Vera Stanley Alder

"It has seen the people themselves taking increasing individual and collective action in order to obtain a world organization or government, a universal religion, or a universal language."

"Surely the human race is at last reaching the stage of adulthood — that adulthood of character which does not depend upon physical age at all — so that it is deliberately embracing responsibility for its own development and government, and trying to face up to the causes of its failures?"

"The old ways of life are steadily losing their hold. Labour revolts. Culture revolts too. They are all subconsciously reaching for something different and better. They realize that science and culture, education such as it is, orthodox religion such as it is, have not saved men from a process of self impoverization and mutual extermination in a variety of forms."

"What then is missing? An ideology which would produce full harmony, co-operation and growth in alignment with the laws and economy of nature!"

"Such an ideology has always been available... It is embodied either in the true Christian or the true Buddhist faith, but it has never yet been put into practice. It could provide the scientific and practical basis for world regeneration. It embodies the principle of unity, of sharing and of cooperation."

"There is a great chasm between this new principle and the traditional one of separatism, self-interest and acquisitiveness."

"This chasm has to be crossed by the human mind to-day."

"That crossing will revolutionize the whole of human thinking and mark the transition of humanity from the stage of adolescence into the stage of human adulthood."

"There are those who stand in the vanguard, those who huddle ineffectively in the centre, and those who definitely hold progress back."

"..In this book, to sort out the whole situation as simply as we can. We will endeavour to produce a guide book to progress for those of us who accept this new challenge of adulthood... we will outline the picture of past and present trends of human development."

"Secondly, we will build up a vision of what the future could be like if humanity so chooses — for “without vision the people perish”."

"Thirdly, we will give two practical Courses of self-training, mental and physical, with which we can fit ourselves to become successful pioneers for the new age."

"Finally, we will outline the progressive work already everywhere in existence, so that we may know where and how to dedicate our new strength."

"There are two ways of summing up world history, the inner way and the outer way. Both have been at the mercy of scribes and policies."

"The story of human evolution has progressed steadily from complete exclusiveness to an ever-broadening inclusiveness."

"At first it was built up around the self-interest of the family unit. Later the ring-pass-not enlarged to include the tribe. The tribal communities finally produced the small state or nation. The aggressive self-interest of nations eventually produced Empires. Everything outside of the Empire was potential enemy or potential prey."

"Finally came the conceptions of Federation and of Commonwealth. This saw the emergence of a new concept of co-operation instead of tyranny, and of the rights of the individual instead of those of the autocrat."

"Nevertheless, even the most benign and powerful of these nation-groups had still to consider everything outside of itself as potential enemy, and therefore self-interest still ruled."

"At the present time the issue is the self-interest of several immense nation-groups. The result is much as it would be if the four quarters of a person’s body were arrayed against each other, and the circulation impeded between them. Economical chaos and frustration is the result, on a world scale."

"Is there a succeeding evolutionary step to be taken which would bring order out of chaos, and which would be the natural sequence of all that has gone before?..."

"The scene would change from that of world and individual disease, due to faulty circulation through obstructions and deficiencies, to collective and individual health due to following the true and natural laws of economy."

"Instead of a world with a split personality and schizophrenia, as we now have, we would see a global civilization sanely and centrally controlled."

"The age-old metaphysical conceptions of the Divine Plan for mankind shows us the story of the human spirit learning through a long series of incarnations upon earth all those lessons which will finally give him sovereignty over all the forces of growth, and knowledge as to how to work in with the pattern of creation — as a Group."

"At present nations are held back by fear for the loss of their individuality... individual expression is essential."

"The secret which will solve this impasse is that true independence and individuality can only successfully exist in group form!"

"The purpose of this book is, firstly, to make a rapid survey, the barest outline, of the knowledge which has existed, all through the history of man, and guided his development from behind the scenes; and, secondly, to study how, upon the foundations of that knowledge there can be built an entirely new way of life, which would produce the final pattern of a sane and successful world civilization."

"Anyone who tries to think or write about the world situation to-day needs courage. The subject is so enormous and so complicated that it is bewildering. It is a period in history vibrating with possibilities. The pessimist is able to wallow in forebodings until he submerges, whilst the optimist can be so stimulated that he nears combustion! Which of them is justified?"

"There are those who can prove that plans and ideals for a united world and a well organized Brotherhood of Men have existed for hundreds of years and have come to nothing. These are the ones who say “Human nature cannot change!” There are others who declare that we are living through a momentous epoch in history which is ushering in stupendous changes and the possibility for real world unity and a new and better civilization."

"Whatever possibilities and potentialities are latent today, the fact remains that the last word and the final decision will rest with us — the people."

"Who are we—the people? What is our significance, our purpose upon this earth? Can we know this? Have we ever known it? How comes it that we struggle so often like a helpless giant caught in the toils of those who wish to use us? Arc we only half alive, half aware of our power—and not aware of our own destiny at all? What is the significance and what the future of our individualities?"

"Those who seek to influence us always work on our individualities, either trying to stifle them with mass hypnotism or to spur them to life with such cries as 'Democracy!’ ... or fulfilment under some other name."

"We know so pitifully little about ourselves, about the universe, about the hidden forces which support and impel all life forward and onward; about birth and death and what lies each side of them; about our God and His Will and purpose for us; about that comprehensive side of ourselves called the subconscious; about the destiny of this earth, and our relationship to the millions and myriads of palpitating stars that fill space."

"History tells us of wars and conquests and empires and revolutions, of cities and cultures, and of religions and persecutions. Yet actually it is a rather superficial survey. It leaves out almost entirely one vital part of the picture — the most important part. It has very little to say of man’s purpose in living, of his understanding of the reason of his existence and of his conception of life around him, and his interpretation of the mystery of creation and evolution. So little does history say about this aspect of man — the mainspring and motive of his living—that we are left guessing about the most important part of the story—the extent of man’s actual knowledge throughout the ages. We are given superficial and rather materialistic details of the outward forms and the bitter strife which accompanied the development of the various religions as they were interpreted and practised by the people, much of which leaves us with an impression of brutal and bigoted primitiveness. So much for orthodox history. Nevertheless, if we have the time ourselves to go exploring amongst less hackneyed literature than our average text books, we will soon find traces of an underlying, thrilling and significant way of life permeating the history of mankind... The legends of the Flood, the Virgin Birth, the World Messiah, the Resurrection, Paradise, Hades, Reincarnation, the progress of the soul and the Plan of Creation, are to be traced in every land and with great similarity of detail. p.6"

"The difference between the Teaching in its past and in its modern guise is that in the olden days it was used principally for the self-development of the few, whereas at present humanity is considered to have moved forward to the point where the theories and ideals of the Mystery Teaching may soon be put into practice in the life of the community as a whole, because a sufficiently large number of people are now so advanced as to make this possible."

"The ancient writings all claim that a Golden Age is indeed due to follow the death of the present Dark Age. How long it will take to develop depends upon the people and the interest and initiative which they show in regard to the whole matter. It is therefore considered that a great deal may now be written or taught to people at this time on this vital subject, because for them it is still an unaccustomed topic, and it will take some time for them thoroughly to grasp the importance of it and the magnitude of the opportunity..."

"It is beginning to be realized, not by a few idealists but by numbers of the general public, that in spite of the countless triumphs of science and industry there has been something about humanity’s way of living that is proving to be suicidal. Fear, want, disease and war have been increasing in a steady crescendo until they have nearly engulfed the world altogether. This terrible state of affairs has, in spite of all the amenities of progress, been undermining the health, energy and mind-power of all the public everywhere, until most of them have been dulled into a blind acceptance."

"Nevertheless, recently certain things are becoming apparent which have hitherto escaped peoples’ consciousness in a most amazing way. They are beginning to realize that there could be in actuality More Than Enough of Everything in the World for Everybody, and that science, or man’s genius, has made it possible that everything in the world can now reach everybody everywhere; that this applies to both information and necessities; and that all amenities of living could now be made equally available to all peoples."

"Men are realizing that although this has been the case for some time, want, fear, disease and war are still allowed to make havoc of their lives, and that therefore someone or something is betraying them even unto death. They are becoming aware that they themselves are allowing this to happen, and are therefore somehow guilty, because in reality they, the people, are all powerful."

"It is... becoming obvious to them that the cause must lie in their own ignorance, and in that they have allowed themselves to be misinformed, influenced and used."

"Up till now the people have been largely defeated by the language in which economics, science, law and finance are habitually veiled; — the methods by means of which these aspects of the life of the community are managed is a mystery to the ‘man in the street’. Therefore change for them means the unknown, full of terrors and the possibility of loss — because their minds have not been trained logically to visualise coming developments as the natural processes of evolution."

"In making our blue-print of the coming new world, it will be advisable for us to proceed without the slightest regard... for what is apparently possible or for existing conditions, so that present habits of thought and inhibiting fears do not hamper our vision in any way."

"We can assume that a perfect world IS the ultimate goal for mankind and the purpose of God, for this has been promised to us in all religions."

"Let us lay down as the first foundation stone of our work the determination to seek for a World Design which is strictly in accordance with the highest spiritual principles which have been given to man down the ages, irrespective of whether we think the result possible or not."

"The second element in the framework of our design must be the realization of universal unity. This fact is only just beginning to permeate into men’s consciousness."

"The World Government... should be set up in order to deal with all those aspects of life which affect international relationships. It will in no way restrict but rather enhance national characteristics, individuality and genius. This is a point which should clearly be understood and which will be amplified as we go along."

"Nations will for a long time insist upon a large measure of self-government, but when they begin to see the benefits which accrue from each successive international co-operative development, they will finally grasp the new principle of synthesis, and the age of separation will be over for ever."

"It may be said that the actual birth of World Government coincided with the formation of the United Nations Organization, and with the desperate wish to invest it with real authority. So the embryonic World Government is potentially already there... What shape it eventually takes, whether it becomes an enlargement of former tyrannies, or whether in fact it will prove to be the instrument by means of which we shall produce our promised Golden Age, depends upon ourselves, the people."

"We are living in a time of transition, when everything is going to be so different that the experts are possibly more handicapped by their traditional time-worn knowledge than are we, untrained and with minds empty of red tape and orthodoxy."

"Can we grasp, for instance, that in spite of weather vagaries, even in spite of present soil erosion, there is and could be more than enough produced to-day to allow everyone everywhere a fair standard of living, without entailing drudgery for anybody?"

"This century has seen...a world civilization threatened with self-destruction, not only through war but through the exploitation of all the kingdoms in nature..."