Vivekananda Mailing List-9/29/02

[Guest guest]

But in every society there is a section whose pleasures are not in

the senses, but beyond, and who now and then catch glimpses of

something higher than matter and struggle to reach it. And if we read

the history of nations between the lines, we shall always find that

the rise of a nation comes with an increase in the number of such

men; and the fall begins when this pursuit after the Infinite,

however vain Utilitarians may call it, has ceased. That is to say,

the mainspring of the strength of every race lies in its

spirituality, and the death of that race begins the day that

spirituality wanes and materialism gains ground.