We can say that it is one of the peculiarities of the present day that, above all, thinking, intellectualism has advanced since the middle of the fifteenth century. It is necessary that as part of the immense schooling it must undergo throughout earthly development, humanity must undergo the experience of being educated through intellectualism. In this sense, humanity must experience life with intellectuality as its core principle. The human being could never acquire true freedom without assimilating the intellectual principle in his being.
Source (German): Rudolf Steiner – GA 197 – Gegensätze in der Menschheitsentwickelung / West und Ost, Materialismus und Mystik, Wissen und Glauben – Stuttgart, March 5, 1920 (page 9-10)
Translated by Nesta Carsten-Krüger
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