But Even Our Pleasures Are Calculated And

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.

I Believe In The Supreme Excellence Of Righteousness; I Believe That The Law Of Righteousness Will Triumph In The Universe Over All Evil; I Believe That In The Attempt To Fulfil The Law Of Righteousness, However Imperfect It Must Remain, Are To Be Found The Inspiration, The Consolation, And The Sanctification Of Human Existence. We Live In Order To Finish An, As Yet, Unfinished Universe, Unfinished So Far As The Human, That Is, The Highest Part Of It, Is Concerned. We Live In Order To Develop The Superior Qualities Of Man Which Are, As Yet, For The Most Part Latent.

Admitting The Force Of These Contentions, Nevertheless, The Custom Of Meeting Together In Public Assembly For The Consideration Of The Most Serious, The Most Exalted Topics Of Human Interest Is Too Vitally Precious To Be Lost.

Man Is Like A Tree, With The Mighty Trunk Of Intellect, The Spreading Branches Of Imagination, And The Roots Of The Lower Instincts That Bind Him To The Earth. The Moral Life, However, Is The Fruit He Bears; In It His True Nature Is Revealed.

The Ethical Society, Therefore, Is Like A Church In Maintaining, And Emphasizing The Importance Of Maintaining The Custom Of Public Assemblies On Sunday.