The Ethical Society, Therefore, Is Like A

An Optimist Is A Person Who Sees Only The Lights In The Picture, Whereas A Pessimist Sees Only The Shadows. An Idealist, However, Is One Who Sees The Light And The Shadows, But In Addition Sees Something Else: The Possibility Of Changing The Picture, Of Making The Lights Prevail Over The Shadows.

Every Dogma, Every Philosophic Or Theological Creed, Was At Its Inception A Statement In Terms Of The Intellect Of A Certain Inner Experience.

An Anxious Unrest, A Fierce Craving Desire For Gain Has Taken Possession Of The Commercial World, And In Instances No Longer Rare The Most Precious And Permanent Goods Of Human Life Have Been Madly Sacrificed In The Interests Of Momentary Enrichment.

No One Can Fail To See That The Power Of The Church Among Large Numbers In Many Communities Is Today Diminishing, Or Has Already Ceased.

Perhaps A Hundred People Assembled One Evening, May 15, 1876, At The Time When The Country Was Celebrating The Hundredth Anniversary Of Its Political Independence.