The mysticism of civilization

Conference pronounced by Mr. Manuel Carlés, at the Colegio Nacional de Buenos Aires

Abstract

Life is not like a river that flows for centuries, always along the same course; life is like the constellation of our sun that marches through infinite and unknown spaces. Pain and pleasure form the alternating vicissitude of life. We have all been visited at one time or another by pain, whether physical or moral, strong as a pang or light as a pang. Joy exists in oneself: it is necessary to look for it, and once found, it must be preserved as a radioactive force of vigorous optimism. Good and evil, like pleasure and pain, are eternal; the sea that is a reason for good and the good that is the foundation of man. The old theology personifies evil in Luzbel, surviving the last of beings, to remain alone and resting, with wings folded and dominating over the debris of the extinguished worlds.