In their private relations
they are not pre-occupied with anxiety lest
they should lose such affection and respect as they
receive: they are engaged in giving affection
and respect freely, and the reward comes of
itself without their seeking. In their work they
are not haunted by jealousy of competitors, but
concerned with the actual matter that has to be done.
In politics, they do not spend time and passion defending
unjust privileges of their class or nation, but
they aim at making the world as a whole happier, less
cruel, less full of conflict between rival greeds, and
more full of human beings whose growth has not
been dwarfed and stunted by oppression.
A life lived in this spirit--the spirit that aims at
creating rather than possessing--has a certain
fundamental happiness, of which it cannot be wholly
robbed by adverse circumstances. This is the way
of life recommended in the Gospels, and by all the
great teachers of the world. Those who have found
it are freed from the tyranny of fear, since what they
value most in their lives is not at the mercy of outside
power. If all men could summon up the courage
and the vision to live in this way in spite of obstacles
and discouragement, there would be no need for the
regeneration of the world to begin by political and
economic reform: all that is needed in the way of reform
would come automatically, without resistance,
owing to the moral regeneration of individuals.
Pages:
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231