Excerpts

"One of our difficulties is that we are not really in earnest about these matters, because we do not want to be greatly disturbed. We prefer to alter things only in a manner advantageous to ourselves, and so we are not deeply concerned about our own emptiness and cruelty. Can we ever attain peace through violence? Is peace to be achieved gradually, through a slow process of time? Surely, love is not a matter of training or time."

"But what would happen if we were to put aside such obvious hindrances to understanding as authority, belief, nationalism and the whole hierarchical spirit? We would be people without authority, human beings in direct relationship with each other - and then, perhaps, there would be love and compassion."(p. 76)

"Surely, to discover truth, there must be freedom from strife, both within ourselves and with our neighbours. When we are not in conflict with ourselves, we are not in conflict outwardly. It is the inward strife which, projected outwardly, becomes the world conflict." (p. 77)

"I think we really want arms; we like the show of military power, the uniforms, the rituals, the drinks, the noise, the violence. Our everyday life is a reflection in miniature of this same brutal superficiality, and we are destroying one another through envy and thoughtlessness. We want to be rich; and the richer we get, the more ruthless we become, even though we may contribute large sums to charity and education. Having robbed the victim, we return to him a little of the spoils, and this we call philanthropy." (p. 78)

Education and the Significance of Life