The Sublimated Idealism Of The Enlightenment, The

American Literature Has Never Been Content To Be Just One Among The Many Literatures Of The Western World. It Has Always Aspired To Be The Literature Not Only Of A New Continent But Of A New World.

Every Great Movement In The History Of Western Civilization From The Carolingian Age To The Nineteenth Century Has Been An International Movement Which Owed Its Existence And Its Development To The Cooperation Of Many Different Peoples.

As I Have Pointed Out, It Is The Christian Tradition That Is The Most Fundamental Element In Western Culture. It Lies At The Base Not Only Of Western Religion, But Also Of Western Morals And Western Social Idealism.

If Man Attempts To Suppress The Animal Side Of His Nature By A Sheer Effort Of Conscious Will, Nature Finds A Hundred Unexpected And Unpleasant Ways To Take Its Revenge.

If Man Limits Himself To A Satisfied Animal Existence, And Asks From Life Only What Such An Existence Can Give, The Higher Values Of Life At Once Disappear.