THE WONDERS OF LIFE 



that lie open to every one of us at the commencement of 

 the twentieth century — treasures of which our grand- 

 parents at the beginning of the last century had not 

 the slightest presentiment. 



Just as the individual has experienced a great advance 

 in the value of his personal life by the higher culture of 

 the nineteenth century, so the modern state itself has 

 benefited by it in many ways. The many discoveries 

 made in every branch of science and technical industry, 

 the great advance in commerce and industrial life, in 

 art and science, were bound to bring about a higher 

 development of the whole mind of a modern community. 

 Never, in the whole of history, has true science risen to 

 such an astounding height as it has at the beginning of 

 the twentieth century. Never before did the human 

 mind penetrate so deeply into the darkest mysteries of 

 nature, never did it rise so high to a sense of the unity 

 of nature and make such practical use of its knowledge. 

 These brilliant triumphs of modern civilization have, 

 however, only been made possible by the various forces 

 co-operating in a vast division of labor, and by the great 

 nations utilizing their resources zealously for the attain- 

 ment of the common end. 



But we are still far from the attainment of the ideal. 

 The social organization of our states is advanced only 

 on one side; it is very reactionary on other sides. Un- 

 fortunately, the words of Wallace which I quoted in 

 the Riddle remain as true as ever. Our modern states 

 will only pass beyond this condition in the course of the 

 twentieth century if they adopt pure reason as their 

 guide instead of faith and traditional authority, and if 

 they come at length to understand aright "man's place 

 in nature." 



If we take a summary view of all that I have said on 

 the increase in the value of human life by the progress 

 of civilization, there can be no doubt that both the 



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