To understand the development of humanity, it must be viewed in its whole range. Only so can we see its high ideal. To believe that an ideal is not necessary for action is a great error. A man without ideals is a man without power. The function of an ideal in life is like that of steam in an engine. Steam comprises in a small area a vast expanse of ‘condensed space’ — hence its tremendous power of expansion. The magic power of thought is of the same nature. Let us then rise to the thought of the ideal of humanity as a whole, guided by the thread of its evolution through the epochs of time.
Source: Rudolf Steiner – GA 94 – An Esoteric Cosmology – II – The Mission of Manicheism – Paris, 26th May 1906
Translated by Rene Querido
Previously posted on January 5, 2018
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