,,ii4 ,,result ,,in ,,action ,,and ,,creative ,,living3 a4 ,partnership with whole1 or ,god3 #a4 ,we can see and use our personal life as part of whole4 #b4 ,we can get above our own sorrow and pain1 and use them4 b4 ,this aloofness from self1 or being the ,one1 is the root of all morals3 #a4 ,some know this1 and make laws2 the others are forced to obey4 c4 ,aloofness is collective experience1 or memory1 whence we grow toward the good4 ,we live in all time and space4 ,,iii4 ,,personal ,,result ,,of ,,our ,,club',s ,,work3 a4 ,drawing judgment from the whole4 b4 ,drawing strength from the whole4 c4 ,training our lesser desires to serve the whole aim and desire of our life4 d4 ,how shall we attain to fulfilment in our personal life8 #a4 ,money1 health1 power1 etc41 as certificates of creative value1 to be used for new creation4 99 99 99 99 99 ,transcriber's ,notes3 ,hyphenation and archaic spellings have been retained as in the original4 ,punctuation and type-setting errors have been corrected without note4 ,other corrections are as noted below4 ,page #cg1 and he saw that an and we saw that an ,page #ia1 ,god10 ,i answered ,god10 she answered page #ic1 so2 but a word itself so2 work itself ,page #ajd1 a sense of duty a sense of unity ,page #bcf1 different from each one different for each one ,page #bff1 if the operator always is the spectator always