FACTORS IN CONSTRUCTIVE ACTION 39 



Two thousand years ago, a philosopher discovered 

 a great constructive truth. His acts and words con- 

 veyed it to his followers. They in turn translated vital 

 acts and verbal symbols into dead material forms, into 

 zigzag lines on parchment, and piled up stones and 

 monuments. And these helped to preserve the truth 

 from generation to generation, and carried it from race 

 to race and land to land, and then and there again made 

 truth the guide to vital action. To convey that thing, 

 devoid of force and substance, across the centuries and 

 around the world, much labor and machinery was de- 

 manded. Without the services of those material in- 

 struments the philosopher would have lived and died 

 to little purpose. 



