Civilisation : Its Cause and Cure 



fellows, the individual man enters into a wider 

 and wider circle of life ; the joys and sorrows, 

 the experiences, of his fellov/s become his own 

 joys and sorrows, his own experiences ; he passes 

 into a life which is larger than his own individual 

 life ; forces flow in upon him which determine 

 his actions, not for results which return to him 

 directly, but for results which can only return to 

 him indirectly and through others ; at last the 

 ground of humanity, as it v/ere, reveals itself within 

 him, the region of human equality — and his actions 

 come to flow directly from the very same source 

 which regulates and inspires the whole movement 

 of society. At this point the problem is solved. 

 The growth has taken place from within ; it is 

 not of the nature of an external compulsion, but 

 of an inwarci compunction. By actual conscious- 

 ness the man has taken on an ever-enlarging life, 

 and at last the life of humanity, v/hich has no fixed 

 form, no ever-valid code ; but is itself the true 

 life, surpassing definition, yet inspiring all actions 

 and passions, all codes and forms, and determining 

 at last their place. 



It is the gradual growth of this supreme life in 

 each individual which is the great and indeed 

 the only hope of Society — it is that for which 

 Society exists : a life which so far from dwarf- 

 ing individuality enhances immensely its power, 

 causing the individual to move with the weight 

 of the universe behind him — and exalting what 

 were once his little peculiarities and defects into 

 the splendid manifestations of his humanity. 



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