Non-fiction authors from Scotland

"If in the present work I have dwelt at some length on the worship of trees, it is not, I trust, because I exaggerate its importance in the history of religion, still less because I would deduce from it a whole system of mythology; it is simply because I could not ignore the subject in attempting to explain the significance of a priest who bore the title of King Of the Wood, and one of whose titles to office was the plucking of a bough — the Golden Bough — from a tree in the sacred grove."

"A candidate for the priesthood could only succeed to office by slaying the priest, and having slain him, he retained office till he was himself slain by a stronger or a craftier."

"If we analyze the principles of thought on which magic is based, they will probably be found to resolve themselves into two: first, that like produces like, or that an effect resembles its cause; and, second, that things which have once been in contact with each other continue to act on each other at a distance after the physical contact has been severed. The former principle may be called the Law of Similarity, the latter the Law of Contact or Contagion. From the first of these principles, namely the Law of Similarity, the magician infers that he can produce any effect he desires merely by imitating it: from the second he infers that whatever he does to a material object will affect equally the person with whom the object was once in contact, whether it formed part of his body or not."

"It is for the philosophic student to trace the train of thought which underlies the magicians practice; to draw out the few simple threads of which the tangled skein is composed; to disengage the abstract principles from their concrete applications; in short, to discern the spurious science from the bastard art."

"The natives of British Columbia live largely upon the fish which abound in their seas and rivers. If the fish do not come in due season, and the Indians are hungry, A Nootka wizard will make an image of a swimming fish and put it into the water in the direction from which the fish generally appear. This ceremony, accompanied by a prayer to the fish to come, will cause them to arrive at once."

"For there are strong grounds for thinking that, in the evolution of thought, magic has preceded religion."

"Dwellers by the sea cannot fail to be impressed by the sight of its ceaseless ebb and flow, and are apt, on the principles of that rude philosophy of sympathy and resemblance...to trace a subtle relation, a secret harmony, between its tides and the life of man...The belief that most deaths happen at ebb tide is said to be held along the east coast of England from Northumberland to Kent."

"But once a fool always a fool, and the greater the power in his hands the more disastrous is likely to be the use he makes of it. The heaviest calamity in English history, the breach with America, might never have occurred if George the Third had not been an honest dullard."

"The old notion that the savage is the freest of mankind is the reverse of the truth. He is a slave, not indeed to a visible master, but to the past, to the spirits of his dead forefathers, who haunt his steps from birth to death, and rule him with a rod of iron."

"From the earliest times man has been engaged in a search for general rules whereby to turn the order of natural phenomena to his own advantage, and in the long search he has scraped together a great hoard of such maxims, some of them golden and some of them mere dross. The true or golden rules constitute the body of applied science which we call the arts; the false are magic."

"By religion, then, I understand a propitiation or conciliation of powers superior to man which are believed to direct and control the course of nature and of human life."

"Ancient magic was the very foundation of religion."

"We seem to move on a thin crust which may at any moment be rent by the subterranean forces slumbering below."

"If the test of truth lay in a show of hands or a counting of heads, the system of magic might appeal, with far more reason than the Catholic Church, to the proud motto, Quod semper, quod ubique, quod ab omnibus [always, everywhere, and by all], as the sure and certain credential of its own infallibility."

"Small minds cannot grasp great ideas; to their narrow comprehension, their purblind vision, nothing seems really great and important but themselves. Such minds hardly rise into religion at all."

"I am a plain practical man, not one of your theorists and splitters of hairs and choppers of logic."

"In primitive society, where uniformity of occupation is the rule, and the distribution of the community into various classes of workers has hardly begun, every man is more or less his own magician; he practices charms and incantations for his own good and the injury of his enemies."

"The slow, the never ending approach to truth consists in perpetually forming and testing hypotheses, accepting those at which at the time seem to fit the facts and rejecting the others."

"In point of fact magicians appear to have often developed into chiefs and kings."

"With the advance of knowledge, therefore, prayer and sacrifice assume the leading place in religious ritual; and magic; which once ranked with them as a legitimate equal, is gradually relegated to the background and sinks to the level of a black art."

"When a tree comes to be viewed, no longer as the body of the tree spirit, but simply as its abode which it can quit at pleasure, an important advance has been made in religious thought."

"If their king is their god, he is or should be also their preserver; and if he will not preserve them, he must make room for another who will."

"It is a common rule with primitive people not to waken a sleeper, because his soul is away and might not have time to get back; so if the man wakened without his soul, he would fall sick. If it is absolutely necessary to rouse a sleeper, it must be done very gradually, to allow the soul time to return."

"The awe and dread with which the untutored savage contemplates his mother-in-law are amongst the most familiar facts of anthropology."

"In primitive society the rules of ceremonial purity observed by divine kings, chiefs, and priests agree in many respects with the rules observed by homicides, mourners, women in childbed, girls at puberty, hunters and fishermen, and so on. To us these various classes of persons appear to differ totally in character and condition; some of them we should call holy, others we might pronounce unclean and polluted. But the savage makes no such moral distinction between them; the conceptions of holiness and pollution are not yet differentiated in his mind. To him the common feature of all these persons is that they are dangerous and in danger, and the danger in which they stand and to which they expose others is what we should call spiritual or ghostly, and therefore imaginary. The danger, however, is not less real because it is imaginary; imagination acts upon man as really does gravitation, and may kill him as certainly as a dose of prussic acid."

"Man has created gods in his own likeness and being himself mortal he has naturally supposed his creatures to be in the same sad predicament."

"Yet perhaps no sacrifice is wholly useless which proves there are men who prefer honour to life."

"If any of my readers set out with the notion that that all races of men think and act much in the same way as educated Englishmen, the evidence of superstitious belief and custom collected in this work should suffice to disabuse him of so erroneous a prepossession."

"In course of time the slow advance of knowledge, which has dispelled so many cherished illusions, convinced at least the more thoughtful portion of mankind that the alterations of summer and winter, of spring and autumn, were not merely the result of their own magical rites, but that some deeper cause, some mightier power, was at work behind the shifting scenes of nature."

"If mankind had always been logical and wise, history would not be a long chronicle of folly and crime."

"Indeed the influence of music on the development of religion is a subject which would repay a sympathetic study."

"The world cannot live at the level of its great men."

"For myth changes while custom remains constant; men continue to do what their did before them, though the reasons on which their fathers acted have been long forgotten.The history of religion is a long attempt to reconcile old custom with new reason, to find a sound theory for an absurd practice."

"The notion that we can transfer our guilt and sufferings to some other being who will bear them for us is familiar to the savage mind. It arises from a very obvious confusion between the physical and the mental, between the material and the immaterial."

"For ages the army of spirits, once so near, has been receding farther and farther from us, banished by the magic wand of science from hearth and home, from ruined cell and ivied tower, from haunted glade and lonely mere, from the riven murky cloud that belches forth lightning, and from those fairer clouds that pillow the silvery moon or fret with flakes of burning red the golden eve."

"Thus it comes about that the endeavour of primitive people to make a clean sweep of all their troubles generally takes the form of a grand hunting out and expulsion of devils and ghosts. They think that if they can only shake off these their accursed tormentors, they will make a fresh start in life, happy and innocent; the tales of Eden and the old poetic golden age will come true again."

"The scapegoat upon whom the sins of the people are periodically laid, may also be a human being."

"It may be suspected that the custom of employing a divine man or animal as a public scapegoat is much more widely diffused than appears from the examples cited."

"For when a nation becomes civilized, if it does not drop human sacrifices altogether, it at least selects as victims only such wretches as would be put to death at any rate. Thus the killing of a god may sometimes come to be confounded with the execution of a criminal."

"The Athenians regularly maintained a number of degraded and useless beings at the public expense; and when any calamity, such as plague, drought, or famine, befell the city, they sacrificed two of these outcast scapegoats."

"The custom of burning a beneficent god is too foreign to later modes of thought to escape misinterpretation."

"The consideration of human suffering is not one which enters into the calculations of primitive man."

"To a modern reader the connexion at first sight may not be obvious between the activity of the hangman and the productivity of the earth."

"From time immemorial the mistletoe has been the object of superstitious veneration in Europe."

"It is not a new opinion that the Golden Bough was the mistletoe. True, Virgil does not identify but only compares it with the mistletoe. But this may be only a poetical device to cast a mystic glamour over the humble plant."

"For the present we have journeyed far enough together, and it is time to part."

"The abundance, the solidity, and the splendor of the results already achieved by science are well fitted to inspire us with a cheerful confidence in the soundness of its method."

"It is probably not too much to say that the hope of progress--moral and intellectual as well as material--in the future is bound up with the fortunes of science, and that every obstacle placed in the way of scientific discovery is a wrong to humanity."

"The advance of knowledge is an infinite progression towards a goal that ever recedes."

"In the ages to come man may be able to predict, perhaps even to control, the wayward courses of the winds and the clouds, but hardly will his puny hands have strength to speed afresh our slackening planet in its orbit or rekindle the dying fire of the sun. Yet the philosopher who trembles at the idea of such distant catastrophes may console himself by reflecting that these gloomy apprehensions, like the earth and the sun themselves, are only parts of that unsubstantial world which thought has conjured up out of the void, and that the phantoms which the subtle enchantress has evoked to-day she may ban to-morrow. They too, like so much that to the common eye seems solid, may melt into air, into thin air."

"The temple of the sylvan goddess, indeed, has vanished, and the King of the Wood no longer stands sentinel over the Golden Bough."

"If you can imagine some strange hybrid of Claude Lévi-Strauss, Carlos Castaneda and Edward Gibbon, you may get some idea of the importance of J.G. Frazer to his contemporaries; he was one of the great systematic thinkers of the 19th century, to rank alongside Karl Marx and Herbert Spencer; and yet he is now an almost forgotten figure. As an anthropologist and historian of religion he helped to create what his biographer calls "the modern spirit" – even though to many people this will mean no more than the fact that his great work, The Golden Bough, was deployed by T. S. Eliot in The Waste Land."

"The idea for it [The Love That Whirls] came from Fraser's The Golden Bough. The film was to present a ritual of sacrifice."

"Studies of culture like The Golden Bough and the usual comparative ethnological volumes are analytical discussions of traits and ignore all the aspects of cultural integration."

"When posterity comes to estimate the work of our age, the record of Sir James Frazer would suffice, almost of itself, to redeem it of a charge of sterility. It is a work, to be sure, which sums up and organizes the past, marshals it, so to say, with the sweep of an encyclopædic construction of theory; the sort of work, as Spengler tells us, which civilization performs after its creative ardour is spent. That is to undervalue it grossly: science, when she brings to bear upon the meaningless disorder of fact such inventive insight as Frazer's, creates as truly and as boldly as art."

"Scholars before him may have equalled this monument of toil, but Frazer has the kind of genius which, in spite of Carlyle, goes so rarely with this "infinite capacity for taking pains." He conjectures with a boldness which ranks him among the great pioneers; he has in his speculation a vision so far-reaching that one marvels at the power of this eye to adjust itself to the microscopic focus which much of his work demands. With it all, this exact yet daring scientist is also a great writer. It is much that he is always lucid and never writes a less than perfect sentence, but these are the least of the merits of an artist who can pass with ease from humorous irony to the high colours of a bravura passage."

"To another work of anthropology I am indebted in general, one which has influenced our generation profoundly; I mean The Golden Bough."

"In any case Tylor's (and Frazer’s) general outlook was one that later on became adopted and developed by the psychoanalysts, in whose hands the general similarities between the different aspects of "primitive mind"—whether in the child, the dreamer, the neurotic or the savage—have recently undergone an elaboration which seems likely to establish a successful and progressive "comparative psychology" upon a very wide basis."

"Tylor paved the way for Sir James Frazer, who, in a series of great treatises, Totemism and Exogamy, The Golden Bough, The Folklore of the Old Testament, The Belief in Immortality, etc., each of them in several volumes (no less than twelve in the last edition of The Golden Bough), gave to the world a vast wealth of material presented in a most attractive form. Frazer had the patience and enthusiasm of the collector, combined with an astonishing power of marshalling his facts and a rare literary charm. His weakness lay, perhaps, in a lack of theoretical insight wherewith to interpret his results, and a want of critical discrimination with regard to the relative value of the innumerable sources from which his data were collected."

"Frazer laid matters out in such a way as to support my instinctive belief that divinity was bunk. He was a scholar, he had studied tribal societies. It was a moment of great excitement. Now everything became clear to me. The earliest people had seen their gods in natural phenomena they didn't understand. They didn't understand thunder so they made a god of thunder. They didn't understand why there were good seasons and bad seasons so they made a god of fertility. And then the Earth Mother appeared all over the world, the universal god controlling the mysterious process of conception in humans, animals and plants."

"In its boundless erudition, its constructive imagination, and its wealth of suggestion, the Golden Bough stands forth as perhaps the most notable contribution of the age to our knowledge of the evolution of the human race."

"Among my own contemporaries was J. G. Frazer, who was soon to light the dark wood of savage superstition with a gleam from The Golden Bough. The happy title of that book—Sir James Frazer has a veritable genius for titles—made it arrest the attention of scholars. They saw in comparative anthropology a serious subject actually capable of elucidating a Greek or Latin text. Tylor had written and spoken; Robertson Smith, exiled for heresy, had seen the Star in the East; in vain; we classical deaf-adders stopped our ears and closed our eyes; but at the mere sound of the magical words "Golden Bough" the scales fell—we heard and understood."

"The author of The Golden Bough holds a unique position in our present world. There are few men of letters writing to-day of whom it can be said with greater certainty that their works will be collected. For Sir James is both a man of letters and also an historian; and, as Bury said when he edited The Decline and Fall and noted how Gibbon had endured, this is a combination which makes a man immortal. Indeed Sir James's position may, when men look back, appear even more commanding than Gibbon's. For Gibbon only made ordered and more amusing for the polished world what was known to every contemporary scholar about the ancient world. But Frazer revealed a completely strange world, and strove to interpret, not to mock, its strangeness."

"The Golden Bough, compared by Virgil to the mistletoe but now revealing some affinity to the banyan, has not only waxed a great tree but has spread to a spacious and hospitable forest, whose king receives homage in many tongues from a multitude resorting thither for its fruit or timber or refreshing shade. There they find learning mated with literature, labour disguised in ease, and a museum of dark and uncouth superstitions invested with the charm of a truly sympathetic magic. There you have gathered together, for the admonition of a proud and oblivious race, the scattered and fading relics of its foolish childhood, whether withdrawn from our view among savage folk and in different countries, or lying unnoticed at our doors. The forgotten milestones of the road which man has travelled, the mazes and blind alleys of his appointed progress through time, are illuminated by your art and genius, and the strangest of remote and ancient things are brought near to the minds and hearts of your contemporaries."

"If we define, then an anthropologist as one who passionately loves the continuity of tradition and works for its preservation and development, who also brings to this task a profound knowledge of our own mythology as well as of the superstitions of other savages—Sir James Frazer is the greatest anthropologist of our age."

"In this work of revealing to us the full human meaning of Greek and Latin culture, Frazer started with his classical interests. The six volumes of his Pausanias give us a vision of ancient Greece as it was in the times of Imperial Rome. In his Golden Bough, starting from one of the most inexplicable and barbarous customs recorded from Latium, Frazer gives us the theory of primitive culture and of the rational savagery of human faith, a theory which will for ever remain a master piece of comparative anthropology."

"The case for Frazer—who like Spencer is rather under a cloud to-day—is too complex and technical to be argued briefly here. His use of the comparative method on an enormous scale can be faulted, though the fascinating detail it reveals and the charm of his Augustan style ensure that he is still read. His industry was truly Darwinian, and I believe that his success in subsuming vast masses of data under a few leading ideas was considerable. Unfortunately the anti-evolutionary reaction, largely led by Malinowski, has resulted in neglect of Frazer's achievement. Such a reaction was not surprising, for hypothetical yet untestable evolutionary theories had multiplied endlessly in the early years of the present century. In rejecting these a new freedom was gained, but, alas, much that was solid in the work of a Frazer or a Westermack was forgotten."

"But just occasionally an epic reference book is so beautifully written that it actually inspires artistic creativity. Think of how T. S. Eliot acknowledged his huge debt to J. G. Frazer's anthropological masterpiece, The Golden Bough, in the preface to The Waste Land. And rightly so: I am currently reading a new paperback edition of Frazer's monumental study of ritual slayings (invaluable background for anybody working in a newspaper office), and it has lost none of its stupendous evocative power in the 80 years since it was finished."

"I remember the shock, the combined shock of interest and almost of horror, with which The Golden Bough burst upon classical scholars like me when it first appeared in 1890. Of course it was not quite our first introduction to anthropology. We knew something of Tylor and Andrew Lang and perhaps Mannhardt, perhaps even of Robertson Smith's sacred camel which had to be eaten alive before sunrise. But Frazer, for one thing, overpowered us with his mass of carefully ordered facts. We had heard of "the beastly devices of the heathen" but had not realised their great number and variety, had not understood the method which underlay their madness."

"The long avenues of thought that have led from Frazer's Golden Bough seem to start physically in front of the dining-room fireplace of the home where as a boy of 15 I sat hour after hour absorbing first the one-volume abridgment and then the three-volume edition. I cannot imagine how different my mental and religious life would have been if the impact of J. G. Frazer had come at another time or not at all."

"When the history of British anthropology during the last half century or something more comes to be written, it will be found that three names stand clear away from those of their contemporaries—Tylor, Haddon, and Frazer. Each of these men represents an aspect of the science of man: Tylor as the initiator of general ethnology in the modern critical sense; Haddon receiving the torch and begetting (with Rivers's help) a school of precise field anthropology; Frazer, the supreme interpreter on the literary side of man's hopes, fears, and beliefs, his relations with his gods, his fellows, and with his own soul."

"Frazer, Harrison and the others took the politeness out of myths and released them from the tameness of mere decoration. They saw them as reflecting the bare substructures of society and of its rituals; and they emphasised the irrational, dark elements of myth (in keeping with the age of Nietzsche). For them, Dionysus was not only the merry god of wine, he was the god whose possessed followers tore living creatures into bloody fragments."

"I still possess the complete edition of Frazer's The Golden Bough which Aubrey gave me at that time, and which opened my eyes to the ritualistic origins of theatre, affecting considerably the way I was later to conceive of opera."

"Frazer's account of the magical and religious views of mankind is unsatisfactory; it makes these views look like errors."

"Frazer is much more savage than most of his savages, for they are not as far removed from the understanding of spiritual matter as a twentieth-century Englishman. His explanations of primitive practices are much cruder than the meaning of these practices themselves."

"The Golden Bough (not to speak of the many other anthropological volumes) is one of those books which have a tremendously vitalising and fertilising effect upon a branch of human knowledge. It is not unworthy of comparison with The Origin of Species. Both books consist largely of an immense number of facts, collected and related with immense patience; in both the generalisations from this vast accumulation of facts are made with extreme caution and even reluctance, and at the same time they have a kind of cosmic range and relevance. To many people Frazer seemed to do for the mental evolution of the human race what Darwin had done for its physical evolution. Whatever be the ultimate judgment upon his method and conclusions, there can be no doubt of the profound effect that he has had upon the science of anthropology."

"Last words: "I bless the Lord that he gave me counsel.""

"Like a fool as I was , I suffered my sun to be high in the heavens and near afternoon before I ever took the gate by the end."

"I see grace growth best in winter"

"ye and I might meet with joy up in the rainbow"

"I hang by a thread, but it is (if I may so speak) of Christ's spinning"

"I had but one joy, the apple of the eye of my delights , to preach Christ my Lord"

"The bloom fell off my branches and joy did cast off its flower"

"The good Husbandman may pluck His rose & gather in His lily."

"The night will close the door & fasten my anchor within the veil and I shall go away to sleep."

"Grace will ever speak for itself and be fruitful in well-doing; the sanctified cross is a fruitful tree."

"Ye have lost a child — nay, she is not lost to you, who is found to Christ; she is not sent away, but only sent before; like unto a star, which going out of our sight, doth not die and vanish, but shineth in another hemisphere."

"Let your children be as so many flowers, borrowed from God. If the flowers die or wither, thank God for a summer loan of them."

"Dearest wife, let us go on and faint not; something of ours is in heaven besides the flesh of our exalted Saviour, and we go on after our own."

"My desire is that my Lord would give me broader and deeper thoughts, to feed myself with wondering at His love."

"In our fluctuations of feeling, it is well to remember that Jesus admits no change in His affections; your heart is not the compass Jesus saileth by."

"Every day we may see some new thing in Christ. His love hath neither brim nor bottom."

"I find my Lord Jesus cometh not in the precise way that I lay wait for Him. He hath a manner of His own. Oh, how high are His ways above my ways"

"Take Christ in with you under your yoke, and let patience have her perfect work."

"There is nothing that will make you a Christian indeed, but a taste of the sweetness of Christ."

"Christ, in that place He hath put you, hath intrusted you with a dear pledge, which is His own glory, and hath armed you with His sword to keep the pledge, and make a good account of it to God."

"Christ seeketh your help in your place; give Him your hand."

"You must take a house beside the Physician. It will be a miracle if ye be the first sick that Christ hath put away uncured."

"Welcome, welcome, cross of Christ, if Christ be with it."

"How soon would faith freeze without a cross!"

"Build your nest upon no tree here, for ye see that God hath sold the forest to death."

"Be not cast down. If ye saw Him who is standing on the shore, holding out His arms to welcome you to land, ye would wade, not only through a sea of wrongs, but through hell itself to be with Him."

"When ye are come to the other side of the water, and have set down your foot on the shore ot glorious eternity, and look back again to the waters and to your wearisome journey, and shall see in that clear glass of endless glory, nearer to the bottom of God's wisdom, ye shall then be forced to say, " If God had done otherwise with me than He hath done, I had never come to the enjoyment of this crown of glory.""

"It is no small comfort that God hath written some Scriptures to you which He hath not to others. Read these, and think God is like a friend who sendeth a letter to a whole house and family, but who speaketh in His letter to some by name that are dearest to Him in the house."

"There is nothing left to us but to see how we may be approved of Him, and how we may roll the weight of our weak souls in well-doing upon Him, who is God omnipotent."

"It is certain that this is not only good which the Almighty has done, but that it is best; He hath reckoned all your steps to heaven."

"I know that as night and shadows are good for flowers, and moonlight and dews are better than a continual sun, so is Christ's absence of special use, and that it hath some nourishing virtue in it, and giveth sap to humility, and putteth an edge on hunger, and furnisheth a fair field for faith to put forth itself."

"Grow as a palm-tree on God's Mount Zion; howbeit shaken with winds, yet the root is fast."

"I pray God that I may never find my will again. Oh, that Christ would subject my will to His, and trample it under His feet."

"It is in some respect greater love in Jesus to sanctify than to justify, for He maketh us most like Himself, in His own essential portraiture and image in sanctifying us."

"If ye never had a sick night and a pained soul for sin, ye have not yet lighted upon Christ."

"Make not Christ a liar in distrusting His promise."

"A power ethical, politic, or moral, to oppress, is not from God, and is not a power, but a licentious deviation of a power; and is no more from God, but from sinful nature and the old serpent."

"If you should see a man shut up in a closed room, idoizing a set of lamps and rejoicing in their light, and you wished to make him truly happy, you would begin by blowing out all his lamps; and then throw open the shutters to let in the light of heaven."

"But no sooner did the restoration of Charles II. take place, than the face of affairs began to change, and after his fore-mentioned book lex rex was burnt at the cross of Edinburgh, and at the gates of the new college of St Andrews, where he was professor of divinity, the parliament in 1661, were to have an indictment laid before them against him, and such was their humanity (that when every body knew he was a-dying) that they caused summon him to appear before them at Edinburgh, to answer to a charge of high treason... It is commonly said, that when the summons came he spoke out of his bed and said, Tell them I have got summons already before a superior judge and judicatory, and I behove to answer my first summons, and ere your day come I will be where few kings and great folks come. When they returned and told he was a-dying, the parliament put to a vote, Whether or not to let him die in the college. It carried, Put him out, only a few dissenting. My lord Burleigh said, Ye have voted that honest man out of the college, but ye cannot vote him out of heaven. Some said, He would never win there, hell was too good for him. Burleigh said, I wish I were as sure of heaven as he is, I would think myself happy to get a grip of his sleeve to hawl me in."

"He had a most sharp pierceing witt, and fruitfall invention and solid judgement. He used ordinarly to rise be three a clock in the morning; he spent all his time either in prayer, or reading, or writting, or in visiting families in private, or in publick employments of his ministrie or profession. While he was at Anwoth, he was the instrument of much good among a poor ignorant people, many of which he brought to the knowledge and practise of religion, and was a great strengthener of all the Christians in that countrey."

"[A]t ye entrie of ye said Maister Samuell, our soules were under that miserable extreame femine of ye word, that we had onlie ye puir help of an sermone everie second Sabboth, by reasone of ane most inconvenient unione with uther twa kirkis."

"When we study history we obtain a more profound insight into human nature by instituting a comparison between the present and former states of society."

"The form of a coast, the configuration of the interior of a country, the existence and extent of lakes, valleys, and mountains, can often be traced to the former prevalence of earthquakes and volcanoes in regions which have long been undisturbed. To these remote convulsions the present fertility of some districts the sterile character of others, the elevation of land above the sea, the climate, and various peculiarities, may be distinctly referred."

"Many distinguishing features of the surface may often be ascribed to the operation at a remote era of slow and tranquil causes-to the gradual deposition of sediment in a lake or in the ocean, or to the prolific increase of testacea and corals therein."

"We find in certain localities subterranean deposits of coal consisting of vegetable matter formerly drifted into seas and lakes. ...These seas and The commercial prosperity and numerical strength of a nation may now be mainly dependent on the local distribution of fuel determined by that ancient state of things."

"A geologist should be well versed in chemistry, natural philosophy, mineralogy, zoology, comparative anatomy, botany; in short, in every science relating to organic and inorganic nature. ...But the brief duration of human life, and our limited powers, are so far from permitting us to aspire to such extensive acquisitions, that excellence even in one department is within the reach of few, and those individuals most effectually promote the general progress, who concentrate their thoughts on a limited portion of the field of inquiry."

"It was long ere the distinct nature and legitimate objects of geology were fully recognized, and it was at first confounded with many other branches of inquiry, just as the limits of history, poetry, and mythology were ill-defined in the infancy of civilization. Werner appears to have regarded geology as little other than a subordinate department of mineralogy and Desmarest included it under the head of Physical Geography. ...The first who endeavored to draw a clear line of demarcation between these distinct departments, was Hutton, who declared that geology was in no ways concerned with 'questions as to the origin of things.'"

"The earliest doctrines of the Indian and Egyptian schools of philosophy agreed in ascribing the first creation of the world to an omnipotent and infinite Being. They concurred also in representing this Being, who had existed from all eternity, as having repeatedly destroyed and reproduced the world and all its inhabitants. ...We have no right to refer to mere chance the prevailing notion that the earth and its inhabitants had formerly undergone a succession of revolutions and catastrophes, interrupted by long intervals of tranquility."

"The marks of former convulsions on every part of the surface of our planet are obvious and striking. The remains of marine animals imbedded in the solid strata are so abundant, that they may be expected to force themselves on the observation of every people who have made some progress in refinement; and especially where one class of men are expressly set apart from the rest for study and contemplation. ...Those modern writers, who are disposed to disparage the former intellectual advancement and civilization of eastern nations, might concede some foundation of observed facts for the curious theories now under consideration, without indulging in exaggerated opinions of the progress of science; especially as universal catastrophes of the world, and exterminations of organic beings, in the sense in which they were understood by the Brahmin, are untenable doctrines."

"We know that the Egyptian priests were aware, not only that the soil beneath the plains of the Nile, but that also the hills bounding the great valley, contained marine shells; and it could hardly have escaped the observation of Eastern philosophers, that some soils were filled with fossil remains, since so many national works were executed on a magnificent scale by oriental monarchs in very remote eras."

"It is probable that the doctrine of successive destructions and renovations of the world merely received corroboration from such proofs; and that it was originally handed down, like the religious dogmas of most nations, from a ruder state of society. The true source of the system must be sought for in the exaggerated traditions of those partial, but often dreadful catastrophes, which are sometimes occasioned by various combinations of natural causes. Floods and volcanic eruptions, the agency of water and fire, are the chief instruments of devastation on our globe. ...it scarcely requires the passion for the marvelous, so characteristic of rude and half-civilized nations, still less the exuberant imagination of eastern writers, to augment them into general cataclysms and conflagrations."

"Humboldt relates the interesting fact, that after the annihilation of a large part of the inhabitants of Cumana, by an earthquake in 1766, a season of extraordinary fertility ensued, in consequence of the great rains which accompanied the subterranean convulsions 'The Indians,' he says, 'celebrated, after the ideas of an antique superstition, by festivals and dancing, the destruction of the world and the approaching epoch of its regeneration.'"

"Respecting the cosmogony of the Egyptian priests, we gather much information from writers of the Grecian sects, who borrowed almost all their tenets from Egypt, and amongst others that of the former successive destruction and renovation of the world."

"We learn from Plutarch, that this was the theme of one of the hymns of Orpheus, so celebrated in the fabulous ages of Greece. It was brought by him from the banks of the Nile; and we even find in his verses, as in the Indian systems, a definite period assigned for the duration of each successive world. The returns of great catastrophes were determined by the period of the Annus Magnus, or great year, a cycle composed of the revolutions of the sun, moon, and planets, and terminating when these return together to the same sign whence they were supposed at some remote epoch to have set out. The duration of this great cycle was variously estimated. According to Orpheus, it was 120,000 years; according to others, 300,000 and by Cassander it was taken to be 300,000 years."

"We learn particularly from the Timaeus of Plato, that the Egyptians believed the world to be subject to occasional conflagrations and deluges, whereby the gods arrested the career of human wickedness, and purified the earth from guilt. After each regeneration, mankind were in a state of virtue and happiness, from which they gradually degenerated again into vice and immorality. From this Egyptian doctrine, the poets derived the fable of the decline from the golden to the iron age."

"The sect of Stoics adopted most fully the system of catastrophes destined at certain intervals to destroy the world. These they taught were of two kinds-the Cataclysm, or destruction by deluge, which sweeps away the whole human race, and annihilates all the animal and vegetable productions of nature; and the Ekpyrosis, or conflagration, which dissolves the globe itself. From the Egyptians also they derived the doctrine of the gradual debasement of man from a state of innocence. Towards the termination of each era the gods could no longer bear with the wickedness of men, and a shock of the elements or a deluge overwhelmed them; after which calamity, Astrea again descended on the earth, to renew the golden age."

"In a rude state of society all great calamities are regarded by the people as judgments of God on the wickedness of man."

"In the account given to Solon by the Egyptian priests, of the submersion of the island of Atlantis under the waters of the ocean, after repeated shocks of an earthquake, we find that the event happened when Jupiter had seen the moral depravity of the inhabitants."

"Now, when the notion had once gained ground, whether from causes before suggested or not, that the earth had been destroyed by several general catastrophes, it would next be inferred that the human race had been as often destroyed and renovated. And, since every extermination was assumed to be penal, it could only be reconciled with divine justice, by the supposition that man, at each successive creation, was regenerated in a state of purity and innocence."

"One extraordinary fiction of the Egyptian mythology was the supposed intervention of a masculo-feminine principle, to which was assigned the development of the embryo world, somewhat in the way of incubation. For the doctrine was, that when the first chaotic mass had been produced, in the form of an egg, by a self-dependent and eternal Being, it required the mysterious functions of this masculo-feminine demi-urgus to reduce the component elements into organized forms."

"The Egyptian philosophers ventured on the perilous task of seeking out some analogy to the mode of operation employed by the Author of Nature in the first creation of organized beings, and they compared it to that which governs the birth of new individuals by generation."

"It is not unreasonable nor derogatory to the attributes of Omnipotence, to imagine that some general laws may be observed in the creation of new worlds; and if man could witness the birth of such worlds, he might reason by induction upon the origin of his own. But in the absence of such data, an attempt has been made to fancy some analogy between the agents now employed to destroy, renovate, and perpetually vary the earth's surface, and those whereby the first chaotic mass was formed, and brought by supposed nascent energy from the embryo to the habitable state."

"In the Egyptian and Eastern cosmogonies, and in the Greek version of them, no very definite meaning can, in general, be attached to the term 'destruction of the world,' for sometimes it would seem almost to imply the annihilation of our planetary system, and at others a mere revolution of the surface of the earth."

"From the works now extant of Aristotle, and from the system of Pythagoras... we might certainly infer that these philosophers considered the agents of change now operating in Nature, as capable of bringing about in the lapse of ages a complete revolution; and the Stagyrite even considers occasional catastrophes happening at distant intervals of time as part of the regular and ordinary course of Nature."

"He [ Aristotle ] refers to many examples of changes now constantly going on, and insists emphatically on the great results which they must produce in the lapse of ages. He instances particular cases of lakes that had dried up, and deserts that had at length become watered by rivers and fertilized. He points to the growth of the Nilotic delta since the time of Homer, to the shallowing of the Palus Maeotis within sixty years from his own time... He alludes, ...to the upheaving of one of the Eolian islands, previous to a volcanic eruption. The changes of the earth, he says, are so slow in comparison to the duration of our lives, that they are overlooked; and the migrations of people after great catastrophes, and their removal to other regions, cause the event to be forgotten. ...He says [twelfth chapter of his Meteorics] 'the distribution of land and sea in particular regions does not endure throughout all time, but it becomes sea in those parts where it was land, and again it becomes land where it was sea, and there is reason for thinking that these changes take place according to a certain system, and within a certain period.' The concluding observation is as follows: 'As time never fails, and the universe is eternal, neither the Tanais, nor the Nile, can have flowed for ever. The places where they rise were once dry, and there is a limit to their operations, but there is none to time. So also of all other rivers; they spring up and they perish; and the sea also continually deserts some lands and invades others The same tracts, therefore, of the earth are not some always sea, and others always continents, but every thing changes in the course of time.'"

"It seems, then, that the Greeks had not only derived from preceding nations, but had also, in some slight degree, deduced from their own observations, the theory of great periodical revolutions in the inorganic world."

"Strabo,... enters largely, in the Second Book of his Geography, into the opinions of Eratosthenes and other Greeks on one of the most difficult problems in geology, viz., by what causes marine shells came to be plentifully buried in the earth at such great elevations and distances from the sea. He notices, amongst others, the explanation of Xanthus the Lyclian, who said that the seas had once been more extensive, and that they had afterwards been partially dried up, as in his own time many lakes, rivers, and wells in Asia had failed during a season of drought. Treating this conjecture with merited disregard, Strabo passes on to the hypothesis of Strato, the natural philosopher, who had observed that the quantity of mud brought down by rivers into the Euxine was so great, that its bed must be gradually raised, while the rivers still continued to pour in an undiminished quantity of water. He therefore conceived that, originally, when the Euxine was an inland sea, its level had by this means become so much elevated that it burst its barrier near Byzantium, and formed a communication with the Propontis, and this partial drainage had already, he supposed, converted the left side into marshy ground, and that, at last, the whole would be choked up with soil. So, it was argued, the Mediterranean had once opened a passage for itself by the Columns of Hercules into the Atlantic, and perhaps the abundance of sea-shells in Africa, near the Temple of Jupiter Ammon, might also be the deposit of some former inland sea, which had at length forced a passage and escaped."

"But Strabo rejects this theory as insufficient to account for all the phenomena, and he proposes one of his own, the profoundness of which modern geologists are only beginning to appreciate. 'It is not,' he says, 'because the lands covered by seas were originally at different altitudes, that the waters have risen, or subsided, or receded from some parts and inundated others. But the reason is, that the same land is sometimes raised up and sometimes depressed, and the sea also is simultaneously raised and depressed, so that it either overflows or returns into its own place again. We must therefore ascribe the cause to the ground, either to that ground which is under the sea, or to that which becomes flooded by it, but rather to that which lies beneath the sea, for this is more moveable, and, on account of its humidity, can be altered with great celerity. It is proper,' he observes in continuation, 'to derive our explanations from things which are obvious, and in some measure of daily occurrence, such as deluges, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and sudden swellings of the land beneath the sea;' for the last raise up the sea also, and when the same lands subside again, they occasion the sea to be let down. And it is not merely the small, but the large islands also, and not merely the islands, but the continents, which can be lifted up together with the sea; and both large and small tracts may subside, for habitations and cities, like Bure, Bizona, and many others, have been engulfed by earthquakes.'"

"In another place, this learned geographer (Strabo), in alluding to the tradition that Sicily had been separated by a convulsion from Italy, remarks, that at present the land near the sea in those parts was rarely shaken by earthquakes, since there were now open orifices whereby fire and ignited matters and waters escaped; but formerly, when the volcanoes of Etna, the Lipari Islands, Ischia, and others, were closed up, the imprisoned fire and wind might have produced far more vehement movements. The doctrine, therefore, that volcanoes are safety valves, and that the subterranean convulsions are probably most violent when first the volcanic energy shifts itself to a new quarter, is not modern."

"We learn from a passage in Strabo, that it was a dogma of the Gaulish Druids that the universe was immortal, but destined to survive catastrophes both of fire and water. That this doctrine was communicated to them from the East, with much of their learning, cannot be doubted."

"Pliny had no theoretical opinions of his own concerning changes of the earth's surface... But his enumeration of the new islands which had been formed in the Mediterranean, and of other convulsions, shows that the ancients had not been inattentive observers of the changes which had taken place on the earth within the memory of man."

"We shall now conclude our remarks on the opinions entertained before the Christian era... the observation of the present course of nature presented too many proofs of alterations continually in progress on the earth to allow philosophers to believe that nature was in a state of rest or that the surface had remained and would continue to remain unaltered."

"Amongst those [works] of the tenth century, of which fragments are now extant, is a system of mineralogy by Avicenna, a physician in whose arrangement there is considerable merit. In the same century also, Omar, surnamed 'El Aalem,' or 'the Learned,' wrote a work on 'the Retreat of the Sea.' It appears that on comparing the charts of his own time with those made by the Indian and Persian astronomers two thousand years before, he had satisfied himself that important changes had taken place since the times of history in the form of the coasts of Asia, and that the extension of the sea had been greater at some former periods. He was confirmed in this opinion by the numerous salt springs and marshes in the interior of Asia,-a phenomenon from which Pallas, in more recent times, has drawn the same inference."

"Von Hoff has suggested, with great probability, that the changes in the level of the Caspian (some of which there is reason to believe have happened within the historical era), and the geological appearances in that district, indicating the desertion by that sea of its ancient bed, had probably led Omar to his theory of a general subsidence. But whatever may have been the proofs relied on, his system was declared contradictory to certain passages in the Koran, and he was called upon publicly to recant his errors; to avoid which persecution he went into voluntary banishment from Samarkand."

"It was not till the earlier part of the sixteenth century that geological phenomena began to attract the attention of the Christian nations. At that period a very animated controversy sprung up in Italy, concerning the true nature and origin of marine shells, and other organized fossils, found abundantly in the strata of the peninsula."

"The excavations made in 1517, for repairing the city of Verona, brought to light a multitude of curious petrifactions, and furnished matter for speculation to different authors, and among the rest to Fracastoro, who declared his opinion, that fossil shells had all belonged to living animals, which had formerly lived and multiplied, where their exuviæ are now found. He exposed the absurdity of having recourse to a certain 'plastic force,' which it was said had power to fashion stones into organic forms; and, with no less cogent arguments, demonstrated the futility of attributing the situation of the shells in question to the Mosaic deluge, a theory obstinately defended by some. That inundation, he observed, was too transient, it consisted principally of fluviatile waters; and if it had transported shells to great distances, must have strewed them over the surface, not buried them at vast depths in the interior of mountains. His clear exposition of the evidence would have terminated the discussion for ever, if the passions of mankind had not been enlisted in the dispute; and even though doubts should for a time have remained in some minds, they would speedily have been removed by the fresh information obtained almost immediately afterwards, respecting the structure of fossil remains, and of their living analogues."

"The clear and philosophical views of Fracastoro were disregarded, and the talent and argumentative powers of the learned were doomed for three centuries to be wasted in the discussion of these two simple and preliminary questions: first, whether fossil remains had ever belonged to living creatures; and secondly, whether, if this be admitted, all the phenomena could be explained by the Noachian deluge."

"It had been the consistent belief of the Christian world, down to the period now under consideration, that the origin of this planet was not more remote than a few thousand years; and that since the creation the deluge was the only great catastrophe by which considerable change had been wrought on the earth's surface. On the other hand, the opinion was scarcely less general, that the final dissolution of our system was an event to be looked for at no distant period."

"The era, it is true, of the expected millennium had passed away; and for five hundred years after the fatal hour, when the annihilation of the planet had been looked for, the monks remained in undisturbed enjoyment of rich grants of land bequeathed to them by pious donors, who, in the preamble of deeds beginning 'appropinquante mundi termino'-'appropinquante magno judicii die,' left lasting monuments of the popular delusion."

"But there was sufficient spirit of toleration and candor amongst the Italian ecclesiastics to allow the subject to be canvassed with much freedom They entered warmly themselves into the controversy often favoring different sides of the question and however much we may deplore the loss of time and labor devoted to the defense of untenable positions it must be conceded that they displayed far less polemic bitterness than certain writers who followed them beyond the Alps two centuries and a half later"

"The system of scholastic disputations encouraged in the Universities of the middle ages had unfortunately trained men to habits of indefinite argumentation, and they often preferred absurd and extravagant propositions, because greater skill was required to maintain them; the end and object of such intellectual combats being victory and not truth."

"Opponents of Fracastoro met his arguments by feigning imaginary causes, which differed from each other rather in name than in substance. Andrea Mattioli, for instance, an eminent botanist, the illustrator of Dioscorides, embraced the notion of Agricola, a German miner, that a certain 'materia pinguis' or 'fatty matter,' set into fermentation by heat, gave birth to fossil organic shapes. Yet Mattioli had come to the conclusion, from his own observations, that porous bodies, such as bones and shells, might be converted into stone, as being permeable to what he termed the 'lapidifying juice.'"

"Falloppio of Padua conceived that petrified shells had been generated by fermentation in the spots where they were found, or that they had in some cases acquired their form from 'the tumultuous movements of terrestrial exhalations.' Although a celebrated professor of anatomy, he taught that certain tusks of elephants dug up in his time at Puglia were mere earthy concretions, and, consistently with these principles, he even went so far as to consider it not improbable, that the vases of Monte Testaceo at Rome were natural impressions stamped in the soil."

"The title of a work of Cardano's, published in 1552, 'De Subtilitate' (corresponding to what would now be called Transcendental Philosophy), would lead us to expect, in the chapter on minerals, many far fetched theories characteristic of that age; but when treating of petrified shells, he decided that they clearly indicated the former sojourn of the sea upon the mountains."

"Cesalpino, a celebrated botanist, conceived that fossil shells had been left on the land by the sea, and had concreted into stone during the consolidation the soil; and in the following year (1597), Simeone Majoli went still farther, and coinciding for the most part with views of Cesalpino, suggested that the shells and matter of the Veronese, and other districts, might have cast up, upon the land, by volcanic explosions, like those gave rise, in 1538, to Monte Nuovo, near Puzzuoli.- This hint was the first imperfect attempt to connect the position fossil shells with the agency of volcanoes, a system more fully developed by Hooke, [Antonio] Lazzaro Moro, Hutton, and other writers. Two years afterwards, Imperati advocated the animal origin of fossilized shells, yet admitted that stones could vegetate by force of 'an internal principle,' and, as evidence of this, he referred to the teeth of fish, and spines of echini found petrified."

"Palissy, a French writer on 'the Origin of Springs from Rain-water' and of other scientific works, undertook, in 1580, to combat the notions of many of his contemporaries in Italy, that petrified shells had all been deposited by the universal deluge. 'He was the first,' said Fontenelle, when, in the French Academy, he pronounced his eulogy nearly a century and a half later, 'who dared assert' in Paris, that fossil remains of testacea and fish had once belonged to marine animals."

"Fabio Colonna deserves to be distinguished; for, although he gave way to the dogma that all fossil remains were to be referred to the Noachian deluge, he resisted the absurd theory of Stelluti, who taught that fossil wood and ammonites were mere clay, altered into such forms by sulfurous waters and subterranean heat; and he pointed out the different states of shells buried in the strata, distinguishing between, first, the mere mould or impression; secondly, the cast or nucleus; and thirdly, the remains of the shell itself. He had also the merit of being the first to point out, that some of the fossils had belonged to marine, and some to terrestrial testacea."

"The most remarkable work of that period was published by Steno... The treatise bears the quaint title of 'De Solido intra Solidum contento naturaliter (1669,)' by which the author intended to express 'On Gems, Crystals, and organic Petrifactions enclosed within solid Rocks.' ...Steno had compared the fossil shells with their recent analogues, and traced the various gradations from the state of mere calcification, when their natural gluten only was lost, to the perfect substitution of stony matter. He demonstrated that many fossil teeth found in Tuscany belonged to a species of shark; and he dissected, for the purpose of comparison, one of these fish recently taken from the Mediterranean. That the remains of shells and marine animals found petrified were not of animal origin was still a favorite dogma of many, who were unwilling to believe that the earth could have been inhabited by living beings long before many of the mountains were formed."

"Scilla, a Sicilian painter, published in 1670, a work on the fossils of Calabria, illustrated by good engravings. This was written in Latin, with great spirit and elegance, and it proves the continued ascendency of dogmas often refuted; for we find the wit and eloquence of the author chiefly directed against the obstinate incredulity of naturalists, as to the organic nature of fossil shells."

"Steno conceded, as Fabio Colonna had done before him, that all marine fossils might have been transported into their present situation at the time of the Noachian deluge. He maintained that fossil vegetables had been once living plants, and he hinted that they might, in some instances, indicate the distinction between fluvial and marine deposits. He also inferred that the present mountains had not existed ever since the origin of things, suggesting that many strata of submarine origin had been accumulated in the interval between the creation and deluge. Here he displayed his great anxiety to reconcile his theory with the Scriptures; for he at the same time advanced an opinion, which does not seem very consistent with such a doctrine, viz., that there was a wide distinction between the shelly, and nearly horizontal beds at the foot of the Apennines, and the older mountains of highly inclined stratification. Both, he observed, were of sedimentary origin; and a considerable interval of time must have separated their formation. Tuscany, according to him, had successively passed through six different states; and to explain these mighty changes, he called in the agency of inundations, earthquakes, and subterranean fires."

"Scarcely any step had been made in approximating to sound theories since the time of Fracastoro, more than a hundred years having been lost, in writing down the dogma that organized fossils were mere sports of nature. An additional period of a century and a half was now destined to be consumed in exploding the hypothesis, that organized fossils had all been buried in the solid strata by the Noachian flood. Never did a theoretical fallacy, in any branch of scienc, interfere more seriously with accurate observation and the systematic classification of facts."

"The old diluvialists were induced by their system to confound all the groups of strata together instead of discriminating,—to refer all appearances to one cause and to one brief period, not to a variety of causes acting throughout a long succession of epochs. ...Under the influence of such prejudices, three centuries were of as little avail, as a few years in our own times, when we are no longer required to propel the vessel against the force of an adverse current."

"It may be well to forewarn our readers that in tracing the history of geology from the close of the seventeenth to the end of the eighteenth century they must expect to be occupied with accounts of the retardation as well as of the advance of the science. ...It will be necessary to dwell on futile reasoning and visionary hypothesis because the most extravagant systems were often invented or controverted by men of acknowledged talent."

"A sketch of the progress of Geology is the history of a constant and violent struggle between new opinions and ancient doctrines sanctioned by the implicit faith of many generations and supposed to rest on scriptural authority. The inquiry, therefore, although highly interesting to one who studies the philosophy of the human mind, is singularly barren of instruction to him who searches for truths in physical science."

"Quirini, in 1676, contended in opposition to Scilla, that the diluvian waters could not have conveyed heavy bodies to the summit of mountains, since the agitation of the sea never (as Boyle had demonstrated) extended to great depths, and still less could the testacea, as some pretended, have lived in these diluvian waters, for 'the duration of the flood was brief, and the heavy rains must have destroyed the saltness of the sea! He was the first writer who ventured to maintain that the universality of the Noachian cataclysm ought not to be insisted upon. ...Visionary as was this doctrine, it gained many proselytes even amongst the more sober reasoners of Italy and Germany, for it conceded both that fossil bodies were organic, and that the diluvial theory could not account for them."

"Dr. Plot, in his 'Natural History of Oxfordshire.' (1677) attributed to a 'plastic virtue latent in the earth' the origin of fossil shells and fishes; and Lister, to his accurate account of British shells, in 1678, added the fossil species, under the appellation of turbinated and bivalve stones. 'Either,' said he, 'these were terriginous, or if otherwise, the animals they so exactly represent have become extinct. This writer appears to have been the first who was aware of the continuity over large districts of the principal groups of strata in the British series, and who proposed the construction of regular geological maps."

"'The Posthumous Works of Robert Hooke M.D.,'... appeared in 1705, containing 'A Discourse of Earthquakes'... His treatise... is the most philosophical production of that age, in regard to the causes of former changes in the organic and inorganic kingdoms of nature. 'However trivial a thing,' he says, 'a rotten shell may appear to some, yet these monuments of nature are more certain tokens of antiquity than coins or medals, since the best of those may be counterfeited or made by art and design, as may also books, manuscripts, and inscriptions, as all the learned are now sufficiently satisfied has often been actually practised,' &c.; 'and though it must be granted that it is very difficult to read them and to raise a chronology out of them, and to state the intervals of the time wherein such or such catastrophes and mutations have happened, yet it is not impossible."

"Respecting the extinction of species, Hooke was aware that the fossil ammonites, nautili, and many other shells and fossil skeletons found in England, were of different species from any then known; but he doubted whether the species had become extinct, observing that the knowledge of naturalists of all the marine species, especially those inhabiting the deep sea, was very deficient. In some parts of his writings, however, he leans to the opinion that species had been lost; and in speculating on this subject, he even suggests that there might be some connection between the disappearance of certain kinds of animals and plants, and the changes wrought by earthquakes in former ages. Some species, he observes with great sagacity, are peculiar to certain places, and not to be found elsewhere. If, then, such a place had been swallowed up, it is not improbable but that those animate beings may have been destroyed with it; and this may be true both of aerial and aquatic animals: for those animated bodies, whether vegetables or animals, which were naturally nourished or refreshed by the air, would be destroyed by the water, &c. Turtles, he adds, and such large ammonites as are found in Portland, seem to have been the productions of the seas of hotter countries, and it is necessary to suppose that England once lay under the sea within the torrid zone! To explain this and similar phenomena, he indulges in a variety of speculations concerning changes in the position of the axis of the earth's rotation, a shifting of the earth's center of gravity, 'analogous to the revolutions of the magnetic pole,' &c. None of these conjectures, however, are proposed dogmatically, but rather in the hope of promoting fresh inquiries and experiments."

"It was objected to Hooke, that his doctrine of the extinction of species derogated from the wisdom and power of the Omnipotent Creator; but he answered, that as individuals die, there may be some termination to the duration of a species; and his opinions, he declared, were not repugnant to Holy Writ: for the Scriptures taught that our system was degenerating, and tending to its final dissolution; 'and as, when that shall happen, all the species will be lost, why not some at one time and some at another?'"

"His [Hooke's] principal object was to account for the manner in which shells had been conveyed into the higher parts of 'the Alps, Apennines, and Pyrenean hills, and the interior of continents in general.' These and other appearances, he said, might have been brought about by earthquakes, 'which have turned plains into mountains, and mountains into plains, seas into land, and land into seas, made rivers where there were none before, and swallowed up others that formerly were, &c. &c.; and which, since the creation of the world, have wrought many great changes on the superficial parts of the earth, and have been the instruments of placing shells, bones, plants, fishes, and the like, in those places, where, with much astonishment, we find them.' This doctrine, it is true, had been laid down in terms almost equally explicit by Strabo, to explain the occurrence of fossil shells in the interior of continents, and to that geographer, and other writers of antiquity, Hooke frequently refers; but the revival and development of the system was an important step in the progress of modern science."

"Hooke enumerated all the examples known to him of subterranean disturbance, from 'the sad catastrophe of Sodom and Gomorrah' down to the Chilean earthquake of 1646. The elevating of the bottom of the sea, the sinking and submersion of the land, and most of the inequalities of the earth's surface, might, he said, be accounted for by the agency of these subterranean causes. He mentions that the coast near Naples was raised during the eruption of Monte Nuovo; and that in 1591, land rose in the island of St. Michael, during an eruption; and although it would be more difficult, he says, to prove, he does not doubt but that there had been as many earthquakes in the parts of the earth under the ocean, as in the parts of the dry land; in confirmation of which he mentions the immeasurable depth of the sea near some volcanoes. To attest the extent of simultaneous subterranean movements, he refers to an earthquake in the West Indies, in 1690, where the space of earth raised, or 'struck upwards' by the shock, exceeded the length of the Alps and the Pyrenees."

"As Hooke declared the favorite hypothesis of the day ('that marine fossil bodies were to be referred to Noah's flood') to be wholly untenable, he appears to have felt himself called upon to substitute a diluvial theory of his own, and thus he became involved in countless difficulties and contradictions. ...When ...he required a former 'crisis of nature' and taught that earthquakes had become debilitated, and that the Alps, Andes, and other chains, had been lifted up in a few months, his machinery was as extravagant and visionary as that of his most fanciful predecessors; and for this reason, perhaps, his whole theory of earthquakes met with undeserved neglect."

"Leibnitz, the great mathematician, published his 'Protogaea' in 1680. He imagined this planet to have been originally a burning luminous mass, and that ever since its creation it has been undergoing gradual refrigeration. Nearly all the matter of the earth was at first encompassed by fire. When the outer crust had at length cooled down sufficiently to allow the vapors to be condensed, they fell and formed a universal ocean, investing the globe, and covering the loftiest mountains. Further consolidation produced rents, vacuities, and subterranean caverns, and the ocean, rushing in to fill them, was gradually lowered. The principal feature of this theory, the gradual diminution of the original heat, and of an ancient universal ocean, were adopted by Buffon and De Luc, and entered under different modifications, into a great number of succeeding systems."

"Now, if it would be reasonable to draw such inferences with respect to"

"So long as physiologists continued to believe that man had not existed on the earth above six thousand years, they might, with good reason, withhold their assent from the doctrine of a unity of origin of so many distinct races; but the difficulty becomes less and less, exactly in proportion as we enlarge our ideas of the lapse of time during which different communities may have spread slowly, and become isolated, each exposed for ages to a peculiar set of conditions, whether of temperature, or food, or danger, or ways of living."

"If, in spite of the fact that all these attributes have been faithfully handed down unaltered for hundreds of generations, we are to believe that, in the course of time, they have all diverged from one common stock, how shall we resist the arguments of the transmutationist, who contends that all closely allied species of animals and plants have in like manner sprung from a common parentage, albeit that for the last three or four thousand years they may have been persistent in character?"

"So long as Geology had not lifted up a part of the veil... it was easy to treat these questions as too transcendental... But it is no longer possible to restrain curiosity from attempting to pry into the relations which connect the present state of the animal and vegetable worlds, as well as of the various races of mankind, with the state of the fauna and flora which immediately preceded."

"What Lamarck then foretold has come to pass; the more new forms have been multiplied, the less are we able to decide what we mean by a variety, and what by a species. In fact, zoologists and botanists are not only more at a loss than ever how to define a species, but even to determine whether it has any real existence in nature, or is a mere abstraction of the human intellect, some contending that it is constant within certain narrow and impassable limits of variability, others that it is capable of indefinite and endless modification."

"Lamarck, after having first studied botany with success, had then turned his attention to conchology, and soon became aware that in the newer (or tertiary) strata of the earth's crust there were a multitude of fossil species of shells... He also observed that other shells were so nearly allied to living forms, that it was difficult not to suspect that they had been connected by a common bond of descent. He therefore proposed that the element of time should enter into the definition of a species, and that it should run thus: 'A species consists of individuals all resembling each other, and reproducing their like by generation, so long as the surrounding conditions do not undergo changes sufficient to cause their habits, characters, and forms to vary. He came at last to the conclusion, that none of the animals and plants now existing were primordial creations, but were all derived from pre-existing forms, which, after they may have gone on for indefinite ages reproducing their like, had, at length, by the influence of alterations in climate and in the animate world, been made to vary gradually, and adapt themselves to new circumstances, some of them deviating, in the course of ages, so far from their original type as to have claims to be regarded as new species."

"Lamarck taught not only that species had been constantly undergoing changes from one geological period to another, but that there also had been a progressive advance of the organic world from the earliest to the latest times, from beings of the simplest to those of more and more complex structure and from the lowest instincts up to the highest, and, finally, from brute intelligence to the reasoning powers of Man. The improvement in the grade of being had been slow and continuous, and the human race itself was at length evolved out of the most highly organised and endowed of the inferior mammalia."

"I pointed out in 1832, as the two great flaws in Lamarck's attempt to explain the origin of species, first that he had failed to adduce a single instance of the initiation of a new organ in any species of animal or plant; and secondly, that variation, whether taking place in the course of nature or assisted artificially by the breeder and horticulturist, had never yet gone so far as to produce two races sufficiently remote from each other in physiological constitution as to be sterile when intermarried, or, if fertile, only capable of producing sterile hybrids, &c."

"In my account of his [Lamarck's] theory, I did not, at the time, fully appreciate the deep conviction which it displays of the slow manner in which geological changes have taken place, and the insignificance of thirty or forty centuries in the history of a species, and that, too, at a period when very narrow views were entertained of the extent of past time by most of the ablest geologists, and when great revolutions of the earth's crust, and its inhabitants, were generally attributed to sudden and violent catastrophes."

"I endeavoured to sketch out (and it was, I believe, the first systematic attempt to accomplish such a task) the laws which govern the extinction of species, with a view of showing that the slow, but ceaseless variations, now in progress in physical geography, together with the migration of plants and animals into new regions, must, in the course of ages, give rise to the occasional loss of some of them, and eventually cause an entire fauna and flora to die out; also, that we must infer, from geological data, that the places thus left vacant from time to time, are filled up without delay by new forms, adapted to new conditions, sometimes by immigration from adjoining provinces, sometimes by new creations. Among the many causes of extinction enumerated by me, were the power of hostile species, diminution of food, mutations in climate, the conversion of land into sea, and of sea into land, &c."

"The doctrine of progression... was thus given twelve years ago by Professor Sedgwick, in the preface to his Discourse on the Studies of the University of Cambridge. 'There are traces,' he says, 'among the old deposits of the earth of an organic progression among the successive forms of life. They are to be seen in the absence of mammalia in the older, and their very rare appearance in the newer secondary groups; in the diffusion of warm blooded quadrupeds (frequently of unknown genera) in the older tertiary system, and in their great abundance (and frequently of known genera) in the upper portions of the same series; and lastly, in the recent appearance of Man on the surface of the earth.' 'This historical development,' continues the same author, 'of the forms and functions of organic life during successive epochs, seems to mark a gradual evolution of creative power, manifested by a gradual ascent towards a higher type of being.' 'But the elevation of the fauna of successive periods was not made by transmutation, but by creative additions; and it is by watching these additions that we get some insight into Nature's true historical progress, and learn that there was a time when Cephalopoda were the highest types of animal life, the primates of this world; that Fishes next took the lead, then Reptiles; and that during the secondary period they were anatomically raised far above any forms of the reptile class now living in the world. Mammals were added next, until Nature became what she now is, by the addition of Man. ...the generalisation, as laid down by the Woodwardian Professor, still holds good in all essential particulars."

"It may be thought almost paradoxical that writers who are most in favour of transmutation (Mr. C. Darwin and Dr. J. Hooker, for example) are nevertheless among those who are most cautious, and one would say timid, in their mode of espousing the doctrine of progression; while, on the other hand, the most zealous advocates of progression are oftener than not very vehement opponents of transmutation."

"No one can believe in transmutation who is not profoundly convinced that all we know in paleontology is as nothing compared to what we have yet to learn, and they who regard the record as so fragmentary, and our acquaintance with the fragments which are extant as so rudimentary, are apt to be astounded at the confidence placed by the progressionists in data which must be defective in the extreme. But exactly in proportion as the completeness of the record and our knowledge of it are overrated, in that same degree are many progressionists unconscious of the goal towards which they are drifting. Their faith in the fullness of the annals leads them to regard all breaks in the series of organic existence, or in the sequence of the fossiliferous rocks, as proofs of original chasms and leaps in the course of nature, signs of the intermittent action of the creational force, or of catastrophes which devastated the habitable surface; and they are therefore fearless of discovering any continuity of plan (except that which must have existed in the Divine mind) which would imply a material connection between the outgoing organisms and the incoming ones."

"For many years after the promulgation of Lamarck's doctrine of progressive development, geologists were much occupied with the question whether the past changes in the animate and inanimate world were brought about by sudden and paroxysmal action, or gradually and continuously by causes differing neither in kind nor degree from those now in operation."

"The anonymous author of 'The Vestiges of Creation' published in 1844 a treatise, written in a clear and attractive style, which made the English public familiar with the leading views of Lamarck on transmutation and progression but brought no new facts or original line of argument to support those views, or to combat the principal objections which the scientific world entertained against them. No decided step in this direction was made until the publication in 1858 of two papers, one by Mr. Darwin and another by Mr. Wallace, followed in 1859 by Mr Darwin's celebrated work on 'The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection; or, the Preservation of favoured Races in the Struggle for Life.' ...both writers begin by applying to the animal and vegetable worlds the Malthusian doctrine of population, or its tendency to increase in a geometrical ratio, while food can only be made to augment even locally in an arithmetical one. There being, therefore, no room or means of subsistence for a large proportion of the plants and animals which are born into the world, a great number must annually perish."

"As breeders of domestic animals, when they choose certain varieties in preference to others to breed from, speak technically of their method as that of 'selecting,' Mr. Darwin calls the combination of natural causes, which may enable certain varieties of wild animals or plants to prevail over others of the same species, 'natural selection.'"

"Lamarck, when speculating on the origin of the long neck of the giraffe, imagined that quadruped to have stretched himself up in order to reach the boughs of lofty trees, until by continued efforts, and longing to reach higher, he obtained an elongated neck. Mr. Darwin and Mr. Wallace simply suppose that, in a season of scarcity, a longer-necked variety, having the advantage in this respect over most of the herd, as being able to browse on foliage out of their reach, survived them, and transmitted its peculiarity of cervical conformation to its successors."

"By the multiplying of slight modifications in the course of thousands of generations, and by the handing down of the newly-acquired peculiarities by inheritance, a greater and greater divergence from the original standard is supposed to be effected, until what may be called a new species, or, in a greater lapse of time, a new genus, will be the result."

"Every naturalist admits that there is a general tendency in animals and plants to vary; but it is usually taken for granted, though we have no means of proving the assumption to be true, that there are certain limits beyond which each species cannot pass under any circumstances, or in any number of generations. Mr. Darwin and Mr. Wallace say that the opposite hypothesis, which assumes that every species is capable of varying indefinitely from its original type, is not a whit more arbitrary, and has this manifest claim to be preferred, that it will account for a multitude of phenomena which the ordinary theory is incapable of explaining."

"The competition of races and species, observes Mr. Darwin, is always most severe between those which are most closely allied and which fill nearly the same place in the economy of nature. Hence, when the conditions of existence are modified, the original stock runs great risk of being superseded by some one of its modified offshoots. The new race or species may not be absolutely superior in the sum of its powers and endowment to the parent stock, and may even be more simple in structure and of a lower grade of intelligence, as well as of organisation, provided, on the whole, it happens to have some slight advantage over its rivals. Progression, therefore, is not a necessary accompaniment of variation and natural selection, though, when a higher organisation happens to be coincident with superior fitness to new conditions, the new species will have greater power and a greater chance of permanently maintaining and extending its ground."

"One of the principal claims of Mr. Darwin's theory to acceptance is, that it enables us to dispense with a law of progression as a necessary accompaniment of variation. It will account equally well for what is called degradation, or a retrograde movement towards a simpler structure, and does not require Lamarck's continual creation of monads; for this was a necessary part of his system, in order to explain how, after the progressive power had been at work for myriads of ages, there were as many beings of the simplest structure in existence as ever."

"Mr. Darwin labours to show, and with no small success, that all true classification in zoology and botany is, in fact, genealogical, and that community of descent is the hidden bond which naturalists have been unconsciously seeking, while they often imagined that they were looking for some unknown plan of creation."

"It [variation and natural selection] would explain, says Mr. Darwin, the unity of type which runs through the whole organic world, and why there is sometimes a fundamental agreement in structure in the same class of beings which is quite independent of their habits of life, for such structure, derived by inheritance from a remote progenitor, has been modified, in the course of ages, in different ways, according to the conditions of existence. It would also explain why all living and extinct beings are united, by complex radiating and circuitous lines of affinity with one another, into one grand system; also, there having been a continued extinction of old races and species in progress, and a formation of new ones by variation, why in some genera which are largely represented, or to which a great many species belong, many of these are closely but unequally related; also, why there are distinct geographical provinces of species of animals and plants, for, after long isolation by physical barriers, each fauna and flora, by varying continually, must become distinct from its ancestral type, and from the new forms assumed by other descendants which have diverged from the same stock."

"Variation and natural selection would also afford a key to a multitude of geological facts otherwise wholly unaccounted for, as, for example, why there is generally an intimate connection between the living animals and plants of each great division of the globe and the extinct fauna and flora of the post-tertiary or tertiary formations of the same region..."

"The theory of the origin of new species by variation will also explain why a species which has once died out never reappears, and why the fossil fauna and flora recede farther and farther from the living type in proportion as we trace it back to remoter ages. It would also account for the fact, that when we have to intercalate a new set of fossiliferous strata between two groups previously known, the newly discovered fossils serve to fill up gaps between specific or generic types previously familiar to us, supplying often the missing links of the chain, which, if transmutation is accepted, must once have been continuous."

"We may understand why the species of the same genus, or genera of the same family, resemble each other more nearly in their embryonic than in their more fully developed state, or how it is that in the eyes of most naturalists the structure of the embryo is even more important in classification than that of the adult, 'for the embryo is the animal in its less modified state, and in so far it reveals the structure of its progenitor. In two groups of animals, however much they may at present differ from each other in structure and habits, if they pass through the same or similar embryonic stages, we may feel assured that they have both descended from the same or nearly similar parents, and are therefore in that degree closely related. Thus community in embryonic structure reveals community of descent, however much the structure of the adult may have been modified."

"To many, this doctrine of Natural Selection, or 'the preservation of favoured races in the struggle for life,' seems so simple, when once clearly stated, and so consonant with known facts and received principles, that they have difficulty in conceiving how it can constitute a great step in the progress of science. Such is often the case with important discoveries, but in order to assure ourselves that the doctrine was by no means obvious, we have only to refer back to the writings of skilful naturalists who attempted in the earlier part of the nineteenth century, to theorise on this subject, before the invention of this new method of explaining how certain forms are supplanted by new ones, and in what manner these last are selected out of innumerable varieties, and rendered permanent."

"Of Dr. Hooker, whom I have often cited in this chapter, Mr. Darwin has spoken in the Introduction to his 'Origin of Species, as one 'who had, for fifteen years, aided him in every possible way, by his large stores of knowledge, and his excellent judgement.' This distinguished botanist published his 'Introductory Essay to the Flora of Australia' in 1859, the year after the memoir on 'Natural Selection' was communicated to the Linnaean Society, and a few months before the appearance of the' Origin of Species.' ...no one was better qualified by observation and reflection to give an authoritative opinion on the question, whether the present vegetation of the globe is or is not in accordance with the theory which Mr. Darwin has proposed. We cannot but feel, therefore, deeply interested when we find him making the following declaration: 'The mutual relations of the plants of each great botanical province, and, in fact, of the world generally, is just such as would have resulted if variation had gone on operating throughout indefinite periods, in the same manner as we see it act in a limited number of centuries, so as gradually to give rise in the course of time, to the most widely divergent forms. ...The element of mutability pervades the whole Vegetable Kingdom; no class, nor order, nor genus of more than a few species claims absolute exemption from it, whilst the grand total of unstable forms, generally assumed to be species, probably exceeds that of the stable.'"

"None of the observations are more in point, as bearing on the doctrine of what Hooker terms 'creation by variation,' than the great extent to which the internal characters and properties of plants, or their physiological constitution are capable of being modified, while they exhibit externally no visible departure from the normal form. ...When several of these internal or physiological modifications are accompanied by variation in size, habits of growth, colour of the flowers, and other external characters, and these are found to be constant in successive generations, botanists may well begin to differ in opinion as to whether they ought to regard them as distinct species or not."

"Hitherto no rival hypothesis has been proposed as a substitute for the doctrine of transmutation; for 'independent creation,' as it is often termed, or the direct intervention of the Supreme Cause, must simply be considered as an avowal that we deem the question to lie beyond the domain of science."

"The only secondary cause... which has, as yet, been even conjecturally brought forward, to explain how, in the ordinary course of nature, a new specific form may be generated is, as Lamarck declared, 'variation,' and this has been rendered a far more probable hypothesis by the way in which Natural Selection is shown to give intensity and permanency to certain varieties."

"Barriers of sea, or desert, or mountain, could never have been of the least avail, had the creative force acted independently of material laws, or had it not pleased the Author of Nature that the origin of new species should be governed by some secondary causes analogous to those which we see preside over the appearance of new varieties, which never appear except as the offspring of a parent stock very closely resembling them."

"The publication of 'The Principles of Geology,' in 1830, constituted an epoch in geological science. But it also constituted an epoch in the modern history of the doctrines of evolution, by raising in the mind of every intelligent reader this question: If natural causation is competent to account for the not-living part of our globe, why should it not account for the living part?"

"There is no reasonable ground for believing that the oldest remains yet obtained carry us even near the beginnings of life. The impressive warnings of Lyell against hasty speculations, based upon negative evidence, have been fully justified; time after time, highly organised types have been discovered in formations of an age in which the existence of such forms of life had been confidently declared to be impossible."

"It is certain that either the earth is becoming on the whole cooler from age to age, or the heat conducted out is generated in the interior by temporary dynamical (that is, in this case, chemical) action. To suppose, as Lyell, adopting the chemical hypothesis, has done, that the substances, combining together, may be again separated electrolytically by thermo-electric currents, due to the heat generated by their combination, and thus the chemical action and its heat continued in an endless cycle, violates the principles of natural philosophy in exactly the same manner, and to the same degree, as to believe that a clock constructed with a self-winding movement may fulfil the expectations of its ingenious inventor by going for ever."

"In 1863... Sir Charles Lyell the most eminent of living geologists, a man of deeply Christian feeling and of exceedingly cautious temper, who had opposed the evolution theory of Lamarck and declared his adherence to the idea of successive creations, then published his work on the Antiquity of Man, and in this and other utterances showed himself a complete though unwilling convert to the fundamental ideas of Darwin. The blow was serious... withdrawing all foundation in fact from the scriptural chronology and... discrediting the creation theory. ...Lyell, like the honest man he was, yielded unreservedly to the mass of new proofs arrayed on the side of evolution against that of creation. ...At the same time came Huxley's Man's Place in Nature, giving new and most cogent arguments in favour of evolution by natural selection."

"At a time when the British showed no particular enthusiasm for cleanliness, Indian women for example introduced British men to the delights of regular bathing. The fact that the word shampoo is derived from the Hindi word for massage, and that it entered the English language at this time, shows the novelty to the eighteenth-century British of the Indian idea of cleaning hair with materials other than soap. Those who returned home and continued to bathe and shampoo themselves on a regular basis found themselves scoffed at by their less hygienic compatriots: indeed it was a cliché of the time that the British in Bengal had become ‘effeminate’. A few Calcutta men were known to have had themselves circumcised to satisfy the hygienic—and presumably religious—requirements of their Indian wives and companions."

"The economic figures speak for themselves. In 1600, when the East India Company was founded, Britain was generating 1.8% of the world’s GDP, while India was producing 22.5%. By the peak of the Raj, those figures had more or less been reversed: India was reduced from the world’s leading manufacturing nation to a symbol of famine and deprivation."

"Robert Clive was a vicious asset-stripper. His statue has no place on Whitehall. Honouring the man once known as Lord Vulture is a testament to British ignorance of our imperial past."

"I am basically writing for a general audience rather than an academic audience. So, I explain stuff, I don’t assume knowledge of any of this on the part of the reader. In a kind of general sense I suppose I have, when I am deciding how much needs to be explained, in mind my primary audience."

"I am writing definitely primarily for an audience who don’t know India."

"Actually, when you have been in the country for a long time... whether it’s an Indian kid going to live in California working in a software company or whether its me coming to live here as historian and writer; to a certain extent you become a part of the country, and to a certain extent you remain always the person you were with the set of circumstances, history or personal history. So, I don’t think I can ever totally become Indian, but after twenty years I have certainly taken many of the Indian elements. In fact I am sitting talking to you right now in my cotton pajamas and at lunch time I will probably have dal and rice. In various ways I have taken on the life of Delhi; I think I am in the lucky position, in that I can talk to both worlds."

"Everybody has their own India and I think it’s a nonsense construction, “a real India”. The real India might be the India of the villages and certainly there’s a lot to be said of the fact that India’s heart lies in its villages. But I live 5 miles down the road from Gurgaon with kyscrapers and software companies and backoffice projects and call-centers. And that’s a very real India too, so I think “real India” doesn’t make much sense-- anymore than the real US with apple pie and Thanksgiving and family around campfires; is that anymore real than Manhattan?"

"What has gone on in Iraq and Afghanistan has many echoes with what was going in this part of the world in 18th and 19th century - setting up of puppet governments, the lending of troops and the training of local troops in recent Western techniques. Anyone that knows the history of South Asia in 18th century can see million echoes in what has been going in Iraq and Afghanistan."

"The current Western puppet Hamid Karzai is from the same sub-tribe as Shah Shuja, who was a British puppet in 1839, It is the same war under slightly different flags."

"I am a terrible linguist. It`s a great shame that I have not learnt Urdu and Persian."

"In the course of my travels I often came across the assumption that intense spirituality was somehow the preserve of what many call 'the mystic east'... it's a misconception that has always irritated me as I've always regarded our own indigenous British traditions of spirituality as especially rich."

"It is true that the early Nehruvian textbooks were written by Romila Thapar and so on, many of whom were Marxists. Sometimes, those textbooks did sort of emphasise a slightly rose-tinted vision of Hindu-Muslim unity running through the whole of the Delhi Sultanate right through the Mughals, which left room for the right wing to say this isn’t history. But the reality was that all those Nehruvian historians were great historians which the right wing successors were not."

"I alerted Bloomsbury to the growing online controversy over Delhi Riots 2020, as did several other Bloomsbury authors, I did not call for its banning or pulping and have never supported the banning of any book. It is now being published by another press."

"The outbreak revealed the surprising degree to which the Mughal court was still regarded across northern India not as some sort of foreign Muslim imposition – as some, especially on the Hindu right wing, look upon the Mughals today – but instead as the principal source of political legitimacy, and therefore the natural centre of resistance against British colonial rule."

"For the British after 1857, the Indian Muslim became an almost subhuman creature, to be classified in unembarrassedly racist imperial literature alongside such other despised and subject specimens, such as Irish Catholics or ‘the Wandering Jew’."

"Although a Bahadur Shah Zafar road still survives in Delhi, as indeed do roads named after all the other Great Mughals, for many Indians today, rightly or wrongly, the Mughals are still perceived as it suited the British to portray them in the imperial propaganda that they taught in Indian schools after 1857: as sensual, decadent, temple-destroying invaders – something that was forcefully and depressingly demonstrated by the whole episode of the demoliton of the Baburi Masjid at Ayodhya in 1992."

"Zafar always put huge emphasis on his role as a protector of the Hindus and the moderator of Muslim demands. He never forgot the central importance of preserving the bond between his Hindu and Muslim subjects, which he always recognised was the central stitching that held his capital city together."

"However hard the planners tried to create new colonies of gleaming concrete, crumbling tomb towers, old mosques or ancient Islamic colleges - medresses - would intrude, appearing suddenly on roundabouts or in municipal gardens, curving the road network and obscuring the fairways of the golf course."

"New Delhi was not new at all. Its broad avenues encompassed a groaning necropolis, a graveyard of dynasties."

"At first it is possible to mistake the Ozymandias-image for a displaced Egyptian Pharaoh or a lost Roman Emperor. Only on closer examination does it become clear that it is George V, the King Emperor, surrounded by his viceroys."

"I have been told that Dalrymple is a personable man, and in my own encounters with him I have indeed found him so, but what is of interest in this context is not Dalrymple the man, but Dalrymple the phenomenon. How did a White man, young, irreverent and likeable in his first and by far most readable India book, The City of Djinns, become the pompous arbiter of literary merit in India?"

"Dalrymple is [also] British—Scottish, to be exact—but his controversial statements are more likely to concern the country's [India’s] Mughal or British past. He is today India's most famous narrative historian."

"His fluent and moving presentations of big subjects—India's first war of independence in "The Last Mughal (2006)", for example — sometimes irritate native historians who feel they have been scooped by a powerful foreign interest, but this is a little unfair:..Dalrymple's success has shown that there is a market for well-written history in India. This is itself an achievement."

"In the past twenty years, he has rigorously pursued fascination for [India], writing one brilliant travel book (City of Djinns: A Year in Delhi), two vivid histories (White Mughals and The Last Mughal), and one anthology of acute acute journalism (The Age of Kali) about South Asia. He came to India before it had achieved its status as a frontier boomland for computer programmers and writers alike, and he has lived there, on and off, since 1989... he has become something of a godfather to a generation of writers who are producing nonfiction about the country. The fact that Dalrymple looks like a sunnier version of the actor James Gandolfini and loves to party no doubt helps with this reputation."

"The motives of people like Dalrymple, those who wilfully set out to deny the facts of the destruction of the Hindu civilisation of India, are the opposite. Their denial of the large-scale destruction and denigration of Hindu religion and culture by the Muslim raiders, invaders and conquerors of India is motivated by the deep-seated political aim of the Independence movement to brook no divide between Hindu and Muslim.It was for its time and for all time a noble aim. That was one of the things V.S. Naipaul said to the BJP gathering--that the project of Nehru and Gandhi to avoid going into the import of that history was in itself positively motivated. There is never any justification for one community in India to conduct a pogrom against another. Not then, not now. But surely the construction of history should be truthful. Suppression can only exacerbate the anger."

"The best way to get the better of temptation is just to yield to it."

"The movement of the progressive societies has hitherto been a movement from Status to Contract."

"The family was based, not upon actual relationship, but upon power, and the husband acquired over his wife the same despotic power which the father had over his children."

"We cannot give a reason, other than mere chance, why power over a wife should have retained the name of manus, why power over a child should have obtained another name, potestas, why power over slaves and inanimate property should in later times be called dominium. But, although the transformation of meanings be capricious, the process of specialisation is a permanent phenomenon, in the highest degree important and worthy of observation."

"So great is the ascendancy of the Law of Actions in the infancy of Courts of Justice, that substantive law has at first the look of being gradually secreted in the interstices of procedure; and the early lawyer can only see the law through the envelope of its technical forms."

"Nobody is at liberty to attack several property and to say at the same time that he values civilisation. The history of the two cannot be disentangled. Civilisation is nothing more than a name for the old order of the Aryan world, dissolved but perpetually re-constituting itself under a vast variety of solvent influences, of which infinitely the most powerful have been those which have, slowly, and in some parts of the world much less perfectly than others, substituted several property for collective ownership."

"Except the blind forces of Nature, nothing moves in this world which is not Greek in its origin."

"The new theory of Language has unquestionably produced a new theory of Race . . . If you examine the bases proposed for common nationality before the new knowledge growing out of the study of Sanskrit had popularized in Europe, you will find them extremely unlike those which are now advocated and even passionately advocated in part of the Continent."

"Here then we have one great inherent infirmity of popular governments, an infirmity deducible from the principle of Hobbes, that liberty is power cut into fragments. Popular governments can only be worked by a process which incidentally entails the further subdivision of the morsels of political power; and thus the tendency of these governments, as they widen their electoral basis, is towards a dead level of commonplace opinion, which they are forced to adopt as the standard of legislation and policy. The evils likely to be thus produced are rather those vulgarly associated with Ultra-Conservatism than those of Ultra-Radicalism."

"So far indeed as the human race has experience, it is not by political societies in any way resembling those now called democracies that human improvement has been carried on. History, said Strauss - and, considering his actual part in life, this is perhaps the last opinion which might have been expected from him - History is a sound aristocrat. There may be oligarchies close enough and jealous enough to stifle thought as completely as an Oriental despot who is at the same time the pontiff of a religion; but the progress of mankind has hitherto been effected by the rise and fall of aristocracies, by the formation of one aristocracy within another, or by the succession of one aristocracy to another. There have been so-called democracies, which have rendered services beyond price to civilisation, but they were only peculiar forms of aristocracy. The short-lived Athenian democracy, under whose shelter art, science, and philosophy shot so wonderfully upwards, was only an aristocracy which rose on the ruins of one much narrower. The splendour which attracted the original genius of the then civilised world to Athens was provided by the severe taxation of a thousand subject cities; and the skilled labourers who worked under Phidias, and who built the Parthenon, were slaves."

"[T]he Constitutions and the legal systems of the several North American States, and of the United States, would be wholly unintelligible to anybody who did not know that the ancestors of the Anglo-Americans had once lived under a King, himself the representative of older Kings infinitely more autocratic, and who had not observed that throughout these bodies of law and plans of government the People had simply been put into the King's seat, occasionally filling it with some awkwardness. The advanced Radical politician of our day would seem to have an impression that Democracy differs from Monarchy in essence. There can be no grosser mistake than this, and none more fertile of further delusions."

"[I]n the very first place, Democracy, like Monarchy, like Aristocracy, like any other government, must preserve the national existence. The first necessity of a State is that it should be durable. Among mankind regarded as assemblages of individuals, the gods are said to love those who die young; but nobody has ventured to make such an assertion of States. The prayers of nations to Heaven have been, from the earliest ages, for long national life, life from generation to generation, life prolonged far beyond that of children's children, life like that of the everlasting hills. ...Next perhaps to the paramount duty of maintaining national existence, comes the obligation incumbent on Democracies, as on all governments, of securing the national greatness and dignity. Loss of territory, loss of authority, loss of general respect, loss of self-respect, may be unavoidable evils, but they are terrible evils."

"[T]he extreme forms of government, Monarchy and Democracy, have a peculiarity which is absent from the more tempered political systems founded on compromise, Constitutional Kingship and Aristocracy. When they are first established in absolute completeness, they are highly destructive. There is a general, sometimes chaotic, upheaval, while the nouvelles couches are settling into their place in the transformed commonwealth."

"There is no belief less warranted by actual experience, than that a democratic republic is, after the first and in the long-run, given to reforming legislation. As is well known to scholars, the ancient republics hardly legislated at all; their democratic energy was expended upon war, diplomacy, and justice; but they put nearly insuperable obstacles in the way of a change of law. The Americans of the Umted States have hedged themselves round in exactly the same way."

"The prejudices of the people are far stronger than those of the privileged classes; they are far more vulgar; and they are far more dangerous, because they are apt to run counter to scientific conclusions."

"The delusion that Democracy, when it has once had all things put under its feet, is a progressive form of government, lies deep in the convictions of a particular political school, but there can be no delusion grosser."

"The natural condition of mankind (if that word "natural" is used) is not the progressive condition. It is a condition not of changeableness but of unchangeableness. The immobility of society is the rule; its mobility is the exception. The toleration of change and the belief in its advantages are still confined to the smallest portion of the human race, and even with that portion they are extremely modern."

"Whether - and this is the last objection - the age of aristocracies be over, I cannot take upon myself to say. I have sometimes thought it one of the chief drawbacks on modern democracy that, while it gives birth to despotism with the greatest facility, it does not seem to be capable of producing aristocracy, though from that form of political and social ascendency all improvement has hitherto sprung."

"Maine's nature is to exercise power, and to find good reasons for adopted policy. Augustus or Napoleon would have made him Prime Minister. He has no strong sympathies, and is not at heart a Liberal, for he believes that Manchesterism will lose India. He considers also that the party, especially Lowe, has treated him less well than Salisbury. He is intensely nervous and sensitive. After that, I may say that I esteem him, with Mr. Gladstone, Newman, and Paget, the finest intellect in England."

"What pure reason and boundless knowledge can do, without sympathy or throb, Maine can do better than any man in England."

"He says that Primogeniture has been of very great political service. I admitted this, but objected that there is another side to the question, that Primogeniture embodies the confusion between authority and property which constitutes modern Legitimacy, that Legitimacy has, in this century, acted as an obstacle to free institutions, and that a one-sided judgment thrown off as that sentence is, gives a Tory tinge to the entire paper. He answered, "You seem to use Tory as a term of reproach." I was much struck by this answer—much struck to find a philosopher, entirely outside party politics, who does not think Toryism a reproach, and still more, to find a friend of mine ignorant of my sentiments about it."

"We want to help to better the conditions for our own people. We want to see our people raised, not into a society of State ownership, but into a society in which, increasingly, the individual may become an owner. There is a very famous sentence of Sir Henry Maine's, in which he said that the progress of our civilisation had been of recent centuries a progress on the part of mankind from status to contract. Socialism would bring him back from contract to status."

"History does not furnish Maine, as it furnished Acton, with any guiding thread of growing freedom; and the process towards contract does not appear in the issue to be a process towards liberty. What History proves is the rarity and fragility of democracy. History has with Maine, what it tends to have with many of us, a way of numbing generous emotions. All things have happened already; nothing much came of them before; and nothing much can be expected of them now."

"The general argument of Popular Government proceeds from a sort of intellectual anti-intellectualism. Assuming, like some French writers, such as Renan and afterwards Tarde, that aristocracy is the mother of all real progress, and holding that the multitude has been the enemy of all fruitful novelty, Maine argues that democracy, whatever its love of change during its militant phase, will in its triumphant phase pass into a Chinese stationary State."

"In reality Maine, with his gift for massive and impressive generalisation, was the tragic voice, sonorous behind the mask of Cassandra, which uttered the feelings that had gathered since the extension of the suffrage in 1867."

"It is no mere accident that Maine, who in his Ancient Law undermined the authority of analytical jurisprudence, aimed in his Popular Government a blow at the foundations of Benthamite faith in democracy."

"I was deeply impressed with his brilliant intelligence and rare literary instincts. I attended his lectures in Middle Temple Hall (afterwards his book Ancient Law),—the substance of the problems we discussed together."

"When I listened to the lectures of Henry S. Maine, which afterwards became his Ancient Law, I was as strongly attracted to Roman Law and historical Jurisprudence as I had been repelled by the barbarous verbiage of "common forms." I insisted upon becoming Maine's pupil for six months, as a condition of keeping my reason during my study of law."

"Henry Sumner Maine, whose private pupil I was in 1857, when he was giving his lectures on "Ancient Law," was rather historian than lawyer, and more social philosopher than jurist. I remained in intimacy with him until his too early death, and never ceased to delight in his brilliant scholarship and analytic genius, as well as his literary culture and charm of manner. His very precarious health quite prevented him from acquiring the profound and exact learning of a modern professor; but he may rank with Herbert Spencer, and indeed with Charles Darwin, as an instance of how intellectual insight and grasp of luminous principles can dispense with any exhaustive study of books, nay, so often can open visions of truths which are denied to the voracious amasser of book learning."

"Intellectually he was a giant; I have hardly ever known anyone who gave me such an impression of the power and grasp of his mind. Like Mr. Gladstone, he would sometimes, when he was talking to me in my room, get interested in his subject, and, with great emphasis, and in an unnecessarily loud voice, deliver a speech which, if it had been taken down, would have been an appreciable addition to the sum of human thought. In Council he rarely spoke, but when he did so, always with the same thunderous voice and commanding air, he invariably convinced everybody and carried his point. His knowledge, his sagacity, his insight were wonderful, and they were by no means confined to questions of law."

"As the founder of modern comparative social studies, as a prodigious historical scholar, as perhaps the most penetrating observer of Indian society, Maine knew that human progress, or even the wish for it, is a fragile creation; but he did not despair of it. On the contrary, progress—by which Maine means, chiefly, the promotion of a high state of intellectual attainment, and of liberty under law—has been active in the West for some centuries. The index of its success is the trend from Status to Contract among peoples, and its principal instruments are private property and freedom of contract. The life of the mind, and the liberty of persons, flourish in a society diversified, economically individualistic, and characterized by several property (as distinguished from the various forms of communal ownership.) A society which men freely contract for economic ends tends to be progressive; modern collectivism, then, is stifling."

"The five brilliant volumes of his social studies constitute a foundation for this scientific history; modern legal thought and sociology and political speculation, as well as historical method, are deeply indebted to Maine. In this or that he has been corrected or amended; Maine himself expected nothing else; but the bulk of his writing looms still majestic in accuracy and outlook."

"Sir Henry Maine's remarkable power of insight into the real meaning and connexions of archaic customs so alien to modern ideas as to be ordinarily incomprehensible, and his luminous generalizations upon the materials found scattered over these obscure fields of research, have greatly influenced local inquiries in India. He surveys and marks out the whole line of penetration into difficult and entangled subjects, and workers in the field are constantly verifying the extraordinary precision of their chief engineer's rapid alignments."

"Today we are no longer concerned to argue that status necessarily precedes contract and recognize that the two notions are not incompatible in one and the same society. In Maine's work we can excise the genetic argument and still profit from the discussion that remains. This can be said of many writers of the period, but even this patronizing judgement is superseded by the recognition that Maine and his most able contemporaries allowed themselves to be guided, by such facts as were available, to combat the products of more speculative evolutionism. He saw, for example, nothing in his facts which could lead him to agree with the popular fantasy that all societies had evolved from a condition of sexual promiscuity through a matriarchal period to a condition of society laying its main emphasis upon descent through males."

"Not only was he a humanist before he was a jurist, but he never ceased to be a humanist."

"Having at his command wide and rich domains of literature, he took toll of them for his service, but did not levy nominal tributes for ostentation. Very little really extraneous ornament is to be found in his writings. And yet nothing ever came from his hand that was not visibly the work of an accomplished scholar."

"Maine can no more become obsolete through the industry and ingenuity of modern scholars than Montesquieu could be made obsolete by the legislation of Napoleon. Facts will be corrected, the order and proportion of ideas will vary, new difficulties will call for new ways of solution, useful knowledge will serve its turn and be forgotten; but in all true genius, perhaps, there is a touch of art; Maine's genius was not only touched with art, but eminently artistic; and art is immortal."

"At one master-stroke he forged a new and lasting bond between law, history, and anthropology. Jurisprudence itself has become a study of the living growth of human society through all its stages, and it is no longer possible for law to be dealt with as a collection of rules imposed on societies as it were by accident, nor for the resemblances and differences of the laws of different societies to be regarded as casual."

"Maine has always spoken to me in strong dislike of the acts of Modern Liberals & I believe he was to have stood as a moderate Conservative at Cambridge. I take him to be of the same politics as many of the Liberals of thirty years ago, who are now Conservative. I believe he writes for the St James Gazette & he has written four articles against Democracy in the Quarterly which have attracted a great deal of attention."

"I have been reading Maine in the Quarterly—the best anti-democratic writing that we have had. He dined with us this evening: seems really concerned that we have no proper constitution in England: thinks it would be a real gain to have a constitutional code settled by Act of Parliament. Of course it could not have binding force for future Parliaments, but—there is valuable efficacy in the written word; if judiciously written it would be difficult to alter. The genuine alarm that M. seems to feel at the existing state of things in England impressed me much, since his intellect has always seemed to me a very cool and disengaged one."

"Maine's direct influence on political thought was to be slight. His influence on the study of law was enormous and therefore his indirect influence on politics has been enormous too. Intending to show law as a growth, he in fact greatly increased our control over it as an instrument."

"In combating what seemed to him the insular arrogance of Bentham and the obscurantism of the legal profession, he emphasised our debt to Rome. He saw Roman law as the institution mainly responsible for the distinction between progressive and stationary societies. This emphasis on Roman law was invaluable. It meant that Maine faced the most difficult problems of history—the effect of borrowing by one people of the institutions of another and the securing of the same social results by different peoples using different methods."

"Maine challenges it [democracy] as an aristocrat. He agreed with Machiavelli that the world is made up of the vulgar. Civilisation is a hardly-won habit which force created, habit perpetuates, and legal skill protects and elaborates. In Ancient Law we see the germs of modern anthropological methods. Popular Government suggests the psychological studies of Graham Wallas. But the psychological insight is distorted by a tendency to see civilisation as contract writ large."

"It will be seen that the writer is no friend to Democracy and no great believer in Progress, as the word is commonly understood in politics... However much we may differ with the writer in detail here and there, the article contains much that no serious political thinker will deem himself entitled to overlook."

"Maine brings into the field of inquiry a new element, the element of science in the English sense of the word, that is of exact knowledge based on observation, and aiming at the formulation, of laws. The fact is that Maine did not only stand under the influence of the preceding generation, which had given such an extraordinary impulse to historical research, but also under the sign of his own time with its craving for a scientific treatment of the problems of social life."

"[Neoinstitutional Economics...] theory has made an indispensable contribution in recent times to advances of understanding in this area. But it seems to me that in the economics of institutions theory is now outstripping empirical research to an excessive extent. No doubt the same could be said of other fields in economics, but there is a particular point about this one. Theoretical modelling may or may not be more difficult in this field than in others, but empirical work is confronted by a special difficulty. Because economic institutions are complex, they do not lend themselves easily to quantitative measurement. Even in the respects in which they do, the data very often are not routinely collected by national statistical offices. As a result, the statistical approach which has become the bread and butter of applied economics is not straightforwardly applicable. Examples of it do exist, the literature on the economics of slavery being perhaps the most fully developed - not surprisingly because slavery is an institution that is sharply defined. But to a large extent the empirical literature has consisted of case-studies which are interesting but not necessarily representative, together with a certain amount on legal court cases, which are almost certainly not representative. Is this the best we can do? There is a challenge here on the empirical side to economists to see what is the best way forward."

"R. C. O. Matthews (1986), "Presidential Address to the Royal Economic Society." as cited in Eggertsson (1990; 31-32)"

""The chief fault in English economists at the beginning of the [nineteenth] century was... that they did not see how liable to change are the habits and institutions of industry." Thus Marshall in his inaugural lecture as Professor of Political Economy in Cambridge, referring to Ricardo (Marshall 1885, p. 155). In the circumstances of that occasion, the remark may have been intended in some part as an olive branch, because the only other serious contender for the Chair had been the High Tory economic historian William Cunningham, Archdeacon of Ely, famous as an anti-theoretical institutionalist and famous also as a polemicist - he was the clergyman who once told his congregation that for him the bliss of Heaven would be incomplete if it lacked the pleasures of controversy."

"The fundamental idea of transaction costs is that they consist of the cost of arranging a contract ex ante and monitoring and enforcing it ex post, as opposed to production costs, which are the costs of executing a contract."

"Matthews described himself as writing economic history in the style of an economist. Sceptical of conventional economic models of "rational individualistic utility maximisation", his interests moved toward the institutional and psychological underpinnings of economic behaviour."

"Though I think that man has from nature the capacity of living, either by prey, or upon the fruits of the earth; it appears to me, that by nature, and in his original state, he is a frugivorous animal, and that he only becomes an animal of prey by acquired habit."

"As to Duration, I still think it is absolutely impossible to conceive it without something that exists, and continues to exist, i.e. to endure. But how it should be a property of the thing existing is to me inconceivable. One thing... is absolutely certain, viz. that if eternal Duration be a property of the Supreme Being, Duration limited must be a property of inferior beings; so that we have here some common property. I find you agree with Dr Clarke, in considering Time and Duration as the same. But this is an error that Dr Clarke has fallen into, by not being learned in the Ancient Metaphysics; for there he would have learned that time is only the measure of motion. It therefore could not exist, but with the material world; so that, if we could suppose nothing existing but the Supreme Mind, which is immoveable, there would in that case be Duration, or αίών,—as the Greek Philosophers call it—but not χρόνος, or Time. And the Doctor should not have rejected the common distinction, made by all Philosophers and Divines before him, betwixt Time and Eternity, without assigning better reasons than he has done."

"In the 1795 text, the "History of man" section of Antient metaphysics, it bursts into flower. The "Shanscrit," Monboddo says, is the original language of India and all the other languages of India are dialects that are more or less corrupt; it is "the most perfect language that is, or, I believe, ever was, on this earth; for it is more perfect than the Greek" (Burnett 1779-99, 4:322)"

"There is a language, still existing and preserved among the Brahmins of India, which is a richer and in every respect a finer language than even the Greek of Homer. All the other languages of India have great resem- blance to this language, which is called the Shanscrit. . . . I shall be able to clearly prove that the Greek is derived from the Shanscrit, which was the ancient language of Egypt and was carried by the Egyptians to India with their other arts and into Greece by the colonies which they settled there."

"My lord and Dr Johnson disputed a little, whether the savage or the London shopkeeper had the best existence; his lordship, as usual, preferring the savage."

"It may be safely asserted, and yet without implying any direct participation in the Monboddo doctrine touching the probability of the human race having once been monkeys, that men do play very strange and extraordinary tricks."

"The rise of every man he loved to trace, Up to the very pod O! And, in baboons, our parent race Was found by old Monboddo. Their A, B, C, he made them speak, And learn their qui, quæ, quod, O! Till Hebrew, Latin, Welsh, and Greek They knew as well's Monboddo!"

"For centuries, governments have been known to have kept much information (usually embarrassing) from their peoples, thereby consolidating their power to rule. Nevertheless, is it not surprising that for over 60 years, modern governments, aided and abetted by a cynical media, have, more or less successfully, kept from the public their certain knowledge of the reality of UFOs and the fact of their peaceful activity? (Preface)"

"Moreover, some governments have been guilty of denigrating the inhabitants of these ‘non-existent’ craft, have named them ‘aliens’, and accused them of all manner of atrocities against men and women of Earth. The reasons for this dishonest and undemocratic behaviour are discussed in this book, and the close collaboration existing between the ‘people of the UFOs’ (our Space Brothers) and the members of our own Spiritual Hierarchy is made clear for the first time. (Preface)"

"Our scientists assert that human life does not exist on such planets as Mars, Venus, Jupiter, etc. This assumption arises out of their ignorance of the etheric levels of matter. Their technology is still inadequate to measure the full range of the material planes. Had they etheric vision, they would know that all the planets of our system are inhabited and that many are far more advanced in evolution than we are on Earth. The time is fast approaching when a more open-minded view of life with its mysteries will supersede the arrogance of the ignorant, to the benefit of us all. (Preface)"

"To keep their populations under control, and to avoid ‘panic’, they have denied the experience of hundreds of thousands of intelligent, open-minded citizens. They have thus created a major myth: “‘Flying saucers’ do not exist but they are dangerous and rapacious to men of Earth”! Likewise, they have taught the people to deride the notion that crop circles are a legacy from Space, yet every government has unassailable proof of the existence, creativity and superior technology of these brave and harmless visitors from the sister planets of our System. Our profound ignorance of the subtle planes of matter has allowed the major governments of the world to maintain this deception for so long. (Part One)"

"There is an enormous amount of information of one kind or another about UFOs, some of it true, absolutely authentic, and masses of it utterly unreal and unauthentic. This is a huge and all-important subject. (Part One)"

"The solar system and the Plan. All the planets are engaged in one Plan, which also involves Earth. Most people on Earth do not even know that such a Plan exists. It is a Plan of evolution for our solar system, which works as a unit. We think of the Earth, the Sun and Moon, but pay very little attention to the other planets of our solar system, except through NASA and the Russian exploits. All the planets have their Plans. They are all part of our solar system and the solar system evolves together. (Part One)"

"Not all the planets are at the same point in evolution. Some are very low in evolution. Some, like Earth, are about halfway along the path. Some are very evolved indeed. As we have hundreds of thousands of lives to go from being an early animal man or woman to a Master, so a planet has seven expressions or rounds, each of which is millions of years long. (Part One)"

"Some, like Venus, are in their last round. Venus is the alter ego, the higher aspect, of Earth. Earth is about at the halfway point, in the middle of the fourth round. At that point a planet begins to find its course, its destiny. Its people begin to wake up. This is happening in the world today. Humanity is waking up from a long sleep in which it lost contact with reality, with the purpose and meaning of life on Earth. It became deeply embedded in the profound materialism in which it is still involved to this day. (part 1)"

"Our nuclear scientists believe they have total control of nuclear energy, which, demonstrably, they do not. They have no understanding of the four etheric levels of matter above the solid, liquid and gaseous levels and therefore a limited knowledge of what they know as nuclear energy. It is actually etheric, physical matter which we should not be using. Nuclear energy is, as it says in the Bible, “that which stands where it ought not”. Nuclear fission should not be utilized. It is deadly and is increasingly damaging the health of the people of this planet. The people of other planets spend countless hours mopping up this energy."

"Every planet is surrounded by a magnetic field. It is made up of lines of force that criss-cross, and where they criss-cross they form vortices.These vortices have been replicated on the dense-physical plane by our Space Brothers as part of a new energy grid that Maitreya calls the Science of Light. This energy grid in relation to electrical energy brought directly from the sun will give us the new Science of Light as predicted by Maitreya. It will give this planet, as on other planets, unlimited, safe power for all purposes, in ways that cannot be bought up or cornered by any group of men."

"This technology will not be given until we have abandoned war for ever. Most essential today is that we should abandon war for ever, come to a co-operative agreement among all people that war is a thing of the past. This will be the basic point of Maitreya’s early teaching. He will stress again and again that we have to make peace. Nothing short of peace will do because we can now destroy all life, human and subhuman, on planet Earth. Maitreya and the Masters come in part to make sure that we do not destroy our planet."

"If we did destroy the planet, it would have irrevocable consequences for the rest of the solar system, and the future for humanity would be dreadful indeed. We would have no planet to live on, and would have perpetrated a terrible crime against ourselves and the other planets. We would end up incarnating on some distant, dark planet, not at all evolved. We would have to start at the beginning, as we were millions of years ago, and take again the long slow climb upwards. It would be unbelievably painful and restrict our evolution for thousands, perhaps millions of years. Why choose that? Why, indeed, choose such an end?"

"The nature of the Space Brothers is to serve. They make great sacrifices to help our planet. In their thousands they have come, and they spend their time and energy helping us in every way. They create vortices which are visible as crop circles to be sure, but also invisibly across the world in general."

"The crop circles are only an outer tangential sign of their presence. If you have the eyes to see, this sign tells you that someone of tremendous intelligence, skill, tact and reserve has touched the edges of our garment, and said: “We are here.”"

"They could land, make a big noise and tell us that they are here, but they do not. They make contact quietly, sensitively – so that they do not drive us to panic. If they come down and people panic and are terrified, the Space Brothers just go away. If the people are not terrified, if they do not panic, then things might happen. The Space Brothers might introduce themselves, and they have introduced themselves, to thousands of people of this Earth. These are people who to this day have never mentioned their meeting with a spaceship and with spacemen who came out of it, who spoke to them without seeming to speak, but made them understand that they were visitors from far off planets come in peace to help us. The people who have been contacted have been afraid to speak, afraid to be ridiculed."

"Mars is a neighboring planet at about the same level of evolution as Earth, although technologically far more advanced, so they can be of help. They like to help fellow planets who are lagging behind, who are in trouble, who are misusing nuclear energy and causing the planet and themselves to suffer. They have a great heart and wish to help humanity. They do it out of love."

"Following an aircraft, they cannot be shot down – they have a force field round them. The spaceships, too, cannot be shot down – they also have a force field round them. They have often been fired at by fighter planes sent up to intercept them but there is no way the rounds can penetrate the force field of the ship, so it is a waste of time and energy."

"This time can be seen as a time when we are experiencing the birth pains of new civilization... It's not me. It's the power of the inner truth of the story..."

"He comes for all people, religious and non-religious alike. He wishes only to be called "the Teacher' because that's what He is."

"He says 'I have not come to found a new religion. People should continue to evolve within the framework of their own tradition, whatever that happens to be. 'I have come' He said 'to teach humanity the art of self-realization... when you share, you recognize God in your brother... all of us are spiritual beings, souls in incarnation... the soul is aiming to work out it's divine purpose through each of us as individuals."

"It is competition between nations which has brought us to the very, very harmful condition of our present existence. Throughout the world... and of course more painful in the developing world than even than in the developed world... this is something we can take hold of we can change our minds... our way of thinking. We don't have to be absolutely at the mercy of these piscean ideas of division, of separation."

"We can think in other terms. The energy of Aquarius is the energy of synthesis. So the energies of Pisces have left us divided... it has given us tremendous qualities... for example of individuality."

"Two thousand years ago, only a relatively small number of people had what we call... individuality. Others had a kind of herd concept, herd mentation and they were therefore at the mercy always of those who had individuality and they were the leaders, the kings, the chief men, the warriors... who competed and warred and spread around the world their concepts, how to keep what you had and to deny it to others."

"The fundamental... the basic law of life is the law of cause and effect... the law of Karma as they call it in the east. It was put out by Jesus very simply in His time in a way that would be understood by the farmers... as you sow, so shall you reap... it's the basic law of life."

"As we think. Moment to moment, as we act... we set into motion causes. Effects stemming from these causes make our lives for good or for ill... individually and socially and globally. So whatever we think has to be harmless."

"We now have no option but to end war forever because with the nuclear bombs and armament today, we can destroy all life... it's up to us. We have to do it. We have to make the decision."

"It's obvious that the number one thing we have to do is to get rid of war."

"Maitreya says 'To get rid of war is not so difficult. It's really very simple. You just have to have a change of heart. That's all. You just have to change your heart.' Send it out to be cleaned... dry cleaned heart... you have to look at life differently. You have to look at your self differently to understand what we're here, what we're here for, why we're in incarnation at all...."

"What's the meaning of life?... what's the purpose? ...Is God cruel and hurts some families by killing babies... allowing other nasty families to grow old...?"

"Many people think there's someone called 'God' who's arranging it all. God doesn't do that. We do the arranging... and we do it through the law of cause and effect. As we think, so we are. As we think... we create the conditions of what we see around us. We all do it. The pain and the suffering of the world is made by us, not by God."

"God's a completely different idea from most people's vision... Everybody... is God... Creative, rich in ideas, full of love. All of that is there in every single individual... at their very best, but most people are not at their best. Most people are at work... working all day... to get just enough food for their families... to pay the rent... the schooling... and everyone's involved in working for money to live. Are we born for that? Is that what life is about? I suggest that it isn't. It's become that because we have come to wrong conclusions and we have disobeyed the laws of life..."

"The fundamental law of life is the law of cause and effect and therefore we have to be harmless, because if we are destructive, we're destroying the equilibrium of everybody."

"You cannot be destructive and be creative at the same time...."

"Most of us think we have to be destructive because our governments are destructive... It's destructive men in governments in the Pentagon.. the White House... the House of Commons and in the various governments who make the laws... and these laws involve war but we cannot afford another war. Another war would destroy all life on earth. So what can we do?.... We only have one option and that is to end war forever."

"So how to we get at stopping war? We have to create trust. We have to get rid of injustice."

"America, Russia and China and the states of Europe can be as greedy and selfish and rich and powerful as they are, all of them, and there could be millions of people starving to death, as there are... and you could call it justice... a different kind of justice... to me there's only one kind of justice and that's social justice, it's what happens... between nations of people... there are millions of people starving to death in a world of plenty.... there's a huge surplus of food per capita."

"Sharing is just distributing it more sanely, more humanly. Nations... have fantastic... qualities of life but don't seem to think that other people have the same rights to... that quality of life. Why not? Because they are members of small countries who are not rich? But the world is rich! There is a huge quality of abundance in the world.... tremendous quality, if the food were distributed... not one child in the world would need to suffer starvation... people die in the millions, for want of the food that is rotting away in the storehouses of the developed world. ...it's insane, but it's true... the world is divided by those who think they have the right to everything and those who have no rights to anything.... there will never be peace if there isn't justice."

"Now there are 14 masters plus Maitreya... That is one group of helpers which come to help humanity get through this difficult period between the Age of Pisces and the Age of Aquarius... The other group, another major group are the Masters who come from some of the other planets of our own system.... This system like all systems is a cohesive unit. All the planets are related and all carry on their work in relation to the Plans of our own sun. Our sun is the center of this solar system and there is an interplanetary force, interplanetary being relationship at the center of this system as a whole, and the spiritual masters of this planet are in the closest contact with the spiritual identities in each of the planets of our system. There is an interplanetary parliament of which our Spiritual Hierarchy and Maitreya is the expression of this planet. All the planets have their representatives in the interplanetary parliament. At that parliament, Maitreya focused for the other planets, the aims and the problems of Earth. It was concluded that an extraordinary movement of succor of help for the Earth had to be mounted by as many of the planets as wished to. It is not without reason the first evidence of what came to be called flying saucers, UFOs... happened soon after the end of the war. (43:36)"

"In 1945-46... & so on... ordinary airline pilots, crew & passengers would see would see outside their planes... these extraordinary dome shaped... ships... and no one knew where they came from... no one knew what they were. In the beginning most the... governments thought... the Russians thought they were made by the Americans. The Americans thought they were made by the Russians... no one knew precisely how they came to be there, what they were doing and how they had this extraordinary freedom of the air, this ability to appear and disappear and to go at fantastic speeds way out of sight of the planes that they had stood beside for a few minutes... For a few years it was an unexplainable phenomenon. We made jokes about it. Flying saucers... no one knew..."

"In 1953 a book was published by... Desmond Leslie called "Flying Saucers Have Landed"... traced the history... of flying saucers, UFOs... down through the centuries... for hundreds and hundreds... thousands of years.. He had done tremendous amount of research and found that the phenomenon of flying saucers was pretty well universal and had existed on and off for thousands of years... then an American man called George Adamski came on the scene... it was arranged that they (space brothers & Adamski) met in the desert in eastern California... he made the story known. Desmond Leslie heard about it, they met & they published this book together, "Flying Saucers Have Landed" the last chapter which is about a meeting in the desert of GA with a man who... claimed to have come from the planet venus. Meanwhile there was group of Americans set back half a mile or so away who watched the whole scene through binoculars and could bear testimony to the event... Adamski became very well known... travelled the world & gave lectures....the idea of people coming from other planets was extraordinary... (50:33)"

"The governments of the world who are responsible for the covering up for over 60 years of the truth about UFOs, flying saucers... kept from the public the vital information that this planet is a conscious part of a solar system which acts together, which has a parliament for all the planets... The beings coming in the... UFOs are 100% friendly, 100% on a powerful deep spiritual mission to help humanity A) to avoid self destruction thru nuclear war and B) to aid & guide in every way possible those who can respond to them and who are not afraid of them.. and are aware that they are friendly 55:17, that they have never harmed a soul on planet earth... And yet have constructed against them mainly by the American government and its agencies, not necessarily by the American government, but by the agencies of the American administration a series of lies, of innuendos, of blinds which have made even the strongest awareness of and contact with UFOs such a nonsense to the majority that most people are too afraid or too embarrassed, too shy to do anything about it. And yet it is one of the great happenings in our life today that we are being helped in a great spiritual mission... (56:37)"

"The Awakening of Humanity is intended as a companion volume to The World Teacher for All Humanity published in 2007. That book focused on the nature of Maitreya, the World Teacher: His extraordinary capacity to express the qualities of wisdom and love as a great Spiritual Avatar, as well as a friend and brother of us all. The Awakening of Humanity focuses on the day when Maitreya declares Himself openly as World Teacher for the age of Aquarius."

"The achievements of the age, the aspirations of the millions, the readiness to share, the aid agencies, organizations like the United Nations and the various international groupings which, behind the scenes, unite people with people and give a sense of internationalism and co-operation, will be maintained and will grow; they can only flourish in the new situation. But those which stand in the way, those narrow, nationalistic structures based on competition, market forces and greed, will find it impossible to stand against the “onslaught of the new”, the ideas of the new time."

"First to go will be the world’s stock markets. They are, as Maitreya has said, about to crash. They will come down because they stand in the way of right relationship. They really bear no relation to the needs even of trade between countries. They are an anachronism, what Maitreya calls, very accurately, “gambling casinos” which have no part to play in the future time, at least in their present form."

"When the world stock markets collapse — as soon as it is obvious that they are on their final plunge — Maitreya will emerge. He will take up an invitation to appear on a major television network in the United States. The invitation has already been issued, but Maitreya will determine the timing... After the initial interview, all the networks will want to interview Him. However, He will not be introduced as Maitreya or the Christ, but simply as a man of extraordinary wisdom and love."

"Since the time is short indeed till mankind sees the Christ, it would be wise to consider, somewhat, the likely repercussions of that momentous event. Firstly, men will awaken to a new situation, one altogether unfamiliar and strange: nothing similar will have been the experience of anyone alive; no one, anywhere, will have heard before the thoughts broadcast on that day of days. Never, before, will men have heard the call to their divinity, the challenge to their presence here on Earth. Each, singly, and solemnly alone, will know for that time the purpose and meaning of their lives, will experience anew the grace of childhood, the purity of aspiration cleansed of self. For these precious minutes, men will know afresh the joy of full participation in the realities of Life, will feel connected one to another, like the memory of a distant past. Suddenly, men will realize that their life till now was a shallow thing, lacking, for the majority, all that makes life dear: brotherhood and justice, creativeness and love."

"Many will know for the first time that they count, that they matter in the scheme of things. An unfamiliar sense of self-esteem will replace their present hopelessness; drugs of all kinds will cease their hold on men. Quietly, men’s tears will flow in humble gratitude and longing for the good."

"A new spirit of sanctity will prevail upon the Earth; men will walk on tiptoe for a time. Soon, however, men will realize that the changes needed in the world are vast, manifold, requiring patience and dedication, imagination and trust. Before long, men everywhere will engage themselves in the work of reconstruction, the rehabilitation of the world."

"Succour for the poor and hungry will take pride of place, and so will end for ever a blasphemy in men’s midst: millions will know for the first time the quiet happiness of satisfied need – no more will the dying forms of the starving disgrace the screens of the affluent; no longer will men watch their brothers dying before their eyes. So will end a dark chapter in the history of the race."

"Maitreya does not come as a religious teacher, but as a spiritual teacher. We have to broaden our idea of what ‘spiritual’ is. We have to spiritualize every aspect of our lives."

"The problem is the commercialization of all aspects of life. We say it in two words — market forces. Market forces are the excuse for everything that we do. Maitreya says commercialization is more dangerous to the world than an atomic bomb."

"Maitreya will present to the world a choice: to continue as we are, in the old, greedy, selfish, very human ways, and destroy ourselves, or to demonstrate at last the divine potential in every person by grasping the realities of life: the fact of the oneness of the soul; of the oneness, therefore, of humanity as a group of souls in incarnation. This will be a revelation for most of humanity."

"He will talk about the needs of the world: the fact of the starving millions, “a blasphemy in men’s midst”, as the Master calls it. He will show that problem to be the first priority awaiting a renewed and regenerated humanity. He will show that without addressing the problem of hunger and starvation in the midst of plenty we will never take one step forward in the demonstration of the divinity of which He is giving people a sense, perhaps for the first time."

"When a Master (of Wisdom) says “All will be well”, He means that and says it to remove fear. Fear prevents action and if you have the conviction that all will be well you can work free from the fear which inhibits your action. It does not mean that you don’t have to act at all, on the contrary. The more you have trust and are free from fear, the more useful and large in scope can be your action. Trust and complacency are miles apart. If you have trust, you cannot be complacent. If you are complacent, then you do not have trust."

"Like painting and music or any other art... living requires the understanding of and adherence to the laws and rules under which the art can flourish. This essentially new concept of living relates it to the great Law of Cause and Effect (the Law of Karma in the East) and the connected Law of Rebirth, the basic laws of our planetary existence. The correct understanding and following of these two laws are prerequisites for the creation of harmlessness in every sphere of our lives and thus also for the creation of right human relations, itself the prerequisite for human happiness. Preface"

"Historically, the evolution of humanity would seem to be one of almost constant warfare, aggression and hatred. With the discovery of the atomic bomb we have perfected our ability to destroy each other in large numbers and at great distances. Is this destructiveness, then, the true, essential nature of man? And if not, why has he behaved so consistently as if it were? The answer lies in man’s unique position in the evolution of the kingdoms on Earth, the meeting point of spirit and matter. Man, in essence, is an immortal soul, divinely perfect, immersed in matter. For long ages in the incarnational process, the inertia of the matter aspect precludes any significant expression of the soul’s perfection. Eventually, the innate aspiration of man draws him upwards and onwards until the two poles of his nature gradually come together and are resolved in total union. Preface"

"Before long, a great change will take place in our approach to life. Out of the chaos of the present time will emerge a new understanding of the meaning underlying our existence and every effort will be made to express our awareness of that meaning in our daily lives... This will bring about a complete transformation of society: a new livingness will characterize our relationships and institutions; a new freedom and sense of joy will replace the present fear. Above all else, mankind will come to realize that living is an art, based on certain laws, requiring the function of the intuition for correct expression. p. 12"

"Since time immemorial, men have known of, and expected the coming of, a great teacher, an outstanding man of wisdom and revealed truth. Cyclically, age after age, have these Great Ones come forth. Today is no exception to this cosmic law. As the new era dawns, men stand expectant as never before for a sight of the Great Teacher Who, though they know it not, is already in men’s midst. p. 24"

"Throughout the planet, old and young, poor and rich, make ready for His Announcement, His Declaration of Mission and Purpose, His tryst with mankind. As the old century and era wind to their close, men’s minds are quickening to the new energies which will fashion the forms of the new civilization and impose their qualities on the consciousness of men. These qualities – of synthesis and fusion, tolerance and goodwill, harmlessness and brotherly love – will, in time, bring the race of men to the manifestation of its destined glory. Thus shall it be, and thus shall men enter again into their age-old Covenant with the Divine. p.24"

"Men will learn and understand the subtle laws which govern their lives: the basic law of life, the Law of Karma, of Cause and Effect, which controls the destiny of all; the related Law of Rebirth, which makes possible the journey of the Soul in matter; the Law of Harmlessness, which governs right relationship, and the great Law of Sacrifice by which all evolution proceeds. Through an understanding of these laws, men will come to resemble their Mentors, their Elder Brothers, and to demonstrate the Divinity shared by all. They will hearken to the teaching of the Wise Ones and, step by step, inherit their Birthright. Men are born to become Gods and nought can change that destiny; the timing, only, lies in men’s hands. Soon the world will know that the One for Whom men wait is now among us. p. 25"

"Co-operation is harmless. Lack of co-operation, which is competition, is in its very nature harmful. Yet every young American is brought up to believe that competition is the wellspring of life itself. It is not. It is harmful and degrading to the human spirit. It is corrupting and divisive, and the opposite, therefore, of harmless, incurring thereby the Law of Karma. p. 45"

"The art of living will provide the greatest freedom for the greatest number of people, the greatest opportunities for the greatest number of people, the greatest degree of justice for the greatest number of people. That is the art of living. When, in everything that we do – whether as ordinary individuals or in charge of great enterprises – we create conditions in which the greatest number of people find good, the Common Good is exalted, maintained and strengthened. That is what the art of living is about. p. 59"

"The Sword of Cleavage, curiously enough, is the reality, but maybe not the one you expect. The Sword of Cleavage is really the energy of love. The energy of love is the sword which creates cleavage in the world. Cleavage is difference, separation, and yet, when we understand it, that energy is released to the world by Maitreya Who is the Avatar of Love. He releases that love in the world and it stimulates everybody without exception, the good, the bad, the altruistic, the selfish, the greedy, the unselfish, and so on. Everybody is stimulated. The energy itself is purely impersonal, it is neither good nor bad. It is an energy which stimulates, it brings together all peoples, and even the particles of matter which hold the world together. The particles of matter in our body are held together by that same energy. It is God the Son, the Christ aspect, the Consciousness aspect. That energy of love holds and binds together the particles of matter without which there would be no world, and when it is released in a mass way, as it has been for many years, it creates the Sword of Cleavage. p.101"

"It stimulates the good, and people look at the good and see the good, but it also stimulates the bad, and people look at the bad, and see the bad... But at the same time, if they would look with educated eyes they would see a new world, they would see differences: more tolerance, new ideas, people like Nelson Mandela released after 27 years in prison, the end of apartheid, the reunification of Germany, the division into autonomous states in the Soviet Union where ‘unity’ was imposed by an elite on the people of Russia. The world has dramatically changed.... All of this is the action of the Law of Love. This creates the Sword of Cleavage so that humanity will see clearly what the choice is: do we share and recreate the world, make it possible for all people to live together in peace and plenty, “where no man lacks; where no two days are alike; where the Joy of Brotherhood manifests through all men”, as Maitreya said.. Or do we continue with the corruption and misery and eventually see the annihilation of our world? p. 102"

"Maitreya will emphasize this and people will see clearly. But people can see clearly even today. As far as Maitreya is concerned they are already seeing the choice which we have to make: between sharing and justice for everyone or a growing distance between peoples and a war which would destroy all life. That is the Sword of Cleavage."

"The pairs of opposites have never been clearer: gross materialism, stock exchanges reeling because of overwhelming greed, and at the same time people dying in millions from starvation."

"Maitreya’s Sword of Cleavage forces humanity to make a choice: to share or die. He states it clearly: “Men must share or die. There is no other course.” When it dawns on us that we share or we die, of course we will accept to share and that will create the conditions in which all can live in peace."

"Without spiritual tension we would not have the spiritual insight. The spiritual insight which we have we probably think comes from books or from hearing people speak. This we call our spiritual ideas and ideals. We live our life in relation to these, but pay not too much heed to the idea of spiritual tension. How do we know that these spiritual ideas and ideals are not themselves simply illusion? We can only recognize illusion from the spiritual insight which comes as a result of building up a spiritual tension. Spiritual tension is not continuous in most people throughout their lives. It is not something we are given and once we have it, we have it. It is like a clock which constantly needs winding up... The spiritual batteries have likewise to be wound up and this is the value of meditation..."

"Spiritual tension is the outcome of spiritual aspiration and service – meditation, or work connected with the emergence of Maitreya and the Masters, work which has a spiritual ideal as the generating energy for the work. The spiritual tension reaches a point which can then be seen in some creativity, when creativity is the result, when you have built up the spiritual tension to a point when the pressure forces you into spiritual action. And it is action. It is not going around with a lovely sense of yourself as a ‘spiritual person’. It is nothing to do with that; that is mainly glamour. This sense that one is a spiritual person, always looking slightly upwards, rolling the eyes and always talking quietly, never laughing out loud, only in a genteel manner, never saying anything strong or rude, or conflicting with other people, being ‘spiritual’ – that is glamour. Even the idea of ‘being spiritual’ is a glamour. If you are spiritual you do not think about it. p. 189"

"The spiritual batteries are charged by spiritual thoughts and spiritual thoughts are creativity. It is not thinking nice thoughts; it is being creative in whatever manner one is creative. That builds up spiritual tension. Meditation builds up spiritual tension, especially Transmission Meditation. It is action of a spiritual nature, and I do not mean that as what is normally called ‘good’ action – of course it will be good if it is spiritual action. But it does not have to be self-consciously good or ‘spiritual’. It is action for the good of the world. Whatever transforms the world into a better state; every such action is spiritual whether it is on the physical, emotional, mental, or soul plane. Whatever brings the person or humanity as a whole to a higher level is fundamentally spiritual. p. 191"

"We do not have even fragments of the teachings of former World Teachers given prior to certain knowledge of Their existence. We do not have the teachings of a Christ, or a Buddha, or a Krishna, except seen through the eyes of later followers. For the first time we are given the flavor of the thoughts and insights of a Being of immeasurable stature to enable us to understand the path of evolution stretching ahead of us which He has come to outline for us. The impression left in the mind by the Teacher is that the breadth and depth of His knowledge and awareness have no limits; that He is tolerant and wise beyond conception, and of amazing humility."

"Few could read from these pages without being changed. To some the extraordinary insights into world events will be of major interest, while to others the laying bare of the secrets of self-realization, the simple description of experienced truth, will be a revelation. To anyone seeking to understand the Laws of Life, these subtle and pregnant insights will take them quickly to the core of Life itself, and provide them with a simple path stretching to the mountain-top. The essential unity of all life is underscored in a clear and meaningful way. Never, it would appear, have the laws by which we live seemed so natural and so unconstraining."

"The new energy affects everyone — Everyone is being affected by the new energy pouring into the world. Those who believed in political, religious and philosophical systems have become disillusioned because they have failed to bring peace, prosperity and happiness. You can only solve the problems of the world with a sense of realism that is not clouded by ideology or market forces."

"The Middle East — Although the people are being made aware by the new energy, it is being blocked by political attitudes that cling to the past. This blockage is being flushed out in a wave of destruction.Political and religious leaders are confounded by events. But out of this confusion will come an awareness that will strike the people and create in them an aura of expectancy. People will begin looking for direction, guidance and understanding."

"Awareness and children — Awareness will be respected in the home and in the school as a sacred, God given gift. Awareness is the mother of creation. Awareness can never be divided, nor imposed. Textbooks cannot describe it, because there is no beginning nor end to it. Awareness can only be experienced. To inspire a very young child to look for God is undivine, because in this way you create isms. Awareness is a seed in all creation and in every individual. If you allow the child to have his natural growth, you will allow his awareness to grow; the child will enjoy normal life and will not be dogmatic. In awareness you do not possess children, yet they come closer to you. Even now, children as young as nine or 10 are raising funds to feed the hungry. Imagine what they will be like when they are tomorrow’s citizens. Children can do it. Politicians cannot do it."

"Life after death — Life in the universe is absolute; in creation it is always relative. That is why people should not cry at death; it is not something horrible or ghastly. Their friends and loved ones have simply returned to their homeland. The books and writings received by writers through channelled sources are a sign that this message about life on the other side of death is beginning to get through to humanity."

"The human race is now being inspired to experience a feeling of awareness. People will not be able to explain it. They just know that they feel different about life."

"Third World debt — The debt will be written off. There is no possibility of doing anything else. There is no way in which this debt can be recovered. It is not through an increased burden on taxpayers in creditor nations that the solution will be found to this dilemma. Instead, money which has hitherto been spent on defense will be found to meet this situation. Defense will no longer be the first priority as tensions begin to decrease around the world."

"You and I are One — Whoever, whatever, wherever you are, tread the divine water of cleanliness which is detachment. I have not come to teach you anything new. Be honest to yourself, sincere to yourself, and be detached. This method is so simple, so sweet, it is free from religions, ideologies, politics. It makes one experience who one is. Fulfill your role, yet be free."

"Part One... discusses at length the opposing ways of approaching and dealing with life: co-operating or competing. It traces the competitive spirit back to the animal kingdom and shows its gradual replacement by co-operation as humanity advances. Many of the problems of the modern world are seen in this context and co-operation is shown as the way, in line with our soul’s intent, to solve them."

"Part Two, ‘The Problem of Glamour’, tackles the ever present problem of illusion — glamour is illusion on the astral/emotional plane. It is shown as the fog that hides the truth of reality from most of humanity and causes the pain and suffering of the world. Under the impact of new and powerful energies these glamours are now focused as never before, leading eventually to a great leap forward in human evolution as we free ourselves from their age-old grip."

"Part Three, ‘Unity’, presents the idea of unity from an entirely new standpoint: as the fundamental state which all of us, knowingly or not, are seeking, since it reflects the identity and inter-relation of all atoms in cosmos. Co-operation is seen as an aspect of unity, and essential for its creation. Co-operation and unity are shown as soul qualities, more and more in evidence as humanity grasps the reality of life; and as prerequisites for solving the many problems facing us today. With the teaching and example of Maitreya and His group of Masters to inspire us, we are left in no doubt that we shall overcome these problems and continue joyfully on our journey of evolution."

"More and more, men are beginning to understand the severity of the problems which face them today. On all fronts — political, economic and social — these problems multiply and cause much heartache and sad shaking of heads. Add to these the environmental problems which man’s cavalier attitude to nature and its resources has engendered, and the future for mankind looks bleaker still. The realization is dawning that mankind’s life is in crisis and that something radical must be done before it is too late."

"Men must release themselves from the poison of competition, must realize it for the glamour which it is, and, seeing the Oneness of all men, embrace co-operation for the General Good. Only co-operation and justice will save men from a disaster of their own making; co-operation and justice alone will guarantee their future."

"The era of competition is fast coming to an end. With its demise, violence and war, starvation amid plenty, greed and separation, will likewise fade from the memory."

"The world is divided into two groups: those who are holding on to the old greedy and selfish nationalistic systems and who thus represent the reactionary forces of the world, and those who are opening to the new incoming energies of Aquarius, and who are looking for a way of brotherhood and co-operation, a realization of the interdependence that results from the fact that we are one humanity."

"If we look back at our history, we can think of competition as it relates to the animal kingdom. It is natural for animals to compete for food in the struggle for survival... But we are not just animals. Although we owe our bodies and certain of our instincts to the animal kingdom, we are souls in incarnation. As souls, something other than competition comes into play in the relationships between men and men, between groups, between nations... With the advent of agrarian civilizations, the necessity for competition diminished. Competition in terms of warfare still took place very often, but the very fact of turning to settled agrarian culture led man away from the necessity of chasing each other, or animals, for the pot. A different aspect evolved: co-operation. Tribes grew in size, little market towns grew up, trading took place... You cannot build a town or a trading station without co-operation. You cannot enlarge the range of human activities and become creative without cooperation. If some are digging the soil, it allows others to build the houses. If some are building the houses, it allows others to play the flute or the harp. These differentiations and specializations enrich human society, civilization and culture. Without the spirit of co-operation none of that richness can be fostered. It needs the sense of oneself as part of a group, a community, brothers and sisters sharing the resources of a particular place, and enjoying, therefore, the fruits of this cooperative interaction."

"We have arrived at a point today where, in practical, material terms, the world is probably richer than it has ever been. There are more products per capita in the world than at any time in human history. Never has there been felt the need for so many things. Never have there been so many storehouses bulging full with products. We have reached a point of massive overproduction, which takes co-operation to produce but has led to a sustained attack on each other in the competition to sell each other these goods"

"What makes karma a major problem for people is their inability to deal with it, to recognize their own responsibility for it, and to do something about it. Most people blame their problems on other people or on circumstances: it was their upbringing, the fact that their parents did not love them, or got divorced, or left them wanting, or that their husband left them, or did not leave them. All these experiences are shed onto someone else, but of course it is all to do with karma, our own responsibility."

"We have to learn to deal with karma equably and say: “That’s life; it is, simply, life. C’est la vie.”...What holds us back in evolution is the karma which is always sitting on our shoulders and is not burnt away in the fire of service. Burn up the karma in the fire of service and you will go..."

"Our maturity is evidenced by our beginning to take responsibility for our planet on a global scale, albeit in a very tentative, barely discernible way. We are beginning to realize what we are doing to our environment... We are beginning to see that we cannot go on despoiling the planet, polluting the air, rivers and oceans."

"Essentially, glamour originates in man’s sensuous, feeling apparatus — the emotional or astral body — and in man’s identification with its action. Through wrong identification with his feelings and emotions — his desire nature — he has surrounded himself with, and lost himself in, thick fogs of illusion and unreality. This constitutes the glamour in which most people live out their lives. Glamour is illusion on the plane of the emotions and provides the greatest obstacle to progress, for the individual and for the race."

"To come to grips with glamour, humanity must recognize its mechanism, by which means the central heresy — that we are separate — is created and maintained. All that tends to reinforce the sense of separateness is the result of the action of glamour, and all that seeks to undermine that heresy works for its destruction. Glamour resides in the notion that man’s desires are real, that they have their own intrinsic validity and purpose, whereas, in truth, they are the cause of all unhappiness; no more real, no less transient, than the mirage of the desert."

"What can be done to free humanity from this ancient thraldom, in part innate in the nature of substance itself? How can man free himself from wrong identification and the tyranny of his self-created thoughtforms? The answer lies in a shift of focus, from the self to the group; in a truer identification with the soul and its relation to all souls."

"The light of the soul, through the agency of mind, is the great dissipator of glamour, and long ago the Buddha taught the conquering of desire: the Noble Middle Path between the pairs of opposites. In the light of the soul the essential unity is seen, the astral waves subside and the aspirant finds himself at initiation’s gate."

"For some people the wait for Maitreya to emerge has been too long. They become angry, impatient, disillusioned, discouraged, alienated, cynical, frustrated, bitter, disaffected. In a word, they have lost faith, which in their case is rooted in their emotional aspiration rather than their soul intuition."

"We are really talking about evolution when we talk about glamour. Glamour is the biggest obstacle to evolution. Evolution is mainly the building-in of good character traits... The disciple must, above all, have courage, steadfastness, patience, the ability to ‘stay there’ and not run away from difficulties which have been placed before us to bring out the best in us... The disciple also needs humility and simplicity. We need the ability, probably above all, to renounce the lower for the higher, which is the Law of Sacrifice. This leads naturally to right detachment."

"We have to become aware of what glamour is and what it is not. Glamour is anything that hides the truth from our experience. Are we seeing reality? If so, there is no glamour involved. Or are we seeing reality through a fog of illusion? Most people... are seeing reality to some degree through glamour. Once the step beyond 1.5 to 1.6 is taken, the polarization shifts from astral (the seat of consciousness of the vast majority of people) to mental polarization. Over 90 per cent of all people are astrally polarized... Once you take the first initiation, you begin to awaken to the glamours. You will go on having them. You will go on being as blind as you ever were in finding your way through the labyrinth. But gradually you will see that it is a labyrinth, that there are doors leading nowhere. Gradually a light will start to descend as you progress and make more and more contact with your own soul — through service and meditation..."

"Unity must be sought for with all diligence. In unity there is not only strength but beauty. Cultivate unity as a wise gardener cultivates his garden, tending carefully each new bud and shoot. Unity follows every true manifestation of love and graces each achievement of the spirit. Take unity as your banner and walk the way of power. Unity makes all things possible. Without unity nothing is certain; the finest possibilities come to dust. Achievement lies in the right use of the given capacities; lacking unity, the highest potential may be wasted."

"Through sharing alone will justice be confirmed. Sharing alone will bring the peace desired by all the nations. When men share and destroy the walls of separation they will know at last the truth of their existence and flood the world with brotherhood and love."

"Take sharing as your guide into the future. Release your brothers from the grip of poverty and pain. Open yourselves to the impulses of the soul and establish in your midst the Will of God."

"Through unity alone will men conquer. The strength of unity will open all gates. Hold fast to the ideal of brotherhood and cease to mock your brother's efforts. Know that he, too, faces the storm and struggles in the dark."

"Whenever men meet together in large groups they adopt a different view of themselves and look at each other in a new way. They are emboldened, strengthened in their desire and gravitate to those who support their viewpoint. This may seem natural but why should it be so? Essentially, all men inwardly seek unity and find its reflection in conformity of thought and ideas. This instinct is behind the formation of political parties and other groups. The ideological consensus acts as a magnet and strengthens the potency of the whole."

"Groups and parties flounder when the inner unity is disturbed. Unity is a soul quality and essential for the cohesion of the group. Too great an emphasis on individuals and personality differences thus tends to weaken the unifying ties which hold the group together."

"The Masters do not look for perfection. If They did there would be nothing done because there is no perfection anywhere. They even accept some of the most glamoured individuals I have ever come upon as being useful in their way; information stemming from sources that to me are 100 per cent from the fifth astral plane. They accept that as useful in that it brings the idea of the Masters to the world."

"People are so immersed in themselves that they believe everything that they experience, including their astral dreams when they are awake. They believe it and think it is real, just as you think for a few seconds that your dream is real. You come out of the dream and say: “Ah, it was only a dream, what a shame,” or: “Thank God, it was only a dream.” Most times you are too busy looking and thinking and doing to pay attention to these astral imaginings."

"In some people these are so much with them that they get all sorts of intimations and they say: “I have a feeling; I feel that this is so.” If you are a disciple and you know something, you do not feel it, you know it. You know it or you do not know it, you never feel it. Astrally-focused people always feel it. “I have a feeling that this is happening or this is going to happen.” You can be sure that it is not, because it is just a feeling like any other dream."

"The sixth astral plane is where you get higher aspirational teaching. For example, A Course in Miracles was given by the Master Jesus to a disciple who works on the sixth astral plane. That disciple gave it to a medium (although she did not know she was a medium) who took it down. It is pretty pure. That is an example of a very high level of teaching coming from one of the Masters, which eventually reached the physical plane but from the sixth astral plane. This is a way in which quite high spiritual teaching can be given on the astral planes. Normally, the Masters eschew the astral planes. They never work on the fifth astral plane Themselves, but They do give work, or experiences, from time to time, on the sixth astral, the plane which is more to do with the heart than the solar plexus."

"Everybody in the world has the responsibility for maintaining the peace in the world... Everybody in the world, whoever they are have the responsibility for world peace... practically, those so called democracies who have some sort of say even if it is only by putting their votes down on a card in a system which may or may not work, is more or less imperfect have the responsibility of using it and bringing a result in that way. They have perhaps more responsibility than have the starving millions of the world... with no connection with any political structure and so have no means of making their needs felt. ...Needless to say, they are those with the greatest needs of all, but they have no voice and it is precisely that voice which Maitreya will give to them. He will give voice to the needs of the poor and the hungry and the displaced and the sitting in jail people of the world. Hundreds of thousands of people are in jail simply for the crime of having a different point of view from that of their present government and these people have no voice. It's taken for granted that they'll be incarcerated and languish in prison. Very often tortured to boot. Maitreya will speak for them and all who need and have no voice, but those who have today a voice, who have education, the voting system, who have a degree of democracy, have a special responsibility..."

"There are very powerful forces in the world who see things in different ways. It always has been like that and that habit of seeing things in a particular way has become institutionalized and the habit, the conditioning is so strong, the glamour goes so deep, that humanity as a whole... is going to take a long time and with much heart searching to find a consensus. So you should not look for dramatic changes in the immediate future. The changes will take place bit by bit with the minimum of upset, the minimum destruction or conflict in the societies of the world, so that it is acceptable. Whatever is acceptable will be implemented. What is not acceptable... will be held over until it is acceptable and it will only be acceptable when trust is created. That trust will be created by the economic change, the number one change, the answer to all our problems really, the starting part of the answer to all our problems is in the change in the economic redistribution of the world's resources, which... the masters [have] written over and over again is the key to all further changes because it creates trust and when you create trust, all things become possible.Then you get changes in the political field, changes in the political field make changes in the economic field easier and these make easier changes in the purely practical field of looking after the planet."

"Then, not only America, but the Europeans, Japan, and some of the more powerful industrialized nations will have to look very seriously at their plans for implementing an agreement like the Kyoto agreement but further agreements which will be brought forward and signed by large numbers of groups. In this situation, the United Nations will become the key factor. Then it will come into its own... The world owes the United Nations a tremendous debt. It is one of the great educators of the world. It is one of the great medical sources for millions and millions of people. Health care for groups who have no other means of healthcare... Without the United Nations, which is a triumph of modern society, millions and millions of people would go wanting, even more than they do (now)."

"The Great Approach: New Light and Life for Humanity is about the coming into the world of the Masters of Wisdom, with Their leader Maitreya, the Christ, as World Teacher; and about the implications for humanity, as well as for the Masters Themselves, of this great event. The book is divided into three independent but related parts. It includes articles from my Master, my own edited talks, and a very wide range of questions and answers arising from these talks."

"Part One, ‘Life Ahead for Humanity’, provides an overview of the background and history of the Masters and Their return to the everyday world. In particular, it focuses on the events leading to the gradual emergence of Maitreya and to the Day of His Declaration. This will be an extraordinary ‘Pentecostal’ experience for humanity, and the start of the gradual transformation of all our structures and institutions... Preface, p. ix"

"Part Two...deals with that most extraordinary event, the externalization of the work of the Spiritual Hierarchy onto the physical plane for the first time in 98,000 years in Their role as teachers. This is a climactic event for the Masters Themselves, as well as for humanity: They return to physical-plane activity, only now in group formation, in order to re-enact Their own life expression in preparation for the Way of the Higher Evolution. This is part of the long-term plan of the coming together of the Masters and humanity, and the evolution of Hierarchy Itself as a centre on this planet..."

"Part Three begins with my commentary on an article by my Master, ‘Let there be Light’, which was previously published in Share International magazine (December 1983). It deals with Light from the esoteric point of view, including the Light of Knowledge, the Christ Principle, Cosmic Electricity and the new Science of Light, which will transform our future."

"This information is about the total transformation of every aspect of our lives: political, economic, religious, social, scientific, cultural, educational and personal. If what I say is true, the current ways of thinking, living, relating and expressing our inner selves will be fundamentally altered in the time ahead. If this is your first acquaintance with this information, you may find it difficult to accept and believe, especially if you are approaching it from an orthodox religious or philosophical background. If you find it impossible to believe, please be assured that I shall not be the slightest bit offended or even disappointed. Preface, p. x"

"For myself, I am totally convinced that these are the true happenings of our time; that, even as I write, these events are unfolding. As they further unfold, I believe they will prove to your fullest satisfaction that this is the true condition of our present time in history. p. 1"

"My conviction is the result of my study, over many years, of the Ageless Wisdom Teachings. This body of teachings was given to the world by the Masters of Wisdom, in particular, that phase of them which was released to the world by the Tibetan Master, Djwhal Khul, through an English disciple, Alice A. Bailey, between 1919 and 1949... a body of teachings which follows sequentially on those given through Madame Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, founder of the Theosophical Society, between 1875 and 1889. The Theosophical teachings were the preparatory phase of the Ageless Wisdom Teachings... The Tibetan Master... predicted a further, revelatory, phase which He said would emerge worldwide... some time after 1975... revelations coming from the Masters, and above all from the Master of all the Masters, the Lord Maitreya, Who embodies the Christ Principle and is, therefore, the Christ on our planet. p. 2"

"My conviction is based on my own personal experiences and contacts. But having said that, I would like to assure you that what I say I present to you for your consideration only... If it appears to you to be right, logical, if it has the ring of truth... then by all means accept it, but otherwise not. I shall be perfectly content if people approach this information with an open mind. That is all I ask... I know that it is almost an impossibility."

"The Masters of our Spiritual Hierarchy, Who ought to know the age of humanity, put it at 18½ million years... None of us remembers it, but our unwritten history is there. One day the history of humanity going back to those times will be written and known, and even shown on television."

"Over the ages, if we had had a more open attitude to knowledge, to change of consciousness, to change of perception of the possibilities of life and the nature of the reality in which we live, people like Galileo or Copernicus would have had altogether easier lives."

"The world is divided, therefore, into two groups — the conservative, reactionary groups holding on, fighting a last ditch stand against change, and the newer, younger, progressive groups responding more to the quality and energy of Aquarius. That confrontation can be seen in political, economic, religious and social spheres in every country of the world. p. 6"

"The evolutionary path, humanity will come to understand, is a scientific one. It does not take place haphazardly. It is open to everyone, and we are all evolving at somewhat different rates. That is why some become Masters ahead of others. Our last few incarnations are marked off by certain great expansions of consciousness, five in number. These constitute the five major planetary initiations. Each one gives to the initiate a deeper insight into the plan of evolution, into the mind of the great cosmic Being, the Planetary Logos, Who ensouls this planet. p. 8"

"This planet itself is a living, breathing, incarnating entity. It does not incarnate in exactly the same way as we do, but does so in relation to the Plan of our Solar Logos. p. 9"

"The first group of Masters, the vanguard, came in 1975 — one into New York, one into London...Darjeeling...Tokyo...followed by one in Moscow and another in Rome. The one in Rome is probably the best known of all the Masters, the Master Jesus. The disciple Jesus, as He was in Palestine, was overshadowed by Maitreya, the Master of all the Masters."

"Maitreya embodies what we call the Christ Principle, the energy of love. He is the Lord of Love, as His brother the Buddha was the Lord of Wisdom. Six hundred years before Jesus, the Buddha overshadowed and worked through His disciple the Prince Gautama, and the Prince Gautama became Gautama Buddha. The Buddha showed the Wisdom of God in its perfection in a man for the first time. Six hundred years later, Maitreya, the Lord of Love, overshadowed His disciple, Jesus, who was not yet a Master but very near it, and showed the Love of God in its perfection in a man for the first time. In so doing, He inaugurated the Age of Pisces, which is now coming to an end. P. 9"

"At this very moment, we are dashing headlong towards the edge of a precipice which would mean the end of all life on this planet. I personally believe that will not happen. But unless we change direction, we would, through the Law of Cause and Effect, destroy all life, human and sub-human, on Earth."

"Very shortly we will be faced by Maitreya with a choice. We are already faced with it, but the vast majority of people do not even consider it something to take seriously. p. 10"

"The energies of Pisces have divided humanity because we have over-emphasized the individuality that the Piscean experience has given us. Our idealism has been very narrow and self-directed, so we have become fanatical believers in our own ideal — whether democracy, fascism or communism... These beliefs create the divisions and separations... We have to live and interact with other people, and we can do it through cooperation or through competition. p.12"

"Until now, the vast majority of humanity has decided that competition is the only way forward. That belief is driving us to a totally untenable position. Today the major expression of that tension is in the political and economic fields. Humanity is going through a great spiritual crisis which is focused through these areas of activity and must be resolved in them. If it is not so resolved, we will destroy all life on the planet."

"One-fifth of the world’s population, around 1,200 million people in the developing world, are living in official, absolute poverty...on less than $1 a day. They live miserable, stunted lives, deprived of all we take for granted. More than 30 million of them are actually dying of starvation in a world in which there is no shortage of food... We are so complacent that we do not even take it seriously. We think it is normal... Maitreya says: “How can you watch these people die before your eyes and call yourselves men?” p. 15"

"There is a special need all the time. This is a day-to-day problem, not something that can be solved now and again with a few dollars of aid. p. 19"

"What we call the “Space Brothers”, the people who use the vehicles we call UFOs, who come mainly from Mars and Venus but also from Jupiter, Mercury and a few other planets, have put around our planet a ring of light which keeps it on its axis... this ring allows it, within karmic limits, to be held so that the poles do not flip, which is predicted by many ‘prophets of doom’... Nothing can shift that ring of light which is put in place by our Space Brothers. Without their help this planet would probably be in chaos.One of the major activities of the Space Brothers is to neutralize the pollution with which we are destroying our planet — caused in the main by nuclear radiation which is pouring out from the nuclear powerhouses all over the world. p. 134"

"The political and economic transformation which will be initiated as a result of Maitreya’s and the Masters’ presence will free humanity from age-old inhibitions and limitations, and galvanize it into a great leap forward in consciousness. Conscious, meaningful living will replace the present confusion, doubt and fear. p. 304"

"All right-thinking people are deeply shocked by the assault on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. We are appalled by the event and the unbelievable death toll, and send our deepest sympathy to the American people. One positive thing to come out of it is that Maitreya has decided to come forward even sooner than planned to try to prevent precipitate action of revenge. One other positive thing that may come out of it is that the mass of ordinary Americans might have a more realistic view of the world than their media has allowed them in the past, feeding them 'soft' instead of 'hard' news. It is a change but in the long run it might be a change for the better, and prepare them for Maitreya's ideas."

"Every new cosmic cycle — we are entering a new one now, the Age of Aquarius — brings into the world a teacher. People like Hercules and Hermes, Rama, Mithra, Vyasa, Zoroaster, Confucius, Krishna, Shankaracharya, the Buddha, the Christ, Mohammed — these are all Masters who have come from the same spiritual centre of the planet, called the Spiritual, or Esoteric, Hierarchy, which is made up of the Masters and Their initiates and disciples of various degrees. p.6"

"God, in the esoteric meaning, is the sum total of all the Laws and all the energies governed by these Laws in the manifested and unmanifested universe. So God is impersonal. Nevertheless, that transcendent God is manifest in every aspect of creation, including ourselves. We are not separate from that creation – from God. Every human being has the potential of the knowledge, the awareness, of all in creation that we can think of as meaning God. The Masters are God-realized, which is a very specific state, in that They have brought Their consciousness, in terms of the divine spark, the Absolute, the Self, into complete at-onement with Themselves as men on the physical plane – the personality and the divine aspect are totally integrated. God is also the great Cosmic Being Who ensouls this planet. For all its solidity, its cities and aeroplanes and television studios and the like, this planet is really the body of expression of a Cosmic Being Who gives the planet its life, and Who has a plan of evolution for all the kingdoms in nature, including the human kingdom."

"We, at our different levels, from the mineral kingdom up to the Kingdom of God itself, are carrying out an evolutionary process, which, in its summation, will make this planet a perfect expression of the thoughtform in the mind of the creating Logos... There is the God Who ensouls the solar system. Our planetary Logos is only a part, a centre in the body of the solar Logos, Who in turn is a centre in the body of the galactic Logos. And on and on, galaxy after galaxy. There is no end to God; it is transcendent and also immanent in every part of creation. Every aspect of God, including ourselves, has the potential one day to know all and be all of that, and to work with the energies which create the universe. God is everything that exists, and all space between that which exists, between you and me, and around us, around everything. All of that is God. God manifests through its creation, which is made of energies at particular vibrational rates. The form depends on the particular frequency of the nucleus and the electrons of these forms. p. 11"

"Modern science has been able to break down cellular structures and show that at the centre of every atom is a nucleus with electrons around it, vibrating at a specific rate, and that every atom in the universe is made in the same way. There is nothing but energy in all of the manifested universe. The difference between that totally scientific view and that which an esotericist would hold is that the esotericist goes further and says, indeed, all is energy, but energy follows thought, is acted upon by thought. Thought is the agency by which creation takes place. The Great Pyramid at Giza was created by thought. The blocks of stone were actually moved by thought. It is very simple when you understand how to do it. You create a formula, like E=mc2, the great formula of Einstein which has transformed our whole concept of both energy and matter: energy equals mass times the speed of light squared, the speed of light being 186,000 miles a second. That formula has transformed our physics, and so we see matter and energy as interchangeable."

"The only difference between the Christ and ourselves, the Buddha or Krishna and ourselves, is that They have manifested Their divinity. They know that They are Sons of God, and They demonstrate it."

"Two thousand years ago He [the Christ] overshadowed His disciple Jesus for three years, and Jesus became Jesus the Messiah, or, translated into the Greek, Jesus the Christ. The Christ Himself is Maitreya. His consciousness, from the baptism to the crucifixion, manifested through Jesus and inaugurated the Piscean age which is now coming to an end. Maitreya has come back into the world now to carry on what He began through Jesus, and will complete in the age of Aquarius which is now beginning... Jesus taught through Mohammed. As Maitreya had taught through Him, so He taught through Mohammed. The Buddha taught through the Prince Gautama and Mithra, and Maitreya also taught through Krishna and Shankaracharya at previous times. p.29"

"The Master Jesus... in Palestine was a very advanced disciple, a fourth-degree initiate, just short of a Master. He took the fourth initiation, the Crucifixion, openly, on the outer plane. Normally you are not expected to die on a cross when you take the fourth initiation. He did that to symbolize for us, dramatically, that great experience of renunciation. He is now a Master, becoming a Master in His immediate next life as Appolonius of Tyana, who opened an ashram in north India, where He is buried. From that fact has come the legend that somehow Jesus did not die on the cross, that He was secreted out of Palestine and went to India and is buried there. It was the Being who was Jesus, but in His next incarnation as Appolonius. Jesus is now a very advanced Master. In the seventh to eighth century He went to America and taught the Indian populations, then went out into the Pacific and taught the Polynesians. They all have the legend of a white man who came and taught, and the names are all related to the word `Jesus'."

"Gradually, through the process of incarnation and reincarnation, we do, indeed, create a body through which the spirit aspect can, to a very full degree, manifest. When that happens we become perfected Masters."

"You might say that esotericism is the philosophy, or the science, of the evolutionary process, as it pertains to the human and the subhuman kingdoms. But it is about the evolution of consciousness, not of the physical form. If you want to know about the evolution of the physical form, turn to Darwin — he has pretty well summed up the nature of evolution as regards the form of the animal and the human kingdoms. But in terms of the evolution of consciousness, you have to turn to the esoteric — esoteric only so far; for that which is esoteric gradually becomes exoteric."

"Evolutionary progress is based on the process of rebirth; reincarnation is the method of our evolution of consciousness...The effects from our previous deeds, good and bad, create the conditions of our life today, and the results of our deeds today create the conditions of the next period of life, either now or when we return in our next body."

"The word spiritual means the active betterment of life for all people, for the most people. Spiritual is anything which brings a man or woman to a higher state of life, whether that is on the physical, the emotional-astral, the mental, or on the spiritual or soul plane. Anything which is towards the betterment of humanity is fundamentally spiritual; it is not only a religious thing. The religious path is only one path. So we have to create structures — political, economic, and social — which are fundamentally spiritual..."

"It is a new age that we are entering, the age of Aquarius, and of course this is an astronomical, not an astrological event. It is to do with the relationship now being formed in cosmos between our solar system and the constellation of Aquarius. For the next 2,500 or so years we will be absorbing the cosmic energy of Aquarius, which will transform all life on the planet. It is a synthesizing energy: it draws together, fuses and blends, while the energy of Pisces, the age now ending, has separated and divided the world. This process will go forward for 2,500 years and, gradually, humanity will understand the reality of its spiritual nature. This has enabled the Masters to begin to come into the world..."

"There is a tremendous misunderstanding about the anti-Christ, certainly among Christian groups... The anti-Christ is not a man, as Christians believe, who will come out before the Christ, and could even be mistaken for the Christ. The idea comes from the Revelation of St. John: the beast, 666, is unchained for a time, and then chained down for a time and half a time. This refers to the release of the energy we call the anti-Christ. It is not a man but an energy, a destructive force which is deliberately released to break down the old order, the old civilization. It was released in John's own day, through the Emperor Nero, to bring about the end of the Roman dispensation, to prepare the way for Christendom. It was released again in our time through Hitler, a group of equally evil men around him in Nazi Germany, together with a group of militarists in Japan and a further group around Mussolini in Italy. These three groups, the Axis powers in the war from 1939 to 1945, embodied the energy we call the anti-Christ. That destructive force was released to prepare the way for the return of the Christ to the world now..."

"The anti-Christ is behind us; it has been, it has done its destructive work, it has gone. Now it has to be "chained down for a time and half a time". This means sealed off to its own domain for the age of Aquarius — that is "the time" — and half the following age, the age of Capricorn, when it will be released again. In the middle of the age of Capricorn the `beast' will be released once more, there will be another great war, this time fought out on the mental planes. That will be the third phase of the manifestation of the anti-Christ. It was the war between the forces of light and the forces of evil, as we call them (the forces of materiality as they are called by the Masters), which destroyed the ancient Atlantean civilization some 100,000 years ago."

"For the last 100,000 years that war has been waged on the astral planes. It was precipitated onto the physical plane in 1939 by Hitler and his group, along with the Italians and the Japanese groups, thus manifesting, for this time, the anti-Christ. Now it has to be sealed off to its own domain. The forces of materiality have a role to play: the upholding of the matter aspect of the planet. If they would do only that, there would be no evil involved. But they do not restrict their activity to the involutionary arc, which is their natural sphere of activity. Their work overflows onto the evolutionary arc, where we are, and is inimical to our spiritual progress; it has, therefore, to be countered. The anti Christ forces are sealed off to their own domain by lifting humanity above the level where they can be used, contacted, influenced, by these materialistic forces. That is the work of the Christ and the Masters in the age of Aquarius which is now beginning."

"There is not an individual who is the devil. You could say the opposite of good is the devil, and that is in every one of us. It is just the selfish, greedy personality expression of individuals."

"We are about to enter an era in which the innate spiritual nature of humanity will begin to express itself in a mass form. Countless millions throughout the world will awaken to the true purpose of their lives. A deeper, more soundly-based attitude to life will develop and people will... come to understand the purpose of their incarnation, and, more and more, they will take a conscious part in their own evolution, creating modes of freedom and justice which this world has never before seen. Freedom and justice, and therefore peace, will allow the divine, spiritual aspect of humanity to come to the fore and be given expression, not only as a religious experience, but in every department of life. In politics, economics and education, in art and science"

"The US stock market, the Dow Jones Index, is at an all-time high. Historically, the major collapses of the US stock market (or any stock market, for that matter) occur when it is at its highest-ever point. The stock markets of the US and Britain are poised, now, for a major collapse, which will become world-wide, and will bring to an end this divisive economic system based on market forces and their corollary, commercialization. p. 6"

"Maitreya calls market forces “the forces of evil”. They have inequality built in them, and benefit the few at the expense of the many. Market forces are based on a great deception: that every nation is trading on a ‘level playing field’, that all the nations are starting from the same point. Obviously, they are not. We cannot compare America, the European states, or Japan, with Tanzania, Zaire or any of the Third-World countries. And yet, through the pre-eminence of market forces, Third-World countries are forced to compete in the world’s markets with countries like Japan, America, Germany and France. Maitreya calls commercialization, which is the tool, the agency, of market forces, more dangerous to the world than an atomic bomb... Commercialization — running life as if it were a business, whether in education or health care, for example — will bring this present civilization to the verge of disaster."

"The developed world usurps and wastes three-quarters of the world’s food, and 83 per cent of all other resources. Therefore, the so-called Third World, with three-quarters of the world’s population, must make do with one-quarter of the world’s food, and only 17 per cent of other resources. As a result, those in the Third World live in utter poverty and degradation, and die in their millions. The developed world sees this as their right to decide who will eat and live, and who will starve and therefore die. I say “they”, but that is us. We are the developed world. We are the ones who are playing God, and deciding who will live and who will die. It is our greed, our selfishness, our complacency that makes possible a situation where millions of people starve to death in a world overflowing with food, a huge surplus per capita. p. 7"

"At the same time in the developed world, because of its worship at the altar of market forces, commercialization is reaching a point where more and more people are being made unemployed. Competition forces companies to cut their expenditure on everything, beginning with people. In every developed country of the world there is growing unemployment, growing crime, and a declining standard of living — less housing, more and more homeless people, and more poverty in the midst of plenty."

"Why do we create such pain and suffering for ourselves and for our brothers and sisters in other countries? Maitreya would say because of complacency, which He says is the root of all evil. When we are complacent, we say: “I am all right, thank you very much. The rest of the world can look after itself.” This comes from the false idea that we are separate. This is the great illusion, the great heresy. Each one of us, whether we know it or not, is a soul in incarnation, a perfect, divine, spiritual Being in incarnation. p. 8"

"Without recognizing it as such, humanity is undergoing a great spiritual crisis that is focused through the political and economic field. That spiritual crisis can only be resolved by the resolution of our political and economic problems, which are based on the false sense of separation. If we would evolve, develop as a race, we must realize our oneness, realize that we are brothers and sisters of one family, under the one Divine Source, and identical with that Source. What happens in a normal family? They share whatever they have. A mother will not feed one child better than another, give one child 17 per cent and another 83 per cent of the food. We have to realize that we are one family, and therefore must share the resources of the world more equitably around the world."

"Maitreya puts it like this: “Sharing is divine. When you share, you recognize God in your brother.” He also says: “The problems of humanity are real but solvable. The solution lies within your grasp. Take your brother’s need as the measure for your action, and solve the problems of the world. There is no other course.” These sound like political or economic solutions. They are actually spiritual solutions, because the problem is a spiritual one."

"We do not know our true identity as souls, as brothers and sisters of the Kingdom of Souls. Maitreya has come, with His group of Masters, to teach us how to live correctly, as brothers and sisters of one humanity, creating therefore freedom for all, justice for all, and peace for everyone. If there is no sharing, there will never be justice in the world; if there is no justice, there will never be peace in the world; if there is no peace, there will be no world, because now we can destroy all life, human and subhuman alike."

"Those who await Maitreya as a religious teacher will probably not recognize Him. He has said: “I have not come to found a new religion; people should continue to evolve within their own tradition, whatever it is.”"

"Maitreya has not come to create followers. In fact, He says: “If you follow Me,” in the sense of running after Him, claiming Him, trying to put Him in your pocket, “then you will lose Me.”"

"Spirituality is the essential nature of our being, simply needing demonstration in outer forms. Whatever we can conceive of as human activity can be, in fact must be, spiritual. True morality is not to do with a code of values which humanity evolves to suit a certain society or a certain religious belief, but something which is intrinsic in our spirituality. p. 136"

"Many people await the return of the Christ with trepidation and fear. They sense that His appearance will promote great changes in all departments of life. His values, they rightly assume, will necessarily alter their ways of thinking and living and they blanch at such a prospect. Besides, so mystical has been the view of the Christ presented down the centuries by the churches that many fear His judgement and omnipotent power; they await Him as God come to punish the wicked and reward the faithful."

"It is sadly to be regretted that such a distorted vision of the Christ should so have permeated human consciousness. No such being exists. In order to understand the true nature of the Christ it is necessary to see Him as one among equal Sons of God, each endowed with full divine potential, differing only in the degree of manifestation of that divinity. p. 30 Full text of this article"

"When we create an economic system based on co-operation and sharing rather than on competition and market forces, we will create a more moral economic structure. When the stock exchanges collapse, humanity will be brought face to face with its illusions about the nature of reality. p. 136"

"“The pool of knowledge accessible to all”... will be largely, but not exclusively, scientific and technological. Throughout the world, scientists and technicians... will publish their work in a way accessible to all. Gone for ever will be the scientist selling his discoveries to the highest bidder. Gone for ever will be the time when great corporations can buy up technological masterpieces and put them on a shelf so that their existing products can go on and on. We have lived through a period of a tragic waste of the world’s resources. That has to stop... All knowledge will go into the computer system... the Internet... where the wisdom, the accumulated thoughts and knowledge of thousands of years of inspired writings will be available. The up-to-date inventions, the scientific knowledge which will speed up the invention process, will go on to this... which anyone, anywhere in the world, can access... When we share this body of knowledge, when everyone who has any use for it has access to it, the whole process of discovery, science, technology, will speed up amazingly. Because it will not be conditioned by commercialization, market forces, it cannot be cornered by those who make a particular brand of computer, where you have to buy the programme to make it work for you. It will do away with commercial competition. p. 181-183"

"The stress which exists in the world today is a result of competition and fear, the fear of failure, disease, death, war, calamity, and economic disruption... inevitably results in psychosomatic diseases... When we establish equilibrium in our lives through a restructuring of our political, economic and social institutions, we will find that the health of humanity will improve dramatically... Illness prevention will become the norm. p. 229"

"Today, most education, for what it is worth, is education for jobs. People are simply fitted to make their living in the outer commercial world under the whip of competition. p. 252"

"The Masters are the stimulus behind the women’s liberation movement . They see it as essential that women take their full place in total equality with men in this new age, the age, as it will come to be known, of Tara, the Mother. The Age of Maitreya is the age in which the Mother aspect manifests. The female is the Mother, the nourishing aspect; it nourishes the child, the family, the civilization... it is essential that women play their full part with equal status in the life of humanity. In the West this is becoming very largely a fact, but in large areas in the East this is sadly very far from being the case. Women are often seen as little more than chattels. A great change has to take place. That is why the women’s liberation movement was inspired by the Masters. p. 379"

"Time itself is an illusion, but timing is very important. Timing is sensing the window of opportunity. This is not conditioned by time but by the cyclic movement of life itself. That creates the condition in which a window of opportunity opens for that individual, a karmic opportunity, an opportunity in which his astrological relationships will provide him with a field of energies, a sudden influx of energies, which, if acted upon, will carry him forward — and if not acted upon will be lost. p. 553"

"Shakespeare said: “There comes a tide in the affairs of men which, if taken at the flood, moves on to fortune.” Shakespeare was initiate. He knew all about this, and throughout his works are the answers. The aim is to recognize the window of opportunity, to be so skilled and so in the rhythm of your work, that when it opens, you are there. If there is no rhythm, you could be asleep. If you set a rhythm and never sleep — I do not mean never go to sleep in bed — but if you are not mentally asleep, and do not turn off your consciousness, if you keep your consciousness alive and aware all the time, then when the window of opportunity comes you recognize it because you are in that rhythm. If you are not in the rhythm, you could miss it. This is the importance of rhythm, which of course has nothing to do with time. It is to do with awareness, a rhythmic awareness of setting, not goals, but a pattern of action, so you are always ready, “brush in hand”. p. 554"

"If you love work, then understand it as a substitute for time... Work and time are two opposites in human consciousness. When you are working with full concentrated attention, with all your faculties focused on it and not with one eye on the clock, you do not go through these pressures of time, this tremendous wear and tear on the nervous system. p. 556 Most people think of life as temporary, because they are conscious only of being a physical-plane personality... p.559"

"Evolution is not an illusion. Time is the illusion. Evolution does not proceed in time, because time does not exist. But evolution does proceed... Evolution necessarily takes place, because it is part of the great outbreathing of the Creator, which creates all that exists. It is the Becoming of the Creator. Under the Law of Cause and Effect, and in relation to the Law of Rebirth, evolution proceeds, not in relation to time as we imagine time but in relation to time in the sense of cyclic unfoldment — cyclic activity followed by cyclic inactivity, followed by cyclic activity; this repeated infinitely, for ever and ever. p. 583"

"We have had the vision for centuries: the brotherhood of man, freedom, fraternity, equality. The French Revolution was built on that. The Russian Revolution was based on freedom for man. It is like the American.... If you read the Russian Constitution and the American Constitution, you will find that they are almost the same....we keep this vision of the brotherhood of man, peace, equality, justice, all the wonderful divine things, but never put it into practice. Why? Why do we wait for Maitreya to show us how to do it? We could do it tomorrow. p. 591"

"Krishnamurti says: “My memory is my enemy.” Exactly so. Do you know what your memory is? Your memory is yesterday, the past. While you are thinking about the past you are not living in the Now. If you have studied Krishnamurti, almost the whole of his effort was to show his readers, his listeners, that there is only this moment; there is no time. p. 605"

"Your memory is your enemy because you identify with your memory... If you identify with the past, you cannot be identifying with the Now. That is the point. You cannot do both at the same time. There is only the Now. As soon as you identify with your memory, you cut out the experience of the Now. Get rid of your memory... and you experience the Now as you have never done before."

"How do we overcome our grief, pain, and our fears of our memory of abuse that traps us in time?... The way to do it is to give it up; do not identify with it. Ask yourself: “Am I this memory?” Obviously you are not. While you identify with your memory and pain, your grief, with the abuse that is trapping you."

"in time, whatever you identify with, holds you. That is what you are. You are pain, grief, abuse, unhappiness, all of these things. The way not to experience that pain, grief, unhappiness, is not to identify with it. Identify, rather, with who and what you are. Ask yourself: “Who am I?” But without saying: “I should not feel this pain. I should not feel this grief, this unhappiness and abuse — all the things that pain me.” Because as you say it, you are doing it. As long as you are trying to rid yourself of it, or indulging it, experiencing it, going over and over it in your mind and relating to it, you are identifying with it."

"Whatever you identify with is what you are. If you identify with the physical body, then to all intents and purposes you are the physical body. That traps the Self in the physical plane and causes all the illness — stomach aches, ulcers, and all the rest, of the physical body. p. 606"

"We are standing at the beginning of an extraordinary period in the history of the world ---- a crossroads at which humanity is undergoing a great shift in consciousness. This reflects itself in new relationships ---- political, economic, religious, social, scientific, and cultural ---- which in their manifestation will create a completely different type of civilization, one in which the true, spiritual nature of humanity, consciously recognized and demonstrated, will become manifest for the first time. p. 3"

"These changes are the result of new energies and forces entering our world. A new age is dawning. This is not a concept created by ‘new age’ groups, nor is it simply an astrological prognostication, but a scientific fact which can be verified at any astronomical observatory. It is the result of the precession of the equinoxes or, in layman’s terms, of the movement of our solar system around the heavens in relation to the 12 constellations of our zodiac."

"Approximately every 2,150 years, our sun comes into an alignment, a particular energetic relationship, with each of the constellations in turn. When we are in that alignment, we say we are in the age of that particular constellation, and are the recipient of powerful cosmic energies streaming from it. For approximately 2,000 years, our sun has stood in that relationship to the constellation Pisces. We have been in the age of Pisces."

"Our present civilization ---- now coming to an end ---- has been created by our response to the energies of Pisces. These energies have given us certain great qualities ---- above all, that of individuality. Humanity has emerged from the herd over the last 2,000 years and increasingly become individual. Each of us is more able to demonstrate our individuality as unique, conscious souls in incarnation. This is a great step forward in the evolution of the race."

"We do not make the journey alone. Throughout the history of humanity (which according to the esoteric teachings is 18 & 1/2 million years), we have never been alone. We have been led and guided, taught, stimulated and protected ---- sometimes openly, but often from behind the scenes ---- by a group of, from our point of view, perfected men."

"This group of perfected men is known by many names: the Masters of Wisdom and the Lords of Compassion, the Great White Brotherhood, the Society of Illumined Minds, the Spiritual or Esoteric Hierarchy, the Guides and Elder Brothers of Humanity.... They have beneficently overseen the evolution of humanity for countless millennia."

"Much of the work of the Masters is carried out by Their disciples, men and women in the world ---- people such as Da Vinci, Mozart, Lincoln, Einstein, and Madame Curie. By a gradual stimulus of our conscious awareness, the Masters have brought humanity forward to the point where we now find ourselves today. Under such stimulus and guidance, our civilizations have risen, flowered, crystallized, died and been renewed again age after age."

"At the beginning or end of each age, the Hierarchy of Masters send one of Their Great Ones into the world to act as a teacher for the coming time. We know some of these great teachers historically as Hercules, Hermes, Rama, Mithra, Confucius, Zoroaster, Vyasa, Krishna, Buddha, the Christ, and Mohammed."

"Two thousand six hundred years ago, Gautama Buddha made a prediction that at this time would come another great teacher who would inspire humanity to create a new and brilliant golden civilization based on righteousness and truth. His name would be Maitreya, a Buddha like Himself."

"Two thousand years ago in Palestine, the Lord Maitreya’s consciousness entered into that of His disciple, Jesus, at the Baptism. For three years, Jesus demonstrated the consciousness of the Christ ---- the Lord Maitreya ---- and became Jesus, the Christ, or Messiah. Five hundred years earlier, the Buddha worked through His disciple, the Prince Gautama, and Gautama became Gautama Buddha. p. 6"

"On 26 February 1987 Maitreya gave an interview to the major American television company, Cable News Network (CNN). He was interviewed under His ordinary, everyday name, and did not call Himself the Christ. He did say, however, that, among other names, He was known as Maitreya [...] The CNN interview was made available for possible showing in 26 [...] countries in Europe, Scandinavia, North Africa and the Middle East, but was not broadcast in the United States. The CNN office in Atlanta explained that they could not see a framework in which to present the interview."

"Sharing on a world basis is possible if you have the concept and the will. It is simply a recognition of the need and finding a way to fulfill it. The Masters have a very simple plan which has been worked out, not by Them but with Their help, by a group of initiates, economists and financiers of international standing, but who are also members of the Spiritual Hierarchy: Each nation will be asked to make an inventory of what it has and what it needs. In this way the world’s ‘cake’ will be known. Each nation will be asked to make over into a common trust that which it has in excess of its needs in any given commodity... a very sophisticated form of barter will replace the present economic system. p 143"

"The increased use of robots in manufacturing processes will inevitably create even more unemployment. This is already happening world-wide, especially in industrially developed countries. However, the use of robots creates more wealth, and with a rational world economy based on co-operation and sharing of resources and technology, the ability to supply human needs and also to increase leisure becomes practically possible. The coming Technology of Light, in particular, will free humanity from much of its self-imposed limitations today."

"The new politics will no longer be molded by the ‘isms’ of capitalism or socialism, but created from self-respect in individuals and nations...Capitalism, in its pure form, is at an end in Europe. It has no future whatsoever. Instead, countries will model their governments on a form of democratic socialism."

"Capitalism without socialism is like a great shark in the waters that will eat up everything in sight, and has no group sense or social responsibility. We need to take the best of both systems and bring them together....a fusion of the best aspects of both. Both are necessary."

"The sense of justice, brotherhood and social caring... is necessary for the West, but the sense of freedom of the individual in movement, expression and thought is necessary in the East. That is something which will... gradually become the norm in Europe and eventually throughout the world.... not capitalism or communism, but social democracy or democratic socialism with full participation of all peoples in their own government."

"All thoughts which lead you to selfishness lead you away from awareness."

"Hope is different from belief. Belief is a function of the mind. It is something which, on the mental level, appears to you to be true, valuable, magnetic, attractive – a set of ideas which together make an ideology in which you can believe. It seems to answer the problems of life, to provide answers to various questions which arise about the meaning, the purpose, of life, and so on. That is a very different thing from hope."

"Hope, I would say, is of two kinds: there is the hope which is a wish-fulfilling fantasy... It can go a long way in sustaining the person in difficult circumstances. It is the kind of hope of Mr Micawber, a famous Charles Dickens character. He was always in dire straits, impecunious, but always living in hope, waiting “for something to turn up”. That kind of hope is astral desire, and will take you, as it took him, through a whole book, but will not of itself do other than sustain your ability to live life from day to day."

"Hope, in the more occult sense... is the realization of the inner connectedness of all things; of your life and your daily activity with the cosmic scheme of things. The awareness of who you are, that you are the Self – that gives you faith or hope. Faith and hope stem from the same inner, intuitive realization of who you are, that you are here for a purpose and that nothing on Earth can shake that.... To have hope is to have complete faith in life. It does not mean to say that everything is going to go smoothly. It does not mean that on the outer, physical plane you will have a life of ease... and when you are telephoning people they will always be there and you will never have to try again. Many people think that if everything works easily and smoothly they are somehow on the right track. Following the line of least resistance is not necessarily the right way to live one’s life..."

"The Mystery Schools are the schools in which the training and disciplines for initiation are received... The Mystery Schools themselves will be of two categories: preparatory and advanced... There will be a preparatory school in Japan, an advanced one in China; a preparatory one in Scotland, an advanced one in Ireland; a preparatory one in the American Midwest, an advanced one in California; a preparatory one in New Zealand, and advanced one in Australia; a preparatory one in Greece, an advanced one in Egypt; a preparatory one in Sweden, an advanced one in Russia; a preparatory one in France, an advanced one in Italy. Thus, the world as a whole will be covered to give precise teaching to those disciples who are ready for preparation for initiation. p. 181"

"After the stock-markets crash the number one priority will be the provision of adequate food for all the people; two, the provision of adequate housing for all the people; thirdly, the provision of adequate healthcare and education for all the people. These are the basic human rights needed everywhere by all people, yet there is no country in the world in which all of these pertain as a universal right. When the economic collapse occurs, humanity will begin to recognize its oneness, and the need to co-operate and share the world’s resources."

"Maitreya will present the nations with an alternative way of living, of conducting economic and political affairs... The new government which will emerge after the stock market crash will reflect the will of the people and stand for the people. Chapter 4, Economic Change"

"The stock market crash which Maitreya says is inevitable will obviously lead to changes. These have been predicted to take the form of a reorientation of priorities by governments around the world. Adequate food, housing, health care and education, as universal rights, will become the aim. This can hardly be called ‘‘hardship.’’ To achieve this for all, of course, will require a fairer distribution of the world’s resources and therefore some sacrifice on the part of the presently richer nations"

"After the preliminary shock, the nations will meet together to discuss the means of coping with the future in ordered fashion. Those who have stood most emphatically behind the rule of market forces will find themselves outvoted in the dispensation which will pertain, and those advocating co-operation will gain the ascendancy. This will not happen overnight. The process will be gradual, but will not be long delayed. p.137"

"The coming stock market crash will inevitably cause much unemployment. This will lead to a complete change of government priorities: the supplying of adequate food, shelter, health-care and education will become paramount responsibilities of all forward looking nations. The waste of resources as today, in armaments and competitive practices, will cease. A rational and sustainable economic structure based on sufficiency will become the norm. Leisure will be the natural by-product of such a structure. p.156"

"Maitreya, the Christ, has been in London since July 1977. He lives as an ordinary man concerned with modern problems ---- political, economic and social. Since March 1978, He has been emerging as a spokesman for the Pakistani-Indian community there. He is not a religious leader but an educator in the broadest sense, pointing the way out of the present world crisis."

"He comes as the head of that group of enlightened men known as the Spiritual Hierarchy of Masters. The existence of such a group was first made public in the writings of H. P. Blavatsky and later Alice A. Bailey, whose book, The Reappearance of the Christ describes the events which are now unfolding."

"In every age great teachers have emerged from the Spiritual Hierarchy to guide humanity through its next evolutionary step. We know Them historically as (among others) Sankaracharya, Krishna, the Buddha, the Christ and, later, Mohammed. (p.13)"

"All the great religions posit the idea of a further revelation to be given by a future Teacher. Christians hope for the return of the Christ, the Buddhists look for the coming of another Buddha (the Lord Maitreya), while Moslems await the appearance of the Imam Mahdi, the Hindus a reincarnation of Krishna, and the Jews the Messiah. Students of the esoteric tradition know these as different names for one and the same individual, the World Teacher, the head of the Spiritual Hierarchy of Masters, and they look for His imminent return now."

"According to esoteric teaching, the Christ manifested Himself 2,000 years ago in Palestine by ‘overshadowing’ His disciple Jesus, now the Master Jesus. This time Maitreya (the personal name of the Christ) comes Himself, as World Teacher for the Aquarian Age. From an astronomical viewpoint, we are now in the transitional phase between the Age of Pisces and that of Aquarius. To guide us safely through this difficult period, Maitreya has taken the extraordinary step of entering the modern world. (p.13/14)"

"The media in London have informed the authorities and certain representatives of religious and governmental bodies, with a view to ascertaining their reactions to an announcement of Maitreya’s presence. In each case the response has been rather negative, and in some cases hostile. In this way, an atmosphere not conducive to bold action has been generated and a policy of ‘wait and see’ has developed. How long this can be maintained is difficult to say. It depends very much on which faction within the media involved has its way. (p. 20)"

"Maitreya appears now, actually ahead of schedule, as the Agent of Divine Intervention, to mitigate the effects of earthquakes which have been mounting in frequency and intensity throughout the world over the past 150 years. If He were to come before the world, uninvited, He would infringe, to some degree, human free will. This He is reluctant to do (and would do only as a last resort) because it would limit, to some extent, His ability to act as the Agent of Divine Intervention. The result would be greater human suffering from earthquake activities."

"The energy He may use on our behalf is related to the invocative appeal we make to Him...The more energy used by humanity to invoke Him, the more energy He may use on our behalf. (p.21)"

"Humanity has invoked Maitreya into the world in a broad sense; His decision to reappear was made between 1936 and 1945. But He still has to be invoked into the general arena of the world. The fact that the media, who represent the people, are not really responding to the hypothesis of His presence means that humanity is not either. This is governing His emergence. He must see the non-response of the media as a sign of the non-responsiveness of humanity to His presence. Whether this means that humanity is not ready for the transformations when He does come before them is another matter. I would think humanity is ready. Obviously in my work I have tended to create the most hopeful picture which could galvanize human response and hope and expectancy. It may well be that His problems are greater than I envisage, but I do not think any delay in His declaration to the world will affect the speed of our response. Maitreya Himself said: ‘‘All else failing I shall emerge into a world ready, but unprepared, a world which knows not yet that I am among you. Far better would it be for Me to come before you as the expected one.’’ So Maitreya knows that humanity is ready. (p.22/23)"

"The... earthquakes, hurricanes, floods...are the result of the wrong thoughts and actions of humanity... All atoms in creation are interconnected. There is no separation anywhere. If, as today, we create conditions in which two-thirds of the world’s population must make do with one-fourth of the world’s food, and therefore starve and die in the millions, then catastrophe is inevitable."

"Commercialization, an economy based entirely on market forces and competition, has become the new world creed. It is today the greatest threat to this planet and will bring this civilization, He says, to the very verge of destruction."

"Until now, every Teacher who has come to the world has given His teaching to a small group. It has then taken centuries for the Teaching to be disseminated----and in the process distortions and discolourations of the original teaching have crept in. For the first time in our history the Teacher can speak directly to all through the linked media networks..."

"Many people have a rather naive view of events like the appearance of an Avatar or World Teacher, believing----through prophecies often centuries old----that they are scheduled for some exact day in some particular year and in some particular manner. (Some people believe the date of the Christ’s reappearance is to be found in the mathematics of the Great Pyramid, for example.) This is not so. Chapter One"

"There is a general time period, cosmically determined, but the exact timing of such events depends on humanity’s readiness and ability to respond."

"I do not know how many prophecies there are in the Old Testament concerning the coming of the Christ in Palestine, but even had there been 3,333 the facts are that the timing of His appearance through Jesus was not involved in them ---- nor did the people of the time respond to Him; only the few recognized Him. The others, interpreting the prophecies through their religious and nationalistic hopes, fears and prejudices, rejected Him. Chapter One"

"There is not only one ‘false Christ.’ There are several wellknown teachers who believe themselves, or are believed by their followers, to be the Christ, and from my personal experience alone I know scores of deluded people who are convinced that they are the Christ. Discrimination and Spiritual Recognition are the key. I suggest that on the Day of Declaration, by the overshadowing and telepathic rapport which He will establish with all humanity simultaneously, you will have no doubts about His true status."

"A tree is known by its fruit and it is by His love, wisdom, spiritual potency and work for humanity that you will recognize Maitreya and know Him for what He is."

"Any hostility I have encountered has come from two sources: the Christian fundamentalist groups and certain esoteric groups----and for the same reason: they are both defending territory. They are, both of them, the prisoners of their own dogmas. It is not a hostile environment, however, which has delayed Maitreya’s emergence but the non-response of humanity---- through its representatives, the media, to the information that He has awaited discovery in London since May 1982. As for His safety, that is assured. He is invulnerable. Chapter One"

"He will be concerned with inspiring humanity to create the conditions in which world peace can be guaranteed. He will show that this requires, above all, the acceptance of the principle of sharing. This will insure a harmonizing of the imbalance caused today by the tremendous discrepancies in the living standards of the developed and the developing nations. His immediate proposal will be to launch a crash programme of aid to save the starving millions in the Third World. Then, over the next few years, the restructuring of society along more just lines will gradually form the basis for a new civilization. He will inspire humanity to create the new world. His initial task is really one of reconstruction. Chapter Two"

"One of the great tragedies of our present outlook on existence is our attitude to that recurring event which we call death. We approach it, for the most part, with fear and loathing, seeking by every means to resist its call, prolonging, often beyond its usefulness, the activity of the physical body as a guarantee of ‘‘life.’’ Our dread of death is the dread of the unknown, of complete and utter dissolution, of being ‘‘no more.’’ Despite the vast amount of evidence gathered over the years by the many Spiritualist groups that life of some kind continues after death; despite the intellectual acceptance by many that death is but an awakening into new and freer life; in spite of the growing belief in reincarnation, and notwithstanding the testimony of the wisest Teachers down the ages, we continue to approach that great transition with fear and trepidation. What makes this attitude so tragic is that it is so far from the reality, the source of so much unnecessary suffering. Our fear of death is our fear that our identity will be obliterated. It is this which terrifies. Did we but realize and experience our identity as an immortal Being which cannot die or be obliterated, our fear of death would vanish.(p. 250)"

"It seems obvious that a true realization of the implications of reincarnation (and not simply an intellectual acceptance) will transform the whole Western approach to reality. The idea that life is not short, brutish and arbitrary; that there is purpose and plan; that we are undergoing a process of gradual perfectionment; above all that the great Law of Cause and Effect governs our existence, must change our viewpoint. The need for right human relationships, for harmlessness, will become abundantly clear. (p. 271)"

"(Annie) Besant is correct. To be exact, my Master says it is 4,700 years. The Buddhist figure of 200,000 years refers back to the major decline of spirituality in late Atlantean times which led to the destruction of the Atlantean land-mass and civilization nearly 100,000 years ago. This can be seen as the beginning of a ‘dark age'. [Text is Creme's reply to Q: Besant says that Kali Yuga was the last 5000 years. Buddhism had always said 200,000 years. Which is correct?] (p. 300)"

"To my mind, the Agni Yoga teachings constitute one of the major attempts of Hierarchy to prepare humanity for the new age. They are entirely relevant to the present----and future time. The first book of the series, The Call, was given by Maitreya Himself, and was intended to alert disciples to the fact of His imminent return. The Master Morya, as I have said elsewhere, is one of the first group of Masters to be seen by humanity, and is the stimulus behind the occult groups of all kinds. His immediate task is to regenerate and purify the teaching of these groups... [The Agni Yoga Teachings were given] by mental telepathy through Helena Roerich (a disciple of the Master Morya) in Russian... My information is that The Call is His [Maitreya's] sole personal contribution to the Agni Yoga series.. The Call is also titled: Leaves of Morya’s Garden, I. (p. 300/1)"

"My information (from my own Master) is that the broad general outline and scope of The Secret Doctrine was conveyed verbally to H.P.B. (Helena Petrovna Blavatsky) by the Masters K.H. and Morya, while the bulk, the esoteric lore, was given to her telepathically by D.K.. She herself gave the correspondences between the esoteric science and the exoteric science of her day. It was in fact a group work. (p. 301/2)"

"Historical perspective... 1986 Maitreya contacts media representatives at the highest level in Britain who agree to make an announcement that a man claiming to be the Christ is indeed living in the Asian community government officials. Under pressure from high religious and government officials, however, this statement was withheld."

"Today, large numbers of people live deeply unfulfilled lives, dedicated only to "earning a living"... Through no fault of their own they remain passive on-lookers of a life which passes them by... On all sides today can be seen bafflement, confusion and anger... Freed by machines from the burden of unnecessary work, millions will find within themselves a creativity absent up till now, and will contribute their share to the glowing tapestry of joyful living which will become the hallmark of the new age."

"The solution to the problem of hunger and starvation in the midst of plenty will be His primary concern. To focus world opinion on the need to end this blasphemy will be His aim, giving voice therefore to the aspirations of millions for a better, more just world. Thereafter, His plans concern the stabilization of the world's political imbalances; the restructuring of the economic order along more rational lines... When the alternatives before the race for peace through sharing; or war and self-destruction are clearly understood, millions will align themselves with the advocacy of the Christ, and call for an end to injustice, misery and war."

"The outstanding attitude of the new time will be the attempt to create right relationships, to express goodwill. A massive shift in emphasis from the individual to the group will re-orientate humanity... Stage by stage, century following century, man will build a civilization which will demonstrate his growing manifestation of divinity..."

"Until now, man's attention has been focused on the dense physical plane while the causes of disease are to be found in the misappropriation of the energies flowing through the subtler bodies. Man is on the verge of a great discovery: that disease is the result of imbalance; that correct balance is maintained by correct thought and action and that such correct thought and action involves his brothers and sisters everywhere."

"Present day political structures are of three main types... Each of these forms today is characterized by a spirit of intense rivalry and exclusiveness. The followers of each are convinced that they alone have the answers to man's need for structure and organization and are ready, if need be, to plunge the world into catastrophic war to uphold their particular system... A true Democracy in which all men participate will take the place of the present sham."

"Many people await the return of the Christ with trepidation and fear. They sense that His appearance will promote great changes in all departments of life. His values, they rightly assume, will necessarily alter their ways of thinking and living and they blanch at such a prospect. Besides, so mystical has been the view of the Christ presented down the centuries by the churches that many fear His judgement and omnipotent power; they await Him as God come to punish the wicked and reward the faithful. It is sadly to be regretted that such a distorted vision of the Christ should so have permeated human consciousness."

"Little by little, a new consciousness is awakening humanity to its inner needs. The old, competitive spirit dies hard, but nevertheless a new spirit of Cooperation is likewise to be seen. This augurs well for the future, for it is by Cooperation alone that mankind will survive; by Cooperation alone that the new civilization will be built; by Cooperation only that men can know and demonstrate the inner truth of their divinity... Competition has led man to the precipice; Cooperation alone will help him find the path."

"An understanding of the continuity of all life, incarnate or not, will replace the present fear; the old phobia of death as the end of everything will vanish in the new light which will illumine the minds of men. Into the darkest corners of superstition and ignorance this new light will shine, awakening men to an awareness of their divinity as immortal souls... The true understanding of the maxim of the Christ, that what we sow we reap, will transform human existence in all its aspects. Tolerance and harmlessness not known before will replace the present separation, as men recognize the justice and the logic of the Law."

"All outer events notwithstanding, the forces of Light are in the ascendant and steadily inculcate a new and higher rhythm and purpose in men's lives. This being so, naught can disturb the plan for the rehabilitation of the world. The outer signs of turmoil and violence, of hatred and fear, are but the death-throes of a dying civilization under the impact of the new. When the smoke of battle has cleared humanity will find itself entering into a dispensation unlike aught known before, into, as Maitreya has said, "a simpler life where no man lacks, where no two days are alike, where the Joy of Brotherhood manifests through all men"."

"Throughout the world today there is a growing sense that great changes are necessary if humanity is to survive. Nowhere is this more obvious than in the political and economic fields... The divisions between the nations yawn wide, yet somehow, men know, they must be bridged. The tensions of the present can be supported for little longer."

"Within humanity today a growing number of people are achieving continuity of consciousness and are thus retaining the experiences of the sleep state. This makes for faster evolution as no time is lost in waiting for the filtering down of information to the brain to take place. It also ensures the reception of more accurate information leading to more correct action and results."

"Without doubt, the greatest hindrance to change is the present state of mass consciousness. The masses of humanity are deeply fearful of changes the outcome of which they cannot foresee... Nowhere is this more obvious than in the political field. Millions today live in conditions of abject misery and abuse, exploited by tyrants masquerading as their leaders. Yet the people, for the most part, suffer in silence, fearful that resistance will make the unbearable even worse."

"In today's sense, education is a feeble thing indeed, ensuring only the minimum requirements for an understanding and control of man's environment... Few there are who learn more than the rudiments of life's meaning and purpose, caught up, as most people are, in the daily struggle for existence... Education for jobs has replaced education for life while, more and more, the stresses and strains of such imbalance erupt in violence of all kinds."

"The growing strength of the people's voice and the growing determination to make that voice be heard... is the most important political event of our time. Throughout the world, the peoples of the nations are taking control of their destiny and demanding their rights. The inner call for freedom, intrinsic to their divinity, unites people of all races and creeds, and, in growing crescendo, will echo and re-echo until the last bastions of tyranny crumble and men can inherit their birthright."

"The question arises: why, in a world so well endowed, does hunger exist to such degree? Why, with food enough and more for all, do millions still sadly starve and bring disgrace on man's divinity? By what law do men assume the right to mark those who shall live and those who must die? From what complacent depths are such judgements made? ...Man, of his own free will, must choose the path to future glory: the path of brotherhood and love, justice and sharing... The signs are there for all to see: the signs of the new time, when hunger will be no more."

"The sickness at the heart of the present dispensation is selfishness, complacency and fear. Where these three reign, separation and exploitation, handmaidens to ruthless greed, inevitably flourish. Only a rethinking of the meaning and purpose of life will suffice to steer men from the edge of disaster... When man's erstwhile temples, the stock markets of the world, crumble and crash, that key will turn and reveal a new beauty waiting to be born."

"There will come a time when humanity will look back on this time as the 'barbarian age'. So far from the possible ideal is the present dying civilization that future men will wonder how, and for so long, were we able to sustain it."

"Since mankind has, for the most part, rejected the rule of Law, it has experienced a series of disasters which it has interpreted as 'acts of God'. These 'acts of men' bear little resemblance to the planned evolution of this Earth. When men realize this, they will make a concerted effort to readjust their thinking and actions, and thus set to rights the 'Rule of Law'. Gradually, the rhythm of the Law will impose itself on life and a new harmony and greater equilibrium will result."

"Transmission Meditation is a form of meditation which is also a transmission of energy. We would not be human beings if we did not knowingly or unknowingly act as transmitters of energy. If the human kingdom were for some reason or other removed from this planet, all the lower kingdoms – animal, vegetable and even mineral – would eventually die. They would no longer receive their quota of energy from the sun at a potency which they could absorb. This is because the human kingdom (as do all kingdoms) transmits energy, albeit in a unique fashion. Whether we know it or not (and in the future we shall know it and act consciously as such), we are transmitters, a clearinghouse for energies received from the kingdoms above us. These energies are transformed by passing through us to the lower kingdoms."

"Towards the end phase of our evolutionary journey our soul brings us into meditation. In the first life in which this occurs, it may be fleeting, but some contact with meditation is made. In the next life much more is made, until after several lifetimes, meditation becomes a natural activity of the individual in incarnation. This eventually makes the journey inward to the soul automatic."

"The purpose of our evolutionary existence, then, is to manifest the soul’s qualities on the physical plane, and so to spiritualize matter. Meditation provides a more-or-less scientific means, depending on the meditation, of contacting the soul and gradually becoming at one with the soul, so that it can manifest clearly and potently on the physical plane. When we see such individuals, we perceive them as radiating meaning and purpose – for example, exceptionally creative artists, scientists, politicians or educators. Such persons are quite obviously governed by a force altogether different from the norm. It is the energy of the soul which is pouring through them, making them the creative beings who enrich our culture and civilization."

"Transmission Meditation is the simplest method I know to accomplish this soul contact. Many meditations require that the individual master a powerful concentrated mental activity, which is more than most people can do. What people call meditation is often not meditation but simply concentration or even just reverie. There are five stages of meditation, each one leading gradually into the next: concentration, meditation, contemplation, illumination, and inspiration. Transmission Meditation can enhance all of these. Since the declaration by the Christ in 1945 that He would reappear at the earliest possible moment, there is as never before an enormous potency of energy at the disposal of the Masters. When He made that decision, He became the channel for colossal cosmic and extra-systemic spiritual forces. These need to be ‘stepped down’, or they simply bounce off the bulk of humanity. By the work of Transmission Meditation groups, however, these forces become transformed and readily available and accessible."

"In a Transmission group, you simply let yourself be an instrument, while the energy is put through your chakras by the Masters. You act as a positive, poised, mental channel through which the energy is sent in a highly scientific manner. It is directed by Them, by Their thought, to where it is most useful and most needed."

"To form a Transmission Meditation group, all you need is the intention and desire to serve, and two other people who agree to transmit with you. Of course, the more people the better, but three in itself is a group. The meditation used is simple, but it is the most dynamic I know. It requires no extraordinary expertise. It is a simple aligning meditation – the alignment of the physical brain and the soul by the act of holding the attention at the ajna centre (chakra) between the eyebrows."

"Humanity has been given an extraordinarily potent tool whereby the energy of the Masters can be invoked at will. It is called the Great Invocation. The Christ Himself used it for the first time in June 1945, when He announced to His Brothers, the Masters of Wisdom, that He was ready to return to the world at the earliest possible moment, as soon as humanity took the first steps towards sharing and co-operation for the general good. It was translated by the Masters and released to the world by the Tibetan Master Djwhal Khul through His amanuensis Alice A. Bailey. The Great Invocation is a very potent prayer. By its use, any group of transmitters can invoke the energies of the Christ and the Masters, and, acting as instruments, allow these energies to pass through their chakras in a simple, pleasant and scientific manner."

"The important thing is regularity. What is required is for the group to meet regularly, at least once a week, always at the same time. In this way the Masters can depend on a group of individuals being physically present at that time. By the use of the Great Invocation, the group aligns itself with Hierarchy, and the Masters transmit the energies through the group to the world."

"Transmission Meditation is really a combination of two yogas: Karma Yoga, the yoga of service, and Laya Yoga, the yoga of the chakras, the energies. This is the true yoga of the coming age. By taking part in Transmission Meditation, your evolution is propelled forward at an extraordinary rate, because of the potency of the spiritual energies sent through the chakras. The energies galvanize and activate the chakras as they pass through them. The Masters register the point in evolution of any individual by looking at the state of the chakras."

"To take part in Transmission Meditation, you only have to hold your attention at the ajna centre. In practice you will find that the attention will not stay there. It will keep dropping to its usual level somewhere around the solar plexus. As soon as the attention drops and you become aware of that, you have to bring it back to the ajna centre. This is done by thinking, inwardly, the mantram OM. As soon as you think OM, you find that your attention automatically comes back to the ajna centre. While your attention is held at the ajna centre, a connection, or alignment, is formed between the physical brain and the soul. The energies do not come from your soul. They come from the Masters, from the Kingdom of Souls. But they proceed from the soul level. While the alignment between the physical brain and the soul is kept, you are in the Transmission. As soon as your attention drops from the ajna centre, you are no longer taking part. As you think OM, the attention rises again, you are aligned. The process is one of being aligned, for a moment not aligned, and then, once again, aligned, back and forth."

"The easiest way to do Transmission Meditation is to join an existing group. If there is no group in your area within a reasonable distance, you can form your own group by joining with two other people. More people are more useful, but a basic group of three is a practical working group."

"Many people practice some form of kundalini yoga and deliberately arouse the kundalini energy at the base of the spine. This is extremely dangerous unless done under the supervision of an advanced initiate teacher. The fact that the fire of kundalini can be so roused does not constitute either initiation or enlightenment. It could lead to madness if the chakras are not prepared in advance to receive it. p. 97"

"The Master DK wrote (through Alice A. Bailey) about a specialized form of Laya Yoga which will be the yoga of the New Age. Laya Yoga is the yoga of energies, of the centres. This specialized form of Laya Yoga is indeed already known. It is called Transmission Meditation... a fusion of two yogas: Laya Yoga, the yoga of energies, and Karma Yoga, the yoga of Service. It combines precisely the two most potent forms of evolution. Nothing moves a man or woman so quickly along the path of evolution than being engaged powerfully, potently, in some form of service. That is Karma Yoga. It is the lever of the evolutionary process. The other equally important leverage is meditation. p. 177"

"When the world is ready to receive Me, I shall speak to men everywhere as the One Who is awaited, the One they have called, the One Who comes to lead them into the New Age... When I make Myself known, I shall express the hope of all mankind for a new life, a new start, a readiness to change direction; to see the construction of a New World in which men can live in peace; can live free from fear of themselves or their brothers; free to create from the joy in their hearts; free to be themselves, in simple honesty."

"I am the Stranger at the Gate. I am the One Who knocks. I am the One Who will not go away. I am your Friend. I am your Hope. I am your Shield. I am your Love. I am All in All."

"The Messages are relayed by me to the audience. No trance or mediumship is involved, and the voice is mine, strengthened in power and altered in pitch by the overshadowing energy of Maitreya. They are transmitted simultaneously on all the astral and mental planes, while I supply the basic etheric-physical vibration for this to take place. From these subtle levels, the Messages impress the minds and hearts of countless people who are gradually made aware of the thoughts and the Presence of the Christ. He releases in this way fragments of his Teaching, to prepare the climate of hope and expectancy which will ensure his being accepted and followed, quickly and gladly. (Foreward)"

"It is an enormous, and embarrassing, claim to have to make ― that the Christ is giving messages through oneself. But if people can rid their minds of the idea of the Christ as some sort of spirit, sitting in "heaven" at God's right hand; if they can begin to see Him as indeed He is, as a real and living man (albeit a divine man) who has never left the world; who descended, not from "heaven," but from His ancient retreat in the Himalayas, to complete the task he began in Palestine; as a great Master; an Adept and Yogi; as the chief actor in a Gospel Story which is essentially true, but much simpler than hitherto presented; if people can accept that possibility, then the claim to receive telepathic communications from such a closer and more knowable Being is also, perhaps, more acceptable. In any case, I leave it to a study of the quality of the messages themselves to convince or otherwise. For many people, the energies, which flow during the overshadowing, convince. Many who come to these meetings are clairvoyant in various degrees, and their visions of the overshadowing as it takes place is for them the most convincing evidence of all. (Foreward by Benjamin Creme)"

"In this coming time, I shall show you beauties and wonders beyond your imaginings, but which are your birthright as sons of God. My children, My friends, I have come more quickly, perhaps, than you expected. But there is much to do, much that needs changing in the world. Many hunger and die, many suffer needlessly. I come to change all that; to show you the way forward ---- into a simpler, saner, happier life ---- together. No longer man against man, nation against nation, but together, as brothers, shall we go forth"

"My Brothers, the Masters of Wisdom, are scheduled to make Their group return to the everyday world. As Their Leader, I, as one of Them, do likewise. Many there are throughout the world who call Me, beg for My return. I answer their pleas. Many more are hungry and perish needlessly, for want of the food which lies rotting in the storehouses of the world. Many need My help in other ways: as Teacher, Protector; as Friend and Guide. It is as all of these I come."

"I come to take you with Me into the New Country -- the Country of Love, the Country of Trust, of Beauty and Freedom. I shall take you there if you can follow Me, accept Me, let Me lead and guide. And, if this be so, together we shall build a New World: a world in which men can live without fear, without mistrust, without division; sharing together the Earth's bounty, knowing together the Bliss of Union with our Source... Allow Me to help you. Allow Me to show you the way -- forward, into a simpler life where no man lacks; where no two days are alike; where the Joy of Brotherhood manifests through all men."

"Many await My Coming with reverence and also with some fear. This is inevitable. My Coming will mean the end of the old order of things. All that is useless, no longer serving the purposes of man, can now be discarded. This will cause many to grieve but so it must be. My friends, My children, I am here to show you that there exists for man a most marvelous future."

"My plan is to release into the world a certain Teaching, which will show men that there exists a new approach to living, a new way forward into the future time."

"My plan is to show you that the way out of your problems is to listen again to the true voice of God within your hearts, to share the produce of this most bountiful of worlds among your brothers and sisters everywhere."

"Man's problem today, as always, is of his own making... By the misuse of his divine freewill, man has placed his future, and that of all the kingdoms, in jeopardy. Many today are beginning to realise this and are taking such steps as they can to avert catastrophe. This is good. But not all men see the danger which faces mankind in increasing potency. Time is short indeed for the reconstruction of our world along lines more befitting man's true role and purpose."

"Mankind has lost its way, has strayed far from the path prepared for it by God. Many there are now in the world who know this, who search and pray, and work towards the light; but many more are blind and would rush towards disaster. My plan is to halt this headlong plunge and to turn the tide. My Presence, already, is effecting changes in men's thinking, in men's hearts, and causing them to wonder."

"Will you be among those who pave the way? Will you take part now in this Great Work and fulfil the world’s need? There is no higher call than that to serve the world. There is no greater commitment than to serve your brother."

"Many will see Me soon and at first may be surprised at My appearance, for I am not the Preacher of Old, but have come simply to point the way, to show the path which must be trodden, back to the Source and into Harmony, Beauty, and Justice. My task is a simple one: to show you the way. You, my friends, have the difficult task of building a New World, a New Country, a new Truth; but together we shall triumph."

"The subject of a coming Avatar or World Teacher or Christ is one that has enthralled men of all backgrounds and teachings for centuries. Even the most sceptical will often express the wish that such a desirable event were possible, however unlikely. To these, this paper is presented as an interesting hypothesis."

"We are moving into a period of climax, leading to events which will fundamentally alter life as we know it... To some people, this portends the Second Coming of the Christ. To others it is the realisation that only through a profound inner change and readiness for a new direction in our political, economic and social life can humanity survive. Is it not possible that both of these approaches are correct?"

"Mankind will soon see that there is no alternative to sharing the produce of the world. Every other method has been tried and failed, and has led inevitably to war, suffering, degradation and misery."

"Women's liberation... It is absolutely necessary that humanity realizes that the male and female are in polarity. Energetically, both are necessary on the planet - not the domination of one by the other."

"We must show our ability to become One with All, the whole of this planetary life: with our fellow beings... We must stop exploiting the planet and misusing its resources; stop exploiting the lower kingdoms and misusing their life; show that this is One World, One Humanity, One Life. This is the destiny of mankind."

"In the esoteric tradition, the Christ is not the name of an individual but of an Office in the [esoteric spiritual] Hierarchy. The present holder of that Office, the Lord Maitreya, has held it for 2,600 years, and manifested in Palestine through His disciple, Jesus, by the occult method of overshadowing, the most frequent form used for the manifestation of Avatars."

"He has never left the world, but for 2,000 years has waited and planned for this immediate future time, training His disciples, and preparing Himself for the awesome task which awaits Him..."

"The Masters of the Hierarchy are now ready to return, for the first time in countless thousands of years, to the everyday world... Under Their great leader, the Master of all the Masters, the World Teacher, the One known in the West as the Christ, the esoteric Hierarchy will walk openly among us and lead us into the Aquarian experience. They stand now, waiting for us to take, of our own free will, the needed first steps in the direction of unity, cooperation and fusion. Then They will emerge with the Christ at Their Head, and Their Presence in the world will be an established fact."

"He [the World Teacher] will show humanity the steps which it should take to regenerate itself, and to create a civilisation based on sharing, cooperation and goodwill, leading inevitably to world brotherhood."

"The Churches have gone very far away from the religion which the Christ inaugurated; which is to do with sharing, with love, with brotherhood and right relationship."

"The history of humanity really can be seen as the history of man's response to certain great ideas which are put into the mind-belt, into the mind of humanity... So it has been down through all the ages [...]"

"It is not primarily as a religious leader that He is coming. You may look for Him rather as an educationalist in the widest sense of the word, advocating changes in our political, economic and social life."

"The major area of concern in the immediate future will be the problem of leisure: how mankind will utilize the leisure which he will have. A great many people today, because of the world labour situation, have endless leisure. They do not want it, they do not want to be unemployed, but they have leisure. However, they have not been educated, for the most part, to use that leisure correctly. In this coming time, gradually (I am not talking about something that is going to happen overnight, but eventually) mankind will create machines which will do the work which today is done by the bulk of humanity. Mankind will be released into a state of leisure which will give him the opportunity to explore his own inner nature, to know what he really is, the great divine Being he really is, and allow him to manifest that quality."

"Today, freedom from enforced activity; freedom from want; freedom from hunger; freedom to explore the nature of one's own Being; the freedom to create, is known to a relatively small number of people. It is the privileged few who have this kind of freedom. Most people work to earn enough money to keep themselves and their families, and the vast majority of the people in the world work at deadly, mechanical work which bears no relation to man's true nature, his creativeness... Some people, of course, enjoy their work immensely, and get a great emotional, mental and spiritual return in terms of energy from that work... It engages their creativity. But for the vast majority of mankind this is not so."

"In the future... The nature of work will change. We shall have to learn to live much more simply, not geared to this great mechanical civilization we have built around ourselves, especially in the industrialized West. The Christ and the Masters will show that we can live perfectly happily, even more happily, in a much simpler way, with fewer things. But those things will be beautiful. They will be made because they are needed, and they will be made with the creativeness of man behind them, whether they are man-made or machine-made."

"A completely new attitude will take place in relation to work."

"Through the power of sound, man will build and create the artefacts of his civilization and control his environment, relating it to his real needs."

"When he comes into correct relationship to his brother and his Source, he will inherit that Divine Science, which is his birthright, but is known today only by the Masters of Wisdom."

"Whatever of significance happens in any country at all happens under the inspiration of Hierarchy. There is an entire department in the Hierarchy, the Department of the Manu, which deals with the politics of the world: the great movements of the races; the building of races; the forming of nations; the destiny of nations; the working out of the political, governmental and racial divisions of humanity."

"Great experiments are going on in China and Russia, America and Great Britain."

"One of the most interesting today is what is happening in China... It is watched with extreme interest by Hierarchy, and could still go in many directions, well, or not so well. The changes which have taken place have had traumatic, chaotic effects in China, for example, the great Cultural Revolution. The kind of changes that I am envisaging, which will take place in the five centres at first, will take place without these traumatic effects; in the normal democratic way, by logical legislation and general agreement. All sections of society will take part, which will ensure the adoption of the various changes, whereas in China, and Russia, many of them were imposed. In America and Britain, today, many social changes are opposed by finance rather than by decree, but the result is the same."

"We do not have democracy today, true democracy. There is no true democracy in the world - not in China, Russia or Britain."

"We are all moving towards a more perfect expression of the governmental and political systems that we live under. In the future, the not too distant future, we will come to see that all political systems are divine expressions."

"There is more in common between true democracy and true communism than there would seem to be today. What is called communism today, as it exists in Russia, China and the communist world, is in no sense true communism, but it is an evolving structure, moving towards a more perfect expression of the thoughtform as it exists in the Divine Mind; likewise with democracy."

"Very soon we shall become aware that all political systems, without exception, are in a state of transition, more or less. All of them are changing, all of them are coming to a purer expression of the Hierarchical energy and the Divine intention which is behind them... All of them will shortly be seen to be in this state of transition, and therefore not so mutually exclusive as they now appear to be and a much greater world harmony will result from this. You will see very shortly the healing of the wounds between the nations. Over this coming year you will see things taking place which you would not have thought possible. There will be greater detente, greater synthesis."

"There is standing behind the Christ a great Avatar... It works only through groups; through the United Nations Assembly, through Hierarchy, through humanity as a group, ... through the New Group of World Servers; and it is bringing humanity together, making humanity One on the physical plane, which it already is on the inner plane."

"Another great entity standing behind the Christ is the Spirit of Peace or Equilibrium. He is overshadowing the Christ, in a very similar way to the way the Christ overshadowed and worked through the disciple Jesus in Palestine. He works very closely with the law of Action and Reaction, and His function is to transform the prevalent discord, confusion, chaos, turmoil in the world into its opposite, so that we shall enter an era of tranquility and peace - in exact proportion to the present discord."

"The violence and hatred of today will be transmuted into goodwill, and again, in exact proportion to the intensity of the hatred and violence. This is the great Law of Action and Reaction functioning. The law stated is that action and reaction are equal and opposite, and this great Cosmic Entity, the Spirit of Equilibrium, is working now through the Christ, producing the transformation of the world."

"Russia has, fundamentally, the good of humanity at heart; has, at the basis of its approach to life, the idea that men are brothers. This is true despite the harsh and cruel imposition of a system where there is a lack of free speech, movement and belief. Despite that, fundamental to the Soviet people, is this belief that men are One, that humanity is One. And, basically, in the Chinese revolution is the same idea."

"Very soon, the nations of the world will realize that all political systems have much in common. There is a similarity of intention in America, Russia and Britain for instance (Britain representing the Commonwealth of Nations; Britain in Europe represents a larger body of thinking along the same lines). They are not identical but there is a wide common ground and that common ground will find its expression in the transition of each of their political systems into something which will not be identical - there is no reason at all why each nation should have exactly the same political system - but they will grow into a kind of relationship which makes coexistence not only possible but natural and inevitable. The acceptance of the principle of sharing will make this inevitable. p. 175"

"There are two kinds of thoughtforms: those which are mental and those which are the result of man's fears - these are unreal. But they become real, because every thought is real. Even if it is an astral thoughtform, it is still a potent force although it has no essential reality."

"What is happening at present is that the forces of evil are fighting a last-ditch stand, because they know that with the Christ and the Hierarchy in the world they are doomed. They are going to be sealed off to their own domain for 3,000 years, and they will not be able to affect mankind in the same way. Hence their present desperate fight to foment, as potently as they can, this fear reflex in mankind. They work through fear. They work mostly on the physical and astral planes, but also on the lower mental planes. They create fear, anxiety and chaos. They are doing this by focusing their attention on and stimulating these thoughtforms of destruction and catastrophe, so that they should become a reality. If mankind surrounds himself with a thoughtform potently enough, sooner or later he creates a situation in which that thoughtform works out. That is how our actions work out. p. 177"

"The Aquarian Age will be the age of right relationship, the age of reason, the age of brotherhood and love. This right relationship, of which reason, brotherhood and love are the expression, will be right relationship between all the kingdoms: between Man and his Source, which is Reality or God, however you envisage God; between man and man; and between man and the animal, vegetable and mineral kingdoms."

"All the kingdoms will come into a very active, dynamic relationship as humanity comes, more and more, into a conscious relationship with the next kingdom, above the human - the Spiritual Kingdom or the Kingdom of Souls, which is made up of the Masters and initiates in the Hierarchy. Through the teaching of the Masters and through the grounding in the human consciousness of the Plan which issues from Shamballa, mankind will come to realize his true destiny, which is to act as a great clearing house for energies flowing through him to the lower kingdoms. So he will see that he has a great responsibility, on the planet, to the other kingdoms in Nature, and a change in his relationship to the animal kingdom will take place. p. 193"

"Inevitably, out of this change will come, generally, a vegetarian diet for mankind. This will be the norm. That is not to say that the eating of meat today by large masses of mankind is wrong. There is no single group diet today - one diet for all men. There are groups in the world today where the eating of meat is not only normal and right but essential... In time, when the true relationship between man and the lower kingdoms is seen, a more sane and balanced approach to diet will come about... Vegetarianism becomes the norm, becomes essential (but I do not mean to make that "essential" an imperative) for the man who seeks to take initiation; who is making a conscious effort to advance along the evolutionary path; who is taking a hand in his own evolution. At some point along that evolutionary path vegetarianism does become necessary. Not simply because it is 'wrong' to kill animals, but because the vibrational rate of the animal body, in particular the blood of the animal, is inimical to the higher vibrational rate which he is seeking to establish..."

"Common sense is the great thing in all this. You eat what you find through a minimum requirement keeps your body healthy. Each individual and each group finds for itself the diet which suits its purposes, climate, tradition and background."

"An essential fact to bear in mind in relation to UFOs is that they are etheric in nature. They are etheric-physical, not dense-physical. What we see is the result of their ability to lower the vibrational rate of themselves, or their vehicles, temporarily, to a level where we can see them and know them. The phenomenon of their disappearing is the shift of their vibrational rate up again. This is something which the Masters, too, can do. Those who have control over matter can do this."

"They protect us within karmic law. They can go so far and no further, of course. But for the work of the initiates and the disciples in the world, giving them the karmic right to 'interfere', they could do little. With the Christ and the Senior members of our Hierarchy working outwardly in the world, however, a much closer and more open liaison with the Space Brothers becomes possible."

"The planets are of two kinds. Those which are sacred planets, and those which are non-sacred. The Earth is not one of the sacred planets... Sacred planets have no evil."

"Mars is a planet which has three levels or zones - zones A, B and C. Zone A is very advanced, has beings who are very advanced indeed. Zone B has beings who are really quite advanced. Zone C has beings whom you would not want to meet on a dark night! Notwithstanding, the kind of evil there is not of the same kind as we get on this planet, because the planet Mars as a whole is within the mainstream of the Will of God, so to speak. Mars is also in the middle round, its fourth round, is not a sacred planet, and so it has evil."

"Contact is possible throughout cosmos through the common denominator of mind, if the consciousness is high enough. But of course, it is only the very highest Beings Who have this cosmic consciousness (Telepathy is a fact, an inborn fact in nature, a natural part of man's being.) Evil on other planets exists, but it is contained in a way that evil on this planet is not so easily contained... we are protected; it is all under law."

"The reality is that this planet, and humanity on this planet, are part of a brotherhood which embraces the whole of the solar system, and each is closely interrelated. The energy from this planet streams into every other planet, and the energy from every other planet streams into all planets, including this one. It is a close energetic co-relationship. We have to realize this, and that our thoughts and actions create an effect on the aura of this planet which in turn affects every other planet in this system. If we are responding in a certain way, so that the light and energy emitted from this planet is at a relatively low vibration, we are holding up the advancement of the solar system as a whole."

"I love space exploration; I think it is a great thing. What space exploration has done for mankind is to begin the process of realization that we are only one tiny centre in a huge solar system which itself is a tiny centre in a great galaxy, a fantastic Entity, which we call 'space'."

"Mankind is beginning to realize that it is not alone in the universe, not alone in the solar system."

"The space people are our brothers. We are part of a family which embraces the whole of the solar system, not necessarily on the same plane of manifestation as we are. In fact, the matter aspect of the different planets varies... if you went to Venus you would see nothing. Venus is inhabited, but our highest etheric energy is their lowest."

"In fact the advance of the space programmes, in both Russia and America, has only been possible by the direct impression of the minds of the scientists by Hierarchy; not only our Hierarchy, but by the Hierarchy of some higher planets as well. So, you see, it is exactly along the line of Hierarchical planning that this takes place. p. 211"

"Egypt was a late colony of the Atlantean civilization which covered a large part of the world. The Great Pyramid of Cheops in Egypt is far older than we imagine - the civilization of Egypt is far older - in fact, below the area around the Great Pyramid and the Sphinx is a city, a colonial Atlantean city, which one day will be excavated and revealed."

"The Sphinx, and of course the Pyramid, were connected with the Ancient Mysteries, the Mysteries of initiation, for initiation and the Mystery Schools go back to Atlantean times. The process of initiation was instituted in mid-Atlantean times, and the remains in Egypt, South America - Mexico and Peru - and also in Chaldea and Babylon, relate to these ancient civilizations. They are degenerated forms of it, for the Atlantean civilization was a tremendous, scientific civilization, such as the world has not seen since."

"The religion of ancient Egypt is, fundamentally, Spiritualism; the religion of China, for the last 4,000 years, is a kind of Spiritualism. We call it ancestor worship, but of course it has nothing to do with ancestor worship. It is the worship of the fact of the sacredness of life continuing after death - that continuity of life - so that the ancestors coexist with the men and women of today; the recognition and acceptance of that fact."

"This is the core of the ancient Atlantean and Egyptian religions; hence the apparent over-emphasis on death, the almost morbid interest, even today, in South America, in the trappings of death. But the South American peasants see a lot of death. They are very familiar with it. They are poor. Most of the coffins are very small - for children, who die in large numbers. These people live closely with death through no fault of their own. It is largely because of non-distribution of the food and modern medical knowledge that their children die."

"Egypt was the home of magic - Atlantean magic... Black magic was tremendously rampant in Atlantean times, and ...there was a great war, between the forces of Light and Darkness, which brought that civilization to an end. As a result of that war the Hierarchy of Light became occult. They removed Themselves from the everyday world to Their mountain and desert retreats, leaving mankind to fend for itself, and to learn through trial and error. They return now among us, one by one."

"Man is divine. He is also human and he has free will. And he is given the chance to exert that free will."

"Humanity must evolve out of its sense of what is right for it; has to bring its will into line with the divine will, which issues from Shamballa, where the Will of God is known."

"When the will of man and the Will of God coincide, you have right living - the Plan goes forward... When you have a divergence of man's will from God's Will for long enough, disaster comes."

"In the better civilizations you are thinking of, the Atlantean, men grew selfish, exerted their little self-will, and the eventual result was disaster. This time, man is far more evolved, is much more an adult, mental unit, and can make decisions as to his future in the light of the evidence which will be highlighted for him by the Christ. He will see that there is no alternative today to sharing and co-operation, and on that basis will go into the future. p. 224"

"I read, among many others... Sri Ramana Maharshi..., whose Path of Self-knowledge I sought to follow. Through his meditation on "Who am I?", I found myself precipitated into a sense of identity with the whole phenomenal world: the earth, the sky, the houses and people; the trees and birds and clouds, I saw to be myself. I disappeared as a separate being, yet retained full consciousness, a consciousness expanded to include everything. I saw that this was the true Reality, that one's normal waking consciousness simply covers this, keeps it hidden, through wrong identification with oneself as this body. I also saw this phenomenal world as a kind of ritual, a ritualised shadow-play, acting out a dream or desire of That which alone existed, alone was Real, which was also myself."

"Environment and energy will be the top priorities of the new era. Last will be defense, because there will be nothing to defend. When light is at your command you do not need guns and bullets."

"Maitreya is sending a clear message to the world's political leaders: no wars can now be won, and spending vast amounts of money on international arms programmes is a complete waste."

"Our prime task now is to look after the environment. This will become the responsibility of every individual, politician, guru, saint and scientist. Our energies will be spent in making it healthy again. When that happens there will be less suffering, disease and poverty."

"The time is fast coming when there will be no need for prisons, as individuals can be controlled from space. Terrorism will disappear because there will be no place for terrorists to hide."

"The Technology of Light will meet all our energy needs in the 21st century. It will need no huge budgets to maintain because it will be devised and controlled by intellectuals who do not look for billions of pounds of profits to satisfy them... Once built, the technology will last for 2,500 years, 'until the next cycle of evolution.'"

"The ambition of the politicians is now moving into space, from where all movement on earth can be controlled. But Maitreya warns that if the politicians play with this science of light and abuse it, it will destroy them. Humanity has naively believed that they are the only ones in space. But there are others there, far advanced, who have always watched over us, He says, teaching us not to kill, to respect others, and to learn to be happy and free. They have always protected humanity, and they will not allow it to destroy itself by the exploitation of science in space."

"The world stock market crash... will reorient the governments of all countries towards a more equitable redistribution of food, housing, health care and education, which as universal rights will become the priorities of all governments. After the crash, the first duty of governments will be to feed people with the right food. Their second duty will be to ensure adequate housing. Health and education will be the next priorities. Investment along these lines in other parts of the world will follow, and lastly, defense. In short, the crash will lead to a reordering of priorities."

"We think, and our leaders think, that we can go on in the old ways, exactly as we have done — more competition, more greed, more of the same, and it will just go on, we will win. It is not so any longer; it does not work. If two-thirds of the world's population are living in poverty then the economic system does not work. If we think that they will go on without asking that it work for them, then we are sorely out of step with reality. Maitreya will make that clear."

"An immediate collapse of the economic structures, a stock-exchange crash in Europe and America, would bring Maitreya forward right away. That would bring us into reality. That is one of the factors that He is waiting for, that sense of reality which it would bring about. We would see that it does not work. We thought it was working, it seemed to work for some of us, but through our complacency we did not even think of those for whom it does not work. One of Maitreya's major tasks is to throw cold water on this complacency, make it very uncomfortable to be complacent. I can remember people coming to a meeting of mine and saying: “I thought this was going to be a message of hope, but I feel awful. I feel so unhappy. I feel so guilty and horrible.” I said: “Jolly good. That is what we call love.” You have to cut through that complacency. If people only want to be, “Ah, lovely”, it is not going to change the world. It is important that they know that the Christ is in the world and not alone, and that the world is ready for change and will change. But if they only want to be made to feel good, it is not going to help the world because they are not the people who are actually working in the world."

"My information is that... [Maitreya] is emerging very, very soon – even by our standards. I have been told for 30-odd years that He is emerging ‘soon’, but that is by the Masters’ standards of time. They work in 2,000-year cycles, so a few years to the Masters is just like a Sunday afternoon. Maitreya’s emergence is based on certain laws, above all the laws governing our free will. At any time in the last 26 years He could have been invoked by humanity, by humanity performing just a few actions which would have allowed Him to come forward. At a press conference in May 1982 I talked to almost a hundred journalists from all the major networks... and revealed Maitreya’s exact whereabouts... I invited them to come to London and to...[look] for Maitreya. They did not have to find Him...But if one or two or three journalists... with clout, would come to London and simply go through the motions of looking for Him, Maitreya would come forward to them. And nobody did anything... The timing of His emergence is up to humanity. If we do not act, Maitreya cannot act. There are laws governing an Avatar of such a stature as Maitreya. He cannot simply come in when you or I would like, or even when He would like."

"There is certainly a very large decision to be made by humanity when we are faced with it, and there are many reactionary forces in the world resistant to change. War and the production of armaments is a very lucrative business for some people who will resist change to the last. The present world economic collapse (presented as a 'downturn' or 'recession') is in fact the signs of the end of the old order, and is already bringing about a change in attitude among many people, young and old. When these same people hear Maitreya speak of the need to simplify and share resources to attain peace through justice, they will respond willingly to His call. His teaching and advocacy will inspire a huge response of desire for sharing, justice and thus peace. It is up to ourselves, we have to want peace enough to relinquish the past and work for the one humanity. I am sure we shall do so."

"He (Maitreya, the World Teacher) comes to help humanity see life realistically – not through rose-coloured spectacles of [money-making] schemes of gambling on the stock-markets and fantasy working which they all are. All that we have been witnessing – the financial world – is the result of fantasy. Maitreya sees the stock exchanges of the world as the gambling casinos of the world – which they are. They are nothing to do with the real world and the real economy. They are about gambling, mainly with price or value of currencies. And that is what has to go. Humanity’s main illness, it is a major disease, is this need to make more money out of the money they already have and then go on making more and more."

"Millions of humanity believe, ignorantly, that speculation and competition are the best things in life. They bring out the best in a person. From Maitreya’s point of view they bring out the worst in anyone. They bring out all the separation, the malice, the greed, the need to win. They separate humanity because they put brakes on the aspiration of humanity for a better life, and lead us into a super-commercialization which is destroying all life today. Commercialization reduces people to being pawns on a chessboard: they are useless unless they can bring more profits to the company that employs them."

"Maitreya will call for the creation of trust. There is no trust between the nations. No one trusts anyone. So no one can do anything. Banks don’t lend as they did before. He will talk about the need for trust, and without it how nothing can happen for the good. And competition of course destroys trust. It is the opposite. Co-operation is necessary for humanity. We are all hooked on greed and competition – and you see the result, we are living it. Every time you turn on your television you hear about firms going out of business, the banks don’t lend and so on. That is the result of competition and greed, and it is folly. Sharing is the only solution."

"By the time of Creme’s death in 2016 the world was still awaiting the Day of Declaration. When pressed by journalists or members of the public about why the Maitreya was holding back, he maintained that the free will of humankind could not be infringed and that we had to meet the Maitreya halfway by promoting peace, justice and equality in the world. And then there was the ongoing struggle with the forces of darkness and the fact that the hierarchy measured time in 2000-year cycles, and so it was unrealistic to expect precise times and exact dates from them..."

"Creme’s telepathic communications with his Master and Maitreya can be seen in the same light as the communications of Blavatsky, Leadbeater and Bailey with various Masters from the hierarchy... Creme’s belief that the Maitreya would manifest on Earth can be found in Besant and Leadbeater; but where the latter held that the Maitreya would overshadow Krishnamurti, Bailey maintained that the Christ would return in his own physical body... For Bailey, the Christ announced his imminent reappearance at the height of the World War of 1914–1945, in order to try to re-establish peace and harmony and to usher in the new Aquarian Age."

"For Creme, the Maitreya reappeared, albeit incognito, in 1977, when New Age spiritual seekers were promoting the love, peace and brotherhood Bailey had considered a prerequisite for the reappearance of the Christ. Creme’s emphasis on sharing and equality was an apt response to the rise of global capitalism under Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan. Creme maintained that the Maitreya had predicted the global financial crisis in 1988, and in December 2008, three months after the collapse of Lehman Brothers, Creme claimed to work closely with the space brothers but regarded them in a Theosophical light as part of the Great White Brotherhood, and rejected the disturbing accounts of abductees as being a product of astral imagination. While Creme embraced the work of previous Theosophists, particularly that of Blavatsky and Bailey, he maintained his charismatic authority by dismissing contemporary channellers and attributing their communications with Maitreya and the hierarchy to the glamour of the astral plane."

"[In 1959]...he experienced his own epiphany, claiming to have had his first telepathic communication with one of the same Hierarchy of Masters who had been in contact with Blavatsky and Bailey. This Master, Creme maintained, instructed him to pave the way for the coming of Maitreya. Creme gathered a small group around him and began to hold public lectures to spread his message... it was not uncommon for some to report having witnessed Creme suffused in a golden glow, or to have seen the face of Maitreya super-imposed on his. Creme was a genial and cultivated man with a compendious knowledge of art, philosophy and classical music, and a love of cricket... He lived modestly in a semi-detached house in Tufnell Park, North London, receiving no money for his talks, and claiming that it was actually “embarrassing” to have been “chosen” as the emissary of the new Christ... Over the years, Creme became accustomed to ridicule and mockery, which he treated with equanimity. “Scepticism is fine,” he once said. “But I don’t like cynicism. I say, keep an open mind.”"

"He is particularly remembered as chief populariser of the esoteric Maitreya narrative. The related millenarian programme as advocated by Creme... highlights the vitally important role played by humankind’s "Space Brothers." This chapter focuses on them and the wider ufological context in Creme’s teachings."

"A staunch flagbearer of Theosophical thought specifically indebted to Alice Ann Bailey (1880–1949), Benjamin “Ben” Creme (1922–2016) was one of the major protagonists of the New Age."

"In the 1950s, Creme developed a keen interest for the incipient UFO phenomenon when he came across George Adamski... and Desmond Leslie’s... jointly authored Flying Saucers Have Landed (1953), as well as its sequel, Adamski’s Inside the Space Ships (1955).. Driven by a surging fascination, he would become member of George King’s... London-based Aetherius Society from 1957 to 1958, the involvement in which was to exert a lasting influence upon Creme’s ufological system. Moreover, it enabled him “to transmit the cosmic spiritual energies from the Space People”... vesting Creme with the power to heal. When he parted with King he intensified his telepathic collaboration with the Space Brothers, commencing, albeit unknowingly, his work towards the emergence of Maitreya and the externalisation of the Hierarchy. At the time, Creme, allegedly, alongside George Adamski was, for a short while, part of a group of contactees, who gathered regularly in out-of-the-body meetings deliberating on their missions received by the Space Brothers."

"In 1959, eventually, Creme was telepathically approached by an individual, himself member of the Hierarchy, who was later to become his Master. He was informed first-hand of the Cosmic Plan, the expectation of the Christ’s imminent descent, and that once it had transpired he would be called to publicly promulgate His coming."

"In fact, next to Creme, supposedly four other “disciples,” residing in New York, Geneva, Darjeeling, and Tōkyō, were requested by the Hierarchy to engage in this task, but only Creme was to accept."

"Creme states that Mars is bustling with nine billion people; typical Martians would look like smaller-sized humans. Overall, Mars is spiritually on a par with Earth but technologically tremendously superior because they did not make the many “mistakes” humankind did... Creme divides Martians into three categories of spiritual evolution: those who are like gods to us; those of lesser but still remarkable spiritual progress; and those of very low spiritual quality."

"Creme explains that etheric matter is tantamount to dark matter, which had already been discovered by Wilhelm Reich. He called it the “orgone.” In this regard, Creme recommends scientists to turn to the esoteric literature such as Blavatsky’s The Secret Doctrine in lieu of, for example, building cyclotrons worth many billions of pounds..."

"Creme unveiled that the universe would follow the Big Bounce scenario... so the current scientific mainstream theory of Big Rip/Heat Death would be wrong. According to Creme, spiritual progress generally expresses itself in rarefying matter density be it in people or entire planets; hence, upon completing its seventh evolutionary round Vulcan shifted to the most subtle etheric matter.. In this regard, Creme, for example, confirms Adamski’s famous account in which he reported to have attended a meeting of the Parliament in late March 1962 on Saturn."

"Born... into a Jewish-Catholic family as the second, and only boy, of three children in Glasgow, Creme — by his own account—early on attracted the attention of the “Hierarchy” and, in particular, his later unnamed Master... The existing scholarship on Creme is scarce. Scattered encyclopaedic or otherwise relatively terse mentions aside (see, e.g., Hammer 2015: 356; Kranenborg 1994; Melton 2001: 352), I am only aware of two very recent papers thoroughly addressing Creme’s teachings (cf. Poller 2019; Pokorny 2021)."

"Germany has no blame for the Second World War."

"Above and beyond were mountains, scarcely touched by the tidemark of humanity at their bases, impervious to pipers and ice cream barrows or to the customers of either, as aloof and untouched as the desert which hems in the airport of Timbuctoo."

"The tent door faced the summit. The three pinnacles were gigantic fingers, black against the sunset. Nothing stirred. Arrochar and all its works were out of sight below the skyline, and there was silence."

"A precipice, seen by a person who has never had to climb one, is a sadly misunderstood part of the landscape. It is written off, in the mind of the beholder, as so much light and shade set at an angle of ninety degrees to the part of the world where reasonable men may walk, a given area of rock, steep as a wall and impossibly smooth. It is seen as a whole, because no sub division seems possible."

"The scale is so vast and so far beyond his comprehension that the conventional signs of the cliff mean as little as those on the map. Therefore, if he should think of rock climbing at all, it is as a foolhardy sport clear against the laws of God, man, and Sir Isaac Newton."

"The impact of these things and people on our minds was considerable. In the three years since we had left school, many things had happened to make us suspect that the world was a slightly less ordered and restricted place than we had been led to believe. But this was immense."

"In time (though there was no such thing as time) the handhold gave way to another handhold, and another, and another. A pair of boots appeared level with my face. I pulled myself over the edge and sat panting. Murdo smiled at me, and automatically I smiled back. I turned, and looked over the edge. And then, and only then, did the gears re-engage and the world become the world again."

"The strange, other worldly, Alice in Wonderland feeling never quite left me at the difficult places; but it diminished as the day passed, and by the time we had reached the north peak John and I were able to sit with our legs dangling over the drop and agree with Tizzie that one met such nice people on mountains."

"The ground we had covered was easy; but we did not know that, for we had not yet learned that a vast amount of space below one is not of itself a difficulty, and that the difficulty in rock climbing varies according to the presence or absence of holds. To us, the drop was everything."

"They crawled like flies over the face of the Cobbler; and it was not too fanciful to imagine that the mountain might sigh in its sleep, shake a rocky paw free of the heather blanket which surrounded it, and brush the insects off. To us, who had imagined mountain tops to be uninhabited deserts, it was surprising that there should be so much life in this twisted landscape of rock. Here was a society whose existence we had never suspected."

"Climbing to my mind finds its chief justification as an antidote for modern city life. One cannot sweat and worry simultaneously. The mountain resolves itself into a series of simple problems, unconfused by other issues. Its problems are solid rock, to be wrestled with physically; and in the sheer exuberance of thinking through his fingers and toes as his primaeval fathers did before him the climber's worries vanish, sweated from his system, leaving his brain free to appreciate beauty."

"I saw him in the studio treating the microphone like an old friend, chatting away, waving his arms about, and I knew this was how it was done."

"The Indus civilization has challenged scholars’ understanding since its discovery some eighty years ago, and in recent years the application of systematic and problem-orientated research, coupled with much new and unexpected data, has overturned many previous interpretations."

"In contrast, changes taking place in the Saraswati Valley in the early second millennium were probably a major contributor to the Indus decline. In Harappan times, the Saraswati was a major river system flowing from the Siwaliks at least to Bahawalpur, where it probably ended in a substantial inland delta. The ancient Saraswati River was fed by a series of small rivers that rose in the Siwaliks, but it drew the greater part of its waters from two much larger rivers rising high in the Himalayas: the Sutlej and the Yamuna. In its heyday the Saraswati appears to have supported the densest settlement and provided the greatest arable yields of any part of the Indus realms. The Yamuna, which supplied most of the water flowing in the Drishadvati, a major tributary of the Saraswati, changed its course, probably early in the second millennium, to flow into the Ganges drainage. The remaining flow in the Drishadvati became small and seasonal: Late Harappan sites in Bahawalpur are concentrated in the portion of the Sarawati east of Yazman, which was fed by the Sutlej. At a later date the Sutlej also changed its course and was captured by the Indus. These changes brought about massive depopulation of the Saraswati Valley, which by the end of the millennium was described as a place of potsherds and ruin mounds whose inhabitants had gone away. At the same time new settlements appeared in the regions to the south and east, in the upper Ganges-Yamuna doab. Some were located on the palaeochannels that mark the eastward shift of the Yamuna. Presumably many of the Late Harappan settlers had originated in the Saraswati Valley."

"The decline of Harappan urbanism probably had many contributing factors. The shift to a concentration on kharif cultivation in the outer regions of the state may have seriously disrupted established schedules for craft production, civic flood defense, building and drain maintenance, and other publicly organized works on which the smooth running of the state depended. The reduction in the waters of the Saraswati and the response of its farmers by migrating into regions to the east tore apart the previous unity of the Harappan state, disrupting its cohesion and its ability to control the internal distribution network."

"‘[The desertion of the Drishadvati and the Sutlej] is typical of the instability of the river courses in the Indus plains—but in the case of the Saraswati, the effect was not localized but devastating on a major scale. Cities, towns, and villages were abandoned, their inhabitants drifting to other regions of the Indus realms and eastward towards the Ganges, pushing back the centuries-old eastern boundaries of Indus culture and venturing into uncharted territory.’"

"This work revealed an incredibly dense concentration of sites, along the dried-up course of a river that could be identified as the ‘Saraswati’. . . Suddenly it became apparent that the ‘Indus’ Civilization was a misnomer—although the Indus had played a major role in the rise and development of the civilization, the ‘lost Saraswati’ River, judging by the density of settlement along its banks, had contributed an equal or greater part to its prosperity...Many people today refer to this Early state as the ‘Indus-Saraswati Civilization’ and continuing references [in her book] to the ‘Indus Civilization’ should be seen as an abbreviation in which the ‘Saraswati’ is implied."

"The now-dry Hakra River forms part of this river system. Surveys along its dry bed revealed that this was one of the most densely populated areas of the 3rd millennium, the agricultural heartland of the civilization, although it is now virtually desert."

"In the Indus period the Saraswati river system may have been even more productive than that of the Indus, judging by the density of settlement along its course. In the Bahawalpur region, in the western portion of the river, settlement density far exceeded that elsewhere in the Indus civilization . . . While there are some fifty sites known along the Indus, the Saraswati has almost a thousand . . . [The Yamuna] shifted its course eastward early in the second millennium, eventually reaching its current bed by the first millennium, while the Drishadvati bed retained only a small seasonal flow; this seriously decreased the volume of water carried by the Saraswati. The Sutlej gradually shifted its channel northward, eventually being captured by the Indus drainage . . . The loss of the Sutlej waters caused the Saraswati to be reduced to the series of small seasonal rivers familiar today. Surveys show a major reduction in the number and size of settlements in the Saraswati region during the second millennium."

"I learned, when a university chaplain, that the student who asked where Cain got his wife could really be wanting to know whether he should sleep with his girlfriend."

"When you pray is there anyone there listening?"

"With the best will in the world, I could not bear a second-rate sermon. [...] Now I have found a church where I do not squirm in my seat, but listen in rapt attention from beginning to end. After having heard the first sermon by Dr. David Read, I went Sunday after Sunday, because I was richly rewarded every time. What a feeling of relief to be allowed to come near to God and worship as I always wanted to worship! [...] It therefore became a pleasure to go to church because to be in church was to be near the true spirit of Jesus Christ."

"Now we proceed to consider the oldest race of great stature that has yet been discovered, one which flourished in the south of France when the last of the cold periods was lifting from Europe. The first examples of this race were discovered in 1868, when a railway was being constructed in the valley of the Vézère, a tributary of the Dordogne. A cutting made in the débris at the foot of the limestone cliffs which flank the valley of the Vézère at Cro-Magnon, brought to light the skeletons of a man, of a woman, and part of the skull of a third individual. Hence this ancient type or race is usually named Cro-Magnon."

"In all the medical schools of London a notice is posted over the door leading to the dissecting room forbidding strangers to enter. I propose, however, to push the door open and ask the reader to accompany me within, for, if we are to understand the human body; it is essential that we should see the students at work."

"We have to face the fact that we are the descendants of apelike ancestors. The truth, at first sight, is often ugly and repulsive to our personal feelings, but when it is the truth, its ultimate effects on us are always salutary. ... ... Man's brain does not stand as a thing apart; it is the culmination of an ascending series. There is no part of it and no function manifested by it that cannot be traced to humble beginnings lower in the animal scale. And what we postulate for man's brain we must in all justice apply to that of the ape, the dog, and all other beasts."

"From what we know of living anthropoids, we may infer that the chief mental activities of the group will be three in number—namely, those concerning with mating, maternity, and social behaviour. Each group will be attached to a territory and maintain its isolation."

"Gamaliel had a reputation for mildness and moderation, but his brilliant young pupil flung himself with fanatical zeal into the task of stamping out the new heresy of the Nazarenes."

"'The theology of the gospels!' some will exclaim in dismay, 'and we verily thought the gospels were a refuge from theology!'"

"Hell is an element of any religion which is morally healthy."

"... since the Sacred Book is a phenomenon of religion in general, and as isolation is a fruitful source of wrong judgment in the historical investigation of ideas and institutions, we decline to detach our Sacred Book from similar books of its class in other faiths of the world. Now, in surveying the history of religion, I seem to detect four negative truths about the Sacred Book. (i) Not every religion possesses a sacred book. (ii) The sacred book does not lie beside the cradle of the faith in question. (iii) No religion lives by its sacred book alone. And (iv) no sacred book can be judged apart from the specific ethos of the faith out of which it rose and for which it exists."

"The motivations and methodologies might differ, but both science and religion posit life as a special outcome of a vast and mostly inhospitable universe. There is a rich middle ground for dialogue between the practitioners of astrobiology and those who seek to understand the meaning of our existence in a biological universe."

"For the Labour Party, the exclusion of the revolutionary trend in the movement paved the way for the unchallenged domination of the right wing and locked the party ever more firmly into class collaboration and reformism. [...] In that sense, the decision to reject communist affiliation paved the way for the whole miserable litany of Labour-led disasters from 1931 to 1979."

"That things happened in the USSR which were inexcusable and which ultimately prejudiced Socialism's whole prospect is today undeniable. Whether Communists in the capitalist world could or should have done more than they did is much more contentious."

"Next Tuesday is the 120th anniversary of the birth of Josef Stalin. His career is the subject of a vast and ever expanding literature. Read it all and, at the end, you are still left paying your money and taking your choice. A socialist system embracing a third of the world and the defeat of Nazi Germany on the one hand. On the other, all accompanied by harsh measures imposed by a one-party regime. Nevertheless, if you believe that the worst crimes visited on humanity this century, from colonialism to Hiroshima and from concentration camps to mass poverty and unemployment have been caused by imperialism, then [Stalin’s birthday] might at least be a moment to ponder why the authors of those crimes and their hack propagandists abominate the name of Stalin beyond all others. It was, after all, Stalin’s best-known critic, Nikita Khrushchev, who remarked in 1956 that "against imperialists, we are all Stalinists"."

"Our party has already made its basic position of solidarity with People's Korea clear."

"Hitler is uniquely excoriated because his victims were almost all white Europeans, while those of Britain (and other classic colonialisms — French, Belgian, Dutch, Italian and Wilhelmine German) were Asian, African and Arabs. That Hitler's regime is seen as the most bestial of modern times is not of course objectionable. What needs to be confronted is the view that the crimes of other great powers of the last 150 years or so, being less lurid than those of the Nazis, can therefore be subject to a more nuanced judgment, in which the deaths of millions of people on the one hand can be offset against the construction of railways on the other. The British Empire was almost certainly responsible for more human deaths, albeit over a considerably longer period of time, than Hitler was."

"There is nothing in the imperial record as chilling as the systematic extermination of the great majority of Europe's Jews."

"[Israel is a "white settler state"] To ask Muslim community leaders to tackle "extremism" effectively when every night you can see on television a Muslim child being pulled lifeless from the rubble caused by the operations of the bloc of the USA, Britain, Israel and other white settler states like Canada and Australia is asking a lot."

"The Salisbury attack is something we got wrong. When it happened, I thought, "Well, probably there's Russians behind this, because of the use of novichok." I just thought it was Russian gangsters — some business interests, and so forth. I didn't think the Russian state was behind it. And we were wrong. The evidence that's emerged since is overwhelming. We misread that. I still think that the line Jeremy was trying to follow, which is, "Get the evidence first and then state sanctions, and so on, rather than the other way around," is a defensible position. You don't run into saying "This is Putin's responsibility" when you haven't produced the evidence of it. In fact, this evidence has now been produced. Had we known then what we know now, we'd have taken a different view, I think. We just didn't think the Russian state would be so stupid and brazen as to do something like that — to carry out a poisoning attack on British soil. I know, given the Litvinenko precedent perhaps we should have done but that never really got sorted out so clearly . . . Up until then we'd still ha[d] a quiescent PLP. We were doing all right in the polls. That started bringing all the doubts about Jeremy and the leader’s office to the surface again."

"There were no emails in 1978. Word processing meant dictating copy to stenographers; each newspaper had a phone booth in a gloomy corridor for this purpose. The [[w:Morning Star (British newspaper)|[Morning] Star]]s chief stenographer was an implacable Bolshevik called Doris. The 80-something comrade was hard of hearing with arthritis in her fingers, leaving her bereft of any qualification for her role beyond ideological rectitude. I had no chance of keeping an exclusive as I bellowed my scoops at a pace Doris could keep up with. Eventually I persuaded management that an infusion of youth was required in the stenography department, and a new typist was engaged. Dictating to her for the first time, I began my story, as so often in those days, with "Premier Thatcher...". I was stopped at that point. "How do you spell that?" she asked. "Which word?" I said. "Both." Give thanks for automatic spellchecks too."

"[During the 2017 general election campaign] Andrew Murray is a member of the Labour Party and he is an official at Unite, and he is temporarily helping us with the campaign."

"He is a person of enormous abilities and professionalism, and is the head of staff of Unite the union. To manage a very large union and a large number of staff takes special skills, and Andrew has them."

"[Asked about Murray's alleged "Stalinism"] I don't believe that Andrew is anything other than a democratic socialist and member of the Labour Party like me."

"[Following Murray's comments ("That things happened in the USSR...") cited above] Mr Murray believes that British communists in the 1930s were justified in backing the Great Terror, the Moscow Trials and the Ukraine famine."

"[Following Murray's comments ("That things happened in the USSR...") cited above] Murray is seriously maintaining that its an open question whether British communists did all they might have done in denouncing these abominations."

"The source of all evil lies in the race, the Celtic race of Ireland. There is no getting over historical facts. Look at Wales, look at Caledonia; it is ever the same. [...] The race must be forced from the soil; by fair means, if possible; still they must leave. The Orange club of Ireland is a Saxon confederation for the clearing the land of all Papists and Jacobites; this means Celts. If left to themselves, they would clear them out, as Cromwell proposed, by the sword; it would not require six weeks to accomplish the work. But the Encumbered Estates Relief Bill will do it better."

"When Mr. Canning made his celebrated boast in Parliament, that he had created the republics of Mexico and Peru, Columbia, Bolivia, and Argentine, I made, to some friends, the remark, that to create races of men was beyond his power, and that the result of his measure would merely be to precipitate that return, sure to come at last, the return to the aboriginal Indian population, from whom no good could come, from whom nothing could be expected; a race whose vital energies were wound up; expiring: hastening onwards also to ultimate extinction."

"[T]he Dutch families who settled in Southern Africa three hundred years ago, are now as fair, and as pure in Saxon blood, as the native Hollander; the slightest change in structure or colour can at once he traced to intermarriage. By intermarriage an individual is produced, intermediate generally, and partaking of each parent; but this mulatto man or woman is a monstrosity of nature — there is no place for such a family: no such race exists on the earth, however closely affiliated the parents may be. To maintain it would require a systematic course of intermarriage, with constant draughts from the pure races whence the mixed race derives its origin. Now, such an arrangement is impossible. Since the earliest recorded times, such mixtures have been attempted and always failed; with Celt and Saxon it is the same as with Hottentot and Saxon, Caffre and Hottentot. The Slavonian race or races have been deeply intercalated for more than twice ten centuries with the South German, the pure Scandinavian, the Sarmatian, and even somewhat with the Celt, and with the Italian as conquerors: have they intermingled? Do you know of any mixed race the result of such admixture? Is it in Bohemia? or Saxony? or Prussia? or Finland?"

"But the land of Egypt still abounds with its ancient monuments; the race was quite peculiar, and was, I think, African, or at least allied to the African races. The mouth and lips all but prove this. Nevertheless, their identity with a great section of the present Jewish race cannot be doubted; the young Jew of London or Amsterdam might readily sit for a likeness of the bust of Amenoph."

"Now we sat in silence over the prawns and cheese, listening to them arguing. She was telling him The Sunday Times was investigating a tip that he had dodged a driving ban for speeding by pretending she had been at the wheel. He was telling her to keep her mouth shut. The recording finished and she switched off the machine, looking up expectantly."

"As the owner of a little place on the Isle of Wight, I should declare an interest. Some 80 per cent of properties in my seaside village are second homes, making it difficult for local shops to survive the winter."

"In a sign of national disapproval, Mr. Johnson was greeted with boos and jeers at the Platinum Jubilee service on Friday. It's not that a Conservative politician being booed is rare; in fact, it's quite common. It's that such a thing is not supposed to happen to him."

"Reform is also thinking long-term. The party wants to seize this moment of peak Tory unpopularity (few prime ministers have seen approval ratings as low as [[Rishi Sunak|[Rishi] Sunak]] has now) and use it for a realignment of politics. Its real focus is the election after the next one, when it hopes a shake-up of the two-party system could take place. Just as the SDP-Liberal Alliance split the left in the 1980s, Reform may split the right now."

"Some candidates describe themselves as feeling numb over the result. Others are simply angry they were put in this position – made to fight an election they thought was a bad idea. It's not just the 'big names' who have lost their seats, it's the losses in areas that have been Conservative for 100 years, such as Chichester. Then there’s Reform gains in former Tory strongholds such as Great Yarmouth. It means the recriminations are well under way."

"History is the study of the human past, through the systematic analysis of the primary sources, and the bodies of knowledge arising from that study, and, therefore, is the human past as it is known from the work of historians. The human past enfolds so many periods and cultures that history can no more form one unified body of knowledge than can the natural sciences. The search for universal meaning or universal explanations is, therefore, a futile one. History is about finding things out, and solving problems, rather than about spinning narratives or telling stories."

"The insistence that language determines ideas, and is itself a system arising from the existing power structure in society, is as grandiose a piece of speculative thought as ever dreamed up by Hegel or Nietzche."

"Primary sources did not come into existence to satisfy the curiosity of historians. They derive 'natural', 'organically', as it were, or, more straightforwardly, 'in the ordinary course of events', from human beings and groups of human beings, in the past society being studied, living their lives, worshipping, decision-making, adjudicating, fornicating, going about their business or fulfilling their vocations, recording, noting, communicating, as they go, very occasionally, perhaps, with an eye on the future, but generally in accordance with immediate needs and purposes. The technical skills of the historian lie in sorting these matters out, in understanding how and why a particular source came into existence, how relevant it is to the topic under investigation and, obviously, the particular codes or language in accordance with which the particular source comes into being as a concrete artefact."

"If the historian finds himself resorting to metaphor or cliché, that may well be a warning that things have not been sufficiently worked out, and substantiated, to be conveyed in plain simple prose."

"Society has a right to demand from historians accounts which can, if so desired, be used in trying to understand the evolution of political ideas or institutions, or the origins of the many conflicts throughout the world, or to gain the necessary contextual information for enjoying more fully a painting or a poem or some favourite tourist attraction. Those seeking such understandings will not be helped by some speculative theory about the need to replace humanism with radical ideology, or of the inescapability of their situation within language, but will want to feel that the explanations, interpretations, and information they are provided with are based on serious study of the evidence; and it will do them no harm at all if they are also made aware that all sources are fallible, that all study of them must be carried out in accordance with the strictest principles, and that there are always things which we do not know with any certainty."

"For most countries involved in modern war the experience has resulted in, among other things, the testing of the cruder fallacies of economic liberalism, the testing of human reluctance to exploit the full potential of science and technology, and the testing of the general inadequacy of social provisions of the weaker members of the community: looking for the moment only at the broad perspective, one can detect change towards management of the economy, towards a more science-conscious society and towards a welfare state."

"Historians do not, as too many of my colleagues keep mindlessly repeating, “reconstruct” the past. What historians do is produce knowledge about the past, or, with respect to each individual, fallible historian, produce contributions to knowledge about the past. Thus the best and most concise definition of history is: “The bodies of knowledge about the past produced by historians, together with everything that is involved in the production, communication of, and teaching about that knowledge."

"Alas! that Scottish maid should sing The combat where her lover fell! That Scottish Bard should wake the string, The triumph of our foes to tell!"

"In Vishnu’s lotus-foot alone Confide! His power shall ne’er decay, When tumbles every earthly throne, And mortal glory fades away."

"We shall be disposed to acknowledge that woman's influence has been sufficient to obtain her justice, when it has obtained for her ... perfectly just and equal rights with the other sex. When this is the case, we shall expect to see each woman wakened up into a sense of her individual responsibilities and duties: finding herself no longer classed with children and idiots, we may reasonably expect to see her rousing herself up, and applying, with renewed energy, to all her duties ..."

"No pure and noble-minded woman can long love affectionately, and submit passively to, a vicious and dissipated, — or even to a good and virtuous tyrant, — without having her own mind greatly deteriorated."

"To leave the liberty of one-half of the human race at the mercy of the convenience of the other, amounts to an annihilation of the rights of that half."

"... are puddings and pies, roasting and boiling, dusting and washing, or even the rearing and educating her children, so entirely to engross her attention, that her heart and mind can never expand beyond her own little domestic circle? Nay, if her mind never does so expand, will she be able properly to regulate the concerns even of that little circle?"

"The grand plea for woman sharing with man all the advantages of education is, that every rational being is worthy of cultivation, for his or her own individual sake. The first object in the education of every mind ought to be its own development."

"... the influence of woman — where any freedom of social intercourse is allowed between the sexes — is highly favourable to civilisation. She advances refinement and civilisation, and is, in turn, advanced by them."

"... if we take politics in the large and high sense in which it stands for patriotism and philanthropy, the assertion that an interest in it is out of place in the breast of the very gentlest of her sex, — in other words, that it is improper and unbecoming in a woman to take a deep interest in the affairs of her country and of humanity, — is made with more boldness and confidence, than regard to reason and truth."

"... Obviously my chief authority is Xenophon's ; if I can induce anyone to read this (the Loeb translation is very vivid on the whole) and get as much pleasure out of it as I did, then I shall be — as the good books say — amply rewarded. For actual history I have gone to Cavaignac or . ... 's The Greek Commonwealth is a good book to begin on."

"The first thing about science is asking questions; the next—and this includes the bulk of what is called scientific work—is measuring the knowledge and finding new standards of measurement; and the final thing is putting all this knowledge together."

"My father was writing one paper after another in conjunction with various people, , , Butterfield, , and others, but especially ..."

"... readers, remember that my account of what was happening in Sparta or Athens or even Egypt, is all based on real history, but the view was moulded by what I—and many another person—was thinking in the Europe of those days, with Mussolini and his fascists in Italy and already the shadow of Hitler in Germany. If I was writing this book now I might treat my characters and my story differently. But I cannot be certain, even of that."

"It occurred to the writer, a year ago, in thinking about modern Ireland, to wonder what light the record of Cæsar’s Gallic wars might throw on the causes of the present discontents. , , —were these leaders of the Gauls like the leaders of the Gael to-day? Did they feel the same blinding passion of nationalism? Were they, too, distracted by feuds and harassed by jealousies? Is the Celtic temper an undeviating possession of the centuries ; and is the character of a stock inherited as surely and as inevitably as the colour of eyes and hair ? To find an answer to these questions it would have been necessary to read those later books of the , to which (however skilled we may become in the structure of the bridge which Cæsar threw over the Rhine) few, if any, of us ever attain in our schoolboy days. For such reading no opportunity occurred; but the fortunate chance of an old friendship brought another solution. I was privileged to read the manuscript of Mrs. Mitchison’s work, and the answer came, irradiated by an historical imagination, and animated by a living sympathy, as I read."

"Mrs. Mitichison brings on her stage, and gives one the feeling of that bleak and terrible greatness. The impression which Cæsar has left on history is just the impression he made on his contemporaries. The shadow of a vastness had fallen coldly across them. Mrs. Mitchison knows how to make it fall across us. She has, as it were by miracle, got back into the air and mood of the time she writes about: she creates, and recreates. The splendor and the mystery come easy to her."

"Many a time I have sat up all night to take notes on the , which, in this part of the world, commence to sing considerably earlier than their English relations. In June, the and are often in song before 2 o'clock a.m., while the s and s by the river never cease to call all night long."

"For the lover of the grand in nature the mountains have singular fascination. The children of the mountain, too—the stern and impassive and the gentle —seem to have instilled into them the true spirit of the mist, and thus appeal to the nature lover more forcibly than the denizens of less romantic regions. The mountains attract at every season of the year—in winter, when their corries are buried deep under their snowy covering; in spring, when this snowy mantle has been broken by the strengthening sun, aided by soft breezes from the south; and in summer, when an occasional snowfield lingering here and there still reminds one of the winter that is past, but when the corries are clothed with grass of an exquisite green."

"I think it is possible to tell, by the flight of and , whether they are seeking to escape their hereditary enemy, the eagle, or their more recent but much more deadly enemy, man. As a general rule, when the eagle is the cause of disturbance the grouse fly at a greater height above ground and their flight is more precipitate and aimless than when man is the cause of alarm. It is of interest to realise how strong is the hereditary instinct of dread felt towards the eagle, and in obedience to this instinct grouse will cheerfully face in great numbers a whole line of guns which must spell death to them, rather than approach the locality where the eagle has been spied. I was travelling on the recently, from to , and just at the county march, where the line borders on the 1500 feet level, I saw a grouse cross the line above the train, flying high and with a distinctive rocking flight. I was almost certain that an eagle, and not the Highland express, was the cause of alarm, and sure enough, on looking out of the opposite window, I saw the enemy there sailing far off above the top of a neighbouring hill."

"There is no native population in , for no s, es, or even s, have ever settled there. Three hundred years ago the bays and seas of West Spitsbergen were a favourite whale-fishing ground to which most of the seafaring nations of Europe sent fleets of s, but the " " is long extinct in Spitsbergen waters, and the whaling industry has now disappeared. Spitsbergen was discovered by the Dutch in 1596; whales were found by in 1607, and by 1620 the whale-hunting was at its height."

"The ', a true mountain dweller, is sometimes the golden eagle's prey. On the I have frequently seen an eagle chasing, in play, a covey or pack of ptarmigan, and seeming to find satisfaction in the bewildering and aimless flight of the terrified birds."

"... is the home of rare s, one of which, ', is found nowhere else in Britain. Although rare birds are protected by , rare plants have no protection afforded them, perhaps because such protection would be impossible to enforce."

"Beyond , we passed the mouth of Glen Beg, where the last of the great had his farm."

"The return of the s to nest successfully on a Scots fir on in 1959 marked the beginning of a remarkable record of success by the in osprey protection. The osprey, handsome, inoffensive, living entirely on fish, nested in Scotland 100 years ago."

"Mr. Seton Gordon is one of the few men of education who have been content to live their life in the rather than earn what many would consider to be an easier and better living elsewhere. The result is that, being a life-long observer, he knows more about the of a remote region than almost anyone else. He has preferred to diffuse his wide knowledge in the form of popular books rather than as systematic papers, a fact for which many general readers are undoubtedly thankful. We of a younger generation of workers may be sorry that he does not give us a or which he alone could write and which would preserve for us the great variety of knowledge which his sensitive, inquiring mind has gathered."

"The 1870s saw the awakening of a desire among scientists to become more highly organized. The influence of Huxley and Darwin among others had spread north and the tangible outcome was the botanical papers by and (1882-84) and (1898-1909). Within this upsurge of interest came the and Buckley Fauna (1888) and work on the freshwaters by Scott (1891), followed by the Bathymetrical Survey of the Scottish Freshwater Lochs by and (1910). This was perhaps the first great work of the modern scientific era in the and is still the baseline for work on freshwaters, to which little has since been added."

"The have survived for 50 years without interference by man and maintain high density on rich maritime pastures heavily manured by s. They are a obtained from a cross between old Scottish shortwool and early blackface sheep. There is a population of about 400 on about 55 of pasture and the rams and ewes (with lamb and yearling rams) run in separate groups. The survival of rams is poor compared with ewes with an adult sex-ratio of about 10 ewes to 1 ram. Numbers of sheep fluctuate between 330 and 460 without causing sheet erosion, landslipping and disruption of the vegetation. The conservation plan for Boreray rests on continued non-interference with the sheep and no sheep should be introduced to the island."

"is a culture of the twentieth century possessing its own philosophical, ethical and scientific frame which is distinct from those of agriculture, and other producer . In the latter, conservation is directed towards the creation and maintenance of the quality and quantity of the product, be it cereal, wood pulp or automobiles; in the former, nature conservation is directed towards the maintenance of numbers of different species distributed in different assemblages of natural or semi-natural type and towards the care of geological and physiographical features."

"The may easily be mistaken for a male in flight. They are identical in size and are similarly barred below. The illusion is often fostered in late summer by young cuckoos being seen in flight with their foster-parents, much smaller birds ..."

"One of the areas whose birds have been given rather less attention than most is the arid western regions of South Africa. For various reasons it has been, and still is, an inhospitable country, in spite of the kindly disposition of its thinly scattered population. Its political history, at times somewhat turbulent; its desolate and fog-bound coastline, now made doubly inapproachable because of protective measures against illicit diamond prospecting; its vast hinterland of and ; and its own arid mountains and plains have discouraged travellers and ornithological pursuits. Although the birds of this region have been studied relatively infrequently most of the species represented have been known for a long time. The first ornithological survey of any importance took place as early as 1783-5 when the French naturalist, , made his second great journey ‘into the interior parts of Africa from the ’."

"If you are fortunate to have the chance to examine a recently dead bird, even one brought home from the poulterer with intact, spend a little time examining the s carefully and note down various points of interest."

"Horny projections which look more like teeth are found in the beaks of a special group of ducks represented in Britain by and , sometimes known as "sawbills". In these birds the beak is narrow and the "teeth" are used for gripping fish."

"Macdonald selects twelve aspects of the life and behaviour of birds, illustrating them with Australian examples. Topics covered are Territorial Behaviour, , Population Problems, Post-Breeding Activities, , Distribution, Habitats and Adaptations, , Other Important Features, Various Systems, the Senses, and Variation and . The level of detail on each subject is well suited to the intended audience and avoids both superficiality and excessive detail. Indeed, beginners are far from the only birdwatchers who would profit from reading this book. The list of references, although short, is useful and reasonably comprehensive and would give the interested reader a useful introduction to the literature on a particular topic."

"When appointed to the in 1935 he was placed in the Bird Room, where he started as Assistant Keeper and retired in 1968 as Senior Scientific Officer in charge of the Bird Room and Deputy Keeper of the Zoology Department. Apart from war service with the , his entire career was dedicated to traditional museum ornithology. He ran collecting expeditions to South Sudan in 1938–1939 and South West Africa in 1950–1951, each substantially enhancing African collections in the Museum; that led to publication of a comprehensive report on the birds of the region. ... His professional career culminated in a sponsored mostly by Major Harold Hall, an Australian philanthropist. That was the last systematic collecting of Australian birds by an overseas institute, collecting in all parts of the continent and enriching the British Museum collection of Australian birds by some 6,500 specimens (skins, skeletons, and fluid). The leader of the first expedition in 1962–1963, Jim’s party discovered a new species of bird () in . In that expedition, his wife Betty accompanied him as doctor and caterer for the team."

"I hear you're such a lazy bird, You cannot build a ; Perhaps you could, if you would try— We ought to do our best. The little bird that told me this Suspected something worse,— That you neglect your little ones, And put them out to nurse. Oh, Cuckoo! if this story's true, I think you're much to blame. Then talk no more about yourself; Go, hide yourself, for shame!"

"Winds are raging fierce and high, Lurid lightnings wreathe the sky, Thunders roll and night is nigh, Ships 'mid storm-toss'd breakers lie At the ocean's will. Little ones there are who weep, Wives who weary vigils keep, When all else have gone to sleep. Father! to yon angry deep "Say Thou, Peace, be still.""

"We had been dressing the wee lassie one day is a graceful fairy-like of Aunt Ellen's devising, and maternal pride gave utterance to some (foolish) remarks about the child's appearance. Very sweetly came the rebuke from childhood's wisdom. "Yes, but it was very good of God to make me pretty.""

"... The Corbie (or Raven) is sacred to the All-Father. The Katyogle (or Owl) is consecrated to the goddess of wisdom. ... I have too much respect for the Corbie and Katyogle to dwell in detail upon their . I care not for their "," according to the scientist. The and species to which they belong influence me not one whit. Why—when I know on the authority of a Shetland witch, that the Corbie can assume any form he pleases, and that the Katyogle is the inhabitant of another world in disguise–why should I trouble my spirit with assigning to either a place in the Darwinian circle?"

"An incantation against nightmare was once used over me by old Mam-Kirsty famed for her witchcraft."

"He remained a staunch supporter of the old order during the Reformation era, and being an independent thinker, with feelings and views very similar to those of the 'old catholic' school of this century, tried to stem the reformation of the church from within."

"Frustra ego te laudo, frustra me, Zoile, laedis: Nemo mihi credit, Zoile, nemo tibi."

"Mentitur veros facies tibi picta colores, Et speculi mendax te tibi imago referit. In digito annellus mentitur aëneus aurum, Mentitur gemmam vitrea gemma probam. Quicquid contigerit re cum mendacia discat, Miremur linguam dicere falsa tuam?"

"In general appearance the is an extremely large and powerful fellow, with a beautiful head and speaking countenance, in which sagacity is blended with nobility, and a body of great symmetry, combining, one might say, the agility of the with the strength of the ."

"Very few of the old s interfere with the duties of their assistants, but there be men who seem to think you have merely come to the service to learn, not to practise your profession, and therefore they treat as mere students, or at the best hobble-de-hoy doctors. Of this class was Dr. Gruff, a man whom I would back against the whole profession for , , , or ; but who, I rather suspect, never prescribed a dose of , , or in his life."

"Three days at , and up anchor again; our next place of call being . Every one has heard of the , who tried to beat the British but didn't, ... was caught and chained ... to a rock somewhere in the middle of the sea ... The rock was St. Helena, and a very beautiful rock it is too, hill and and thriving town, its mountain sides tilled and its s and s containing many a fertile little farm. It is the duty of every one who touches the shores of this far-famed island to make a pilgrimage to .... both sides of the road all the way to the tomb are strewn with , empty of course, and at the grave itself there are s of them; and the same is the case at every place which has visit4ed, or where English foot has ever trod."

"When I was a little boy at school, floundering through Herodotus, and getting double doses of fum-fum daily for my Anabasis—for my old teacher, when he couldn't get enough Greek into one end of me, took jolly good care to put it in at the other—there was no man I had greater respect for than Alexander the Great, owing to his having done that business so neatly. I practiised afterwards on the dominie's tawse (i.e., the fum-fum strap); I tied a splendid knot on it, and then cut it through with a jackknife; but woe's me! the plaguy dominie caught me in the very act, and—and I had to take my meals standing for a week."

"Every child knows how fond cats are of hunting and catching mice, but no cat any respectability would think of confining her attention to mice alone. The very presence of a cat about a house will usually suffice to keep these destructive pests at bay; and if one should pop out of its hole, it knows, or ought to know, what to expect."

"I have dozens of well-authenticated anecdotes of cats who are very expert at fishing. I have, myself, watched a cat by the banks of a stream, until I have seen him dive into the the water, and emerge almost immediately with a large in his mouth. Cats who fish, generally belong to s, or are bred and reared somewhere near a river. They not only catch fish of all sorts, but even s; often springing many feet off the bank after prey of this kind, and even diving under to secure it. In Scotland cats often attack and destroy large quantities of salmon in small streams, in the spawning season."