Education and the Philosophical Ideal by Horatio W. Dresser - Read the Complete Text for free at NewThoughtLibrary.com

Divine Library is a free online public library that includes free eBook downloads and free audio books.

We work with New Thought Seekers and Sharers around the world insuring that all New Thought Texts in the Public Domain are available for you to read on the web for free, forever!

"Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit."
~ 2 Corinthians 2:17

Navigate through this book by clicking Next Page or Previous Page below the text of the page & jump directly to chapters using the chapter numbers above the text.

Serving New Thought is pleased to present

Horatio W. Dresser's

Education and the Philosophical Ideal

"Evolution is better than Revolution. New Thought Library's New Thought Archives encompass a full range of New Thought from Abrahamic to Vedic. New Thought literature reflects the ongoing evolution of human thought. New Thought's unique inclusion of science, art and philosophy presents a dramatic contrast with the magical thinking of decadent religions that promulgate supersticions standing in the way of progress to shared peace and prosperity." ~ Avalon de Rossett

Your PayPal contributions insure this gift lasts forever. Please consider an ongoing PayPal subscription.

Preface - Introduction - The New Point of View - Educational Ideals - Equanimity - The Subconscious Mind - The Spiritual Ideal in Childhood - An Experiment in Education - The Expression of the Spirit - An Ideal Summer Conference - The Ministry of the Spirit - The Mystery of Pain and Evil - The Philosophical Ideal - The Criteria of Truth - Organic Perfection - Immortality - Index - p. 247

and worth. "Nothing venture, nothing have"; and, to venture, we must be ignorant of the outcome. If man could be told the sequel ere he began the story, life would lose all its zest. If he were simply "good," he would be very weak and uninteresting. Life would be like a perpetual summer with never a drop of rain, every living thing perfectly white, the same monotonous sound breaking upon the ear, no pleasure because no pain with which to contrast it, nothing doing because nothing to do, not even a problem to solve in the drearily identical state of mind of the poor inhabitants, who would be absolutely alike. ¹ For relativity and contrast are essentials without which experience is impossible.

Or, try to imagine life organised on a painless basis so far as the mere activities of the body are concerned. There would then be no warning sensation of fatigue, nothing to show that Nature is repairing an injury or readjusting her forces after an excess; and, consequently, man would be in constant danger of maiming his body for life or causing instant death. For pain is primarily an indication that the natural rhythm, or equilibrium, of the body has been disturbed. In itself, it is perfectly good, beneficent. It is only man's misuse, ignorance, and infliction of it that has caused it to be accentuated into disease, and brought into such disrepute that it is ungraciously called "evil."

(1) For an able discussion of the law of contrast, see John Fiske, Through Nature to God. Houghton, Mifflin, Co„ 1899.

page scan

148

PREVIOUS PAGE - NEXT PAGE