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Timebinder, v. 1, Issue 2, 1945

of greater maturity and of even greater appreciation of life. ((I sincerely hope so. -- EEE)). In the last year I believe I have discovered a few ideas that seem to me to go a little beyond the ideas you express. Perhaps they are not actually beyond but I would appreciate your response to them.

((NOTE: Not in the sense of bragging about my daughter, but that you may perhaps get more benefit from her ideas, I wish to mention that she has degrees in Psychology and the Social Sciences -- I don't remember the exact titles of her theses. -- EEE)).

"I have been wondering if we do not need to look at life objectively -- the 'good' and the 'bad' (these being relative as far as our social understanding in any one period), the progress or retrogression, the rose and the dung. We look at it and see that it is all a part of a whole, all a part of the pattern of life on earth. There is birth and death and who can say death is 'bad'. There is growth and decay. We can make certain decisions in the present which seem to make life better or worse as we ourselves are affected, but we can go little beyond that without the danger of having an effect which we did not anticipate or desire.

"This of course is very difficult for us who feel strongly about some things and we sometimes forget, but basically we believe that this is the only true attitude as far as we can now see.

"The responsibility of trying to mold history is too great for us to assume it easily. Do you see what I am trying to say? ((I honestly believe I do. -- EEE)). I think it is a little different from our optimism which says, life is really progressing, so don't worry about the apparent failures. Rather would I say, life is a combination of progress and retrogression, we must see them both, see how they affect us and present history and then make our immediate choices of action as well as we can.

"It is not a denial of the interrelationship of all history nor of the continued existence and movement of life, but it does not emphasize progress as such, because how can we from our limited perspective hope to know whether anything so relative as progress has actually been achieved. I firmly believe that man is capable of achieving the Brotherhood or Man because a few individuals have seemed to achieve it in their own lives. Whether a vast and complex society can do so in another question which I would not want to try to answer.

"My first point would then be, one should try to see life in its entirety and to understand all aspects of it wihtout denying or belittling any of these aspects. ((It really grieves me that so many seemed to have gained the impression that I entirely close my eyes to the 'evil' or 'pessimistic' side of life. I do not do so, I do not think we can 'coast' along to glory, I don't feel that Brotherhood can be achieved without a tremendous fight and many set-backs. But I DO believe that man has, in himself, that something that will make him keep on with the struggle un-

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of greater maturity and of even greater appreciation of life. ((I sincerely hope so. -- EEE)). In the last year I believe I have discovered a few ideas that seem to me to go a little beyond the ideas you express. Perhaps they are not actually beyond but I would appreciate your response to them. ((NOTE: Not in the sense of bragging about my daughter, but that you may perhaps get more benefit from her ideas, I wish to mention that she has degrees in Psychology and the Social Sciences -- I don't remember the exact titles of her theses. -- EEE)). "I have been wondering if we do not need to look at life objectively -- the 'good' and the 'bad' (these being relative as far as our social understanding in any one period), the progress or retrogression, the rose and the dung. We look at it and see that it is all a part of a whole, all a part of the pattern of life on earth. There is birth and death and who can say death is 'bad'. There is growth and decay. We can make certain decisions in the present which seem to make life better or worse as we ourselves are affected, but we can go little beyond that without the danger of having an effect which we did not anticipate or desire. "This of course is very difficult for us who feel strongly about some things and we sometimes forget, but basically we believe that this is the only true attitude as far as we can now see. "The responsibility of trying to mold history is too great for us to assume it easily. Do you see what I am trying to say? ((I honestly believe I do. -- EEE)). I think it is a little different from our optimism which says, life is really progressing, so don't worry about the apparent failures. Rather would I say, life is a combination of progress and retrogression, we must see them both, see how they affect us and present history and then make our immediate choices of action as well as we can. "It is not a denial of the interrelationship of all history nor of the continued existence and movement of life, but it does not emphasize progress as such, because how can we from our limited perspective hope to know whether anything so relative as progress has actually been achieved. I firmly believe that man is capable of achieving the Brotherhood or Man because a few individuals have seemed to achieve it in their own lives. Whether a vast and complex society can do so in another question which I would not want to try to answer. "My first point would then be, one should try to see life in its entirety and to understand all aspects of it wihtout denying or belittling any of these aspects. ((It really grieves me that so many seemed to have gained the impression that I entirely close my eyes to the 'evil' or 'pessimistic' side of life. I do not do so, I do not think we can 'coast' along to glory, I don't feel that Brotherhood can be achieved without a tremendous fight and many set-backs. But I DO believe that man has, in himself, that something that will make him keep on with the struggle un- 26