History Had A Slow Pulse;

The Integrative Tendencies Of The Individual Operate Through The Mechanisms Of Empathy, Sympathy, Projection, Introjection, Identification, Worship- All Of Which Make Him Feel That He Is A Part Of Some Larger Entity Which Transcends The Boundaries Of The Individual Self. This Psychological Urge To Belong, To Participate, To Commune Is As Primary And Real As Its Opposite. The All-important Question Is The Nature Of That Higher Entity Of Which The Individual Feels Himself A Part.

The Creative Act Does Not Create Something Out Of Nothing; It Uncovers, Selects, Reshuffles, Combines, Synthesizes Already Existing Facts, Ideas, Faculties, And Skills.

I Profoundly Admire Aldous Huxley, Both For His Philosophy And Uncompromising Sincerity. But I Disagree With His Advocacy Of 'the Chemical Opening Of Doors Into The Other World', And With His Belief That Drugs Can Procure 'what Catholic Theologians Call A Gratuitous Grace'. Chemically Induced Hallucinations, Delusions And Raptures May Be Frightening Or Wonderfully Gratifying; In Either Case They Are In The Nature Of Confidence Tricks Played On One's Own Nervous System.

Most Of Us Were Not Afraid Of Death, Only Of The Act Of Dying; And There Were Times When We Overcame Even This Fear. At Such Moments We Were Free-men Without Shadows, Dismissed From The Ranks Of The Mortal; It Was The Most Complete Experience Of Freedom That Can Be Granted A Man.

If Power Corrupts, The Reverse Is Also True; Persecution Corrupts The Victims Though Perhaps In Subtler And More Tragic Ways.