SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC ORGANISATION
OF AUROVILLE
The Mother
Editor’s note: All the following quotes and excerpts are from Volume 13 (pp. 191–354) of the Collected Works of the Mother (CWM), Centenary Edition. We have taken the liberty of re-ordering and
re-organising some of them under different categories for the purposes of this compilation.
Auroville is created to realise the ideal of
Sri Aurobindo who taught us the Karma Yoga.
Auroville is for those who want to do the Yoga of work.
To live in Auroville means to do the Yoga of work. So all Aurovilians must take up a work and do it as Yoga. (27 March 1973)
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Auroville should be at the service of Truth, beyond all social, political and religious convictions.
Auroville is the effort towards peace, in sincerity and Truth. (20 September 1966)
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Auroville is an attempt towards world peace, friendship, fraternity, unity. (20 September 1966)
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Auroville: At last a place where one will be able to think only of the future. (January 1967)
GENERAL AIMS AND PRINCIPLES
1. Who has taken the initiative for the construction of Auroville?
The Supreme Lord.
2. Who participates in the financing of Auroville?
The Supreme Lord.
3. If one wants to live in Auroville, what does it imply for oneself?
To try to attain the Supreme Perfection.
4. Must one be a student of yoga in order to live in Auroville?
All life is yoga. Therefore one cannot live without practising the supreme yoga.
5. Will family life continue in Auroville?
If one has not gone beyond that.
6. Will there be a social life in Auroville?
If one has not gone beyond that.
7. Will there be compulsory community activities in Auroville?
Nothing is compulsory.
8. Will money be used in Auroville?
No, Auroville will have money relations only with the outside world.
9. How will work be organised and distributed in Auroville?
“Money would no longer be the sovereign lord; individual worth would have a far greater importance than that of material wealth and social standing. There, work would not be a way to earn one’s living but a way to express oneself and to develop one’s capacities and possibilities while being of service to the community as a whole, which, for its own part, would provide for each individual’s subsistence and sphere of action.”1 [Footnote-text: 1 Extract from “A Dream”, an essay by the Mother.]
10. What will be the relations between the inhabitants of Auroville and the outside world?
Each person is allowed full freedom. The external relations of residents in Auroville will be established for each one according to his personal aspiration and his activities within Auroville.
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CONDITIONS FOR LIVING IN AUROVILLE
From the psychological point of view, the required conditions are:
(1) To be convinced of the essential unity of mankind and to have the will to collaborate for the material realisation of that unity;
(2) To have the will to collaborate in all that furthers future realisations.
The material conditions will be worked out as the realisation proceeds. (19 June 1967)
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How dependent is the building of Auroville upon man’s acceptance of spirituality?
The opposition between spirituality and material life, the division between the two has no sense for me as, in truth, life and the spirit are one and it is in and by the physical work that the highest Spirit must be manifested. (19 April 1968)
ORGANISATION OF AUROVILLE
Only those who have resolved to stay in Auroville for good have the right to intervene in its organisation. (22 January 1971)
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“Should Auroville have anymore new committees?” The Mother does not agree to any new committees for Auroville. She says: “More committees, more useless talk.”Blessings. (17 February 1971)
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Many in Auroville say that an organised working is not desirable in Auroville; they are for spontaneous working.Spontaneous work can be done only by a man of genius.
Is there anyone claiming to be a genius?...
Blessings. (3 July 1972)
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Does the construction of Auroville require a working-method, organisation and coordination?
Discipline is necessary for life. To live, the body itself is subject in all its functions to a rigorous discipline. Any relaxation of this discipline causes illness.
What should be the nature of this organisation, in the present and in the future?
Organisation is a discipline of action, but for Auroville we aspire to go beyond arbitrary and artificial organisation.
We want an organisation which is the expression of a higher consciousness working to manifest the truth of the future.
Until this group consciousness appears, and until we can work collectively in the true and right way, what should we do?
A hierarchical organisation grouped around the most enlightened centre and submitting to a collective discipline.
Must we use organisational methods which have proved effective but which are based on human logic and the use of machines?
This is a makeshift which we should submit to only very provisionally.
Must one allow individual initiative to manifest freely and inspiration and intuition to be the moving force behind personal action, and should one reject all ideas not felt as good by the interested party?
In order to be workable, this requires all workers of Auroville to be yogis conscious of the Divine Truth.
Has the time come to wish for, to set up, to try for a general organisation, or should one wait for the right attitude and men?
An organisation is needed for the work to be done — but the organisation itself must be flexible and progressive. (6 February 1969)
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Auromodèle is an attempt and an experiment. As it develops the organisation will be modified according to the need.
Every organisation should remain supple and flexible so as to progress constantly and modify itself when the need arises. (12 February 1963)
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Message for the Auroville Liaison Office, established to raise funds and screen persons interested in visiting or living in Auroville
To be at the head of the Liaison Office one must feel absolutely equal towards all and every nation.
A complete sincerity is required in this attitude. (April 1968)
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Divine Mother,1. Do we need a Personnel Department in Auroville?
No.
2. Should it be a part of the Liaison Office?
Do not multiply departments, titles and names. It complicates life uselessly. (28 June 1968)
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Begging is not permitted in Auroville. Persons found begging on the road will be distributed as follows: children to school, the old to a home, the sick to the hospital, the healthy to work.
A school, a home, a hospital and special work areas will be arranged for this. They will not be mixed with the others, because some people may come from outside and begin to beg in the street.
There are no police. We have... we haven’t found the word... a band of guards, a battalion of guards, something like the firemen in Japan, who are gymnasts and who do everything when there are accidents — anything, earthquakes — they do everything. They climb up into houses. Instead of police, there will be a kind of battalion of guards, who will go out regularly into the various parts of the town to see if they are needed. And if they come across people begging, they will be distributed as I said. There will be a school for the children, a home for the old, a hospital for the sick and disabled, and a place where work will be provided for all those who... There will be every possible kind of work, from sweeping to... anything, and work that is needed, they will do it, according to their abilities. This has to be organised.
A special school for the children to teach them to work, to teach them the things that are indispensable for them to be able to work.
No prison, no police. (September 1966)
Governance
Mother reads a disciple’s notation of comments she made about her conception of Auroville.
“Auroville will be a self-supporting township.
“All who live there will participate in its life and development.
“This participation may be passive or active.
“There will be no taxes as such but each will contribute to the collective welfare in work, kind or money.
“Sections like industries which participate actively will contribute part of their income towards the development of the township.
“Or if they produce something like foodstuffs useful for the citizens, they will contribute in
kind to the township, which is responsible for feeding its citizens.
“No rules or laws are being framed. Things will get formulated as the underlying truth of the township emerges and takes shape progressively. We do not anticipate.”
Mother goes through the text sentence by sentence.
“Auroville will be a self-supporting township.”
I want to insist on the fact that it will be an experiment, it is for making experiments — experiments, research, study. Auroville will be a city that will try to be, or will tend to become, or attempt to be “self-supporting”, that is to say...
Autonomous?
“Autonomous” is understood to mean some kind of independence which breaks off relations with others, and that is not what I mean.
For example, those who produce food, like Aurofood — of course, when we are 50,000 it will be difficult to provide for all the needs, but for the moment we are only a few thousand at most — well, a factory always produces far too much, so it will sell outside and receive money. Aurofood for example wants to have a special relationship with the workers — not at all the old system, something which would be an improvement on the communist system, a more balanced organisation than sovietism, that is, something which does not err too much on one side at the expense of the other.
There is one thing I wanted to say: the participation in the well-being and life of the town as a whole is not something calculated on an individual basis; that is, this individual should give so much, it is not like that. It is calculated according to the means, the activity, the capacity for production; it is not the democratic idea which cuts everything up into equal pieces, which is an absurd machinery. It is calculated according to one’s means: one who has much gives much, one who has little gives little; one who is strong works hard, one who is not strong does something else. You see, it is something truer, deeper. That is why I make no attempt to explain now, because people will start to make all kinds of complaints. All this must come about automatically, so to speak, with the growth of the city, in the true spirit. That is why this note is extremely concise.
For example, this sentence:
“All who live there will participate in its life and development.”
All who live there will participate in its life and developmentaccording to their capacities and means, not mechanically — somuch per unit. That’s it, it must be something living and true,not a mechanical thing; and according to each one’s capacities:that is, one who has material means, such as those provided bya factory, should give in proportion to its production, not somuch per individual, per head.
“The participation may be passive or active.”
I do not understand what “passive” means; I said it in French and it has been put into English. What could that mean, “passive”?... It would be something more like planes or different levels of consciousness.
You meant that those who are wise, who work within, do not need to...
Yes, that’s it. Those who have a higher knowledge do not need to work with their hands, that is what I meant.
“There will be no taxes as such, but each one will contribute to the collective welfare in work, kind or money.”
So that is clear: there will be no taxes, but each one will have to contribute to the collective welfare by his work, in kind or in money. Those who have nothing but money will give money. But to tell the truth, “work” can be inner work — but one cannot say that, because people are not honest enough. The work can be an occult, completely inner work; but for that, it must be absolutely sincere and true, and with the capacity for it: no pretension. But not necessarily a physical work.
“Sections like industries which participate actively will contribute part of their income towards
the development of the township; or if they produce something (like foodstuffs) that is useful to
the citizens, they will contribute in kind to the township, which is responsible for feeding its
citizens.”
This is what we were just saying. The industries will participate actively, they will contribute. If these industries produce articles which are not constantly needed and therefore in amounts or quantities that are too great to be used within the city but which will sell outside, they, of course, should participate with money. And I give food as an example; those who produce food will give what they produce to the town — in proportion to what they produce, of course — and the town is responsible for feeding everyone. That means that people will not need to buy food with money; but it must be earned.
It is a sort of adaptation of the communist system, but not in a spirit of levelling; according to the capacity, the position — not the psychological or intellectual, but the inner position of each one.
What is true is that materially every human being has the right — but it is not a “right”.... The organisation should be such, should be so arranged, that the material needs of everyone are assured, not according to ideas of rights and equality, but on the basis of the minimum needs. And once that is established, each one should be free to organise his life according to — not according to his financial means, but his inner capacities.
“No rules or laws are being framed. Things will get formulated as the underlying truth of the township emerges and takes shape progressively. We do not anticipate.”
What I mean is that usually — always so far, and now more and more — men lay down mental rules according to their conceptions and ideals, and then they apply them (Mother brings down her fist to show the world in the grip of mind), and that is absolutely false, it is arbitrary, unreal — and the result is that things revolt or wither and disappear.... It is the experience of life itself that should slowly elaborate rules which are as flexible and wide as possible, to be always progressive. Nothing should be fixed.
That is the great error of governments; they make a framework and say, “There you are, we have set this up and now we must live by it”, and so of course they crush life and prevent it from progressing. Life itself must develop more and more in a progression towards Light, Knowledge, Power, little by little establishing rules that are as general as possible, so that they can be extremely flexible and change with the need — and change as quickly as the needs and habits do.
(Silence)
The problem finally comes down to this: to replace the mental government of the intelligence by the government of a spiritualised consciousness. (30 December 1967)
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What political organisation do you want for Auroville?
An amusing definition occurs to me: a divine anarchy. But the world will not understand. Men must become conscious of their psychic being and organise themselves spontaneously, without fixed rules and laws — that is the ideal.
For this, one must be in contact with one’s psychic being, one must be guided by it and the ego’s authority and influence must disappear. (28 December 1972)
COMMUNITY LIVING
All those who wish to live and work at Auroville must have an integral goodwill, a constant aspiration to know the Truth and to submit to it, enough plasticity to confront the exigencies of work and an endless will to progress so as to move forward towards the ultimate Truth.
And, finally, a word of advice: be more concerned with your own faults than with those of others. If each one worked seriously at his own self-perfection, the perfection of the whole would follow automatically. (6 February 1969)
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The freedom we want to realise in Auroville is not licence — each one doing what he pleases without concern for the well-being of the organisation of the whole. (1969)
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How can people having different values live and work together in harmony?
The solution is to go deep within oneself and find the place where all the differences combine to constitute the essential and eternal Unity. (4 May 1969
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To establish in Auroville the harmonious atmosphere which, by definition, ought to reign there, the firs step is for each one to look within himself for the cause of friction and misunderstanding.
For these causes are always on both sides and before demanding anything from others, each one should first strive to eliminate them from himself. (4 July 1969)
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Every good Aurovilian should strive to free himself from all desires, all preferences and all repulsions.
Equality in the face of all circumstances is the chief aim to be attained in order to live in Auroville.
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Quarrels are altogether contrary to the spirit of Auroville.
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Each one has good reasons to support his own opinion, and I am no expert to judge between them.
But from the spiritual point of view I know that with true goodwill all opinions can be harmonised in a more comprehensive and truer solution. This is what I expect from the workers of Auroville. Not that some give way to others, but that on the contrary all should combine their efforts to achieve a more comprehensive and perfect result.
The ideal of Auroville demands this progress — don’t you want to make it?
Blessings. (14 November 1971)
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The true spirit of Auroville is collaboration and must be more and more so.
True collaboration paves the way to divinity. (22 October 1972)
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Auroville is not a place for politics; no politics must be done in Auroville and in the offices of Auroville. (15 February 1973)
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What is the purpose of life in Auroville in general and Auromodèle in particular? Is it to serve the community or to be a true servitor of the Divine Consciousness?The purpose of life in Auromodèle is to learn to live in Auroville, to make all the experiments necessary for learning to live in Auroville.
We want to find a way for the community to live for the Divine.
Each individual has his own way but the group community should find a way to suit everyone.
(22 May 1970)
Relations with Local Villagers
Mother Divine,
A few points on which Thy divine guidance is required.
There is resistance from the villagers in selling their lands. This may be because we have done nothing to integrate them with Auroville. They feel it is a foreign imposition on them which will do them no good but will drive them from their hearths and homes.
Should we not demonstrate to them our real intentions by providing them with facilities such as a dispensary, a school, clean drinking water, etc.? This would be money well spent if it is done with love and humility and not as charity.
Should we not demonstrate to them our real intentions by providing them with facilities such as a dispensary, a school, clean drinking water, etc.? This would be money well spent if it is done with love and humility and not as charity.
This is indispensable. (April 1969)
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Those who are in contact with the villagers should not forget that these people are worth as much as they are, that they know as much, that they think and feel as well as they do. They should therefore never have an attitude of ridiculous superiority.They are at home and you are the visitors. (September or October 1969)
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To the inhabitants of Aspiration:A relationship that is not only cordial but friendly with the inhabitants of the neighbouring village is absolutely indispensable. For the realisation of Auroville the first step is to establish a true human fraternity — any shortcoming in this regard is a grave mistake which can compromise the whole work.
My blessings are with all sincere effort towards harmony. (23 November 1969)
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In connection with the integration programme of the families from the village, which started on 7 August 1970, we pray for your guidance in the following:
(1) Whether they are to be treated as Aurovilians in all matters.
Yes.
(2) Whether regular Prosperity should be issued to them.
Yes.
(3) Whether all Prosperity items can be taken from Auroville Prosperity.
All that they choose to take.
(4) Whether any guiding principles should be laid down for them on joining Auroville. If yes, the Mother may kindly enlighten us.
Certainly it would be good if somebody was intelligent enough to do it and do it well.
(5) Whether any particular amount for food should be fixed per person per day; if yes, whether Rs. 2.50 per adult and Rs. 2.00 per child will be all right.
There must be a period of at least one month during which they are given what they ask. Afterwards we shall see what may be done reasonably. (10 September 1970)
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As we intend to serve a better type of food than the villagers usually take, is it advisable to allow those who are willing to take food from the Community Kitchen on payment at a reasonable rate?Yes — at cost price.
Blessings. (November 1970)
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Someone offered to help to clean Last School
It is all right. But while putting things in order, be very careful not to offend the people from the Tamil village. It has been very difficult for us to win their confidence and nothing should be done which could make them lose this new-born confidence which is of capital importance.
Take with you someone who knows and speaks Tamil fluently so that you can talk with them and explain things to them.
They are your brothers in spirit — this should never be forgotten. (July 1972)
SOCIAL REGULATIONS
Marriage
... Of course the whole idea of marriage is amusing because I consider the thing childish.
You know in Auroville there will be no marriages. If a man and a woman love each other and want to live together they may do so without any ceremony. If they want to separate they can also do so freely. Why should people be compelled to stay together when they have ceased to love each other?
A lot of crimes would be prevented if people were free in this respect. They would not have to hide things from one another or even commit crimes to be separated. Of course, if they truly love each other they will continue to live together always naturally, without being forced to do so by any law. That is why this ceremony and ritual of marriage is so childish.
Children born in Auroville will have no family name. They will have just the first name. (15 June 1968)
(Mother suggested that the following letter of hers about marriage be published with the statement above.)
To unite your physical lives, your material interests, to become partners in order to face together the difficulties and successes, the defeats and victories of life — that is the very foundation of marriage, but you already know that it is not enough.
To be united in your sensations, to have the same aesthetic tastes and enjoyments, to be moved in common by the same things, one through the other and one for the other — that is good, that is necessary, but it is not enough.
To be one in your deeper feelings, to keep a mutual affection and tenderness that never vary in spite of all the blows of life and can withstand every weariness and irritation and disappointment, to be always and on every occasion happy, extremely happy, to be together, to find in every circumstance tranquillity, peace and joy in each other — that is good, that is very good, that is indispensable, but it is not enough.
To unite your minds, to harmonise your thoughts and make them complementary, to share your intellectual preoccupations and discoveries; in short, to make your sphere of mental activity identical through a widening and enrichment acquired by both at once — that is good, that is absolutely necessary, but it is not enough.
Beyond all that, in the depths, at the centre, at the summit of the being, there is a Supreme Truth of being, an Eternal Light, independent of all the circumstances of birth, country, environment, education; That is the origin, cause and master of our spiritual development; it is That which gives a permanent direction to our lives; it is That which determines our destinies; it is in the consciousness of That that you must unite. To be one in aspiration and ascension, to move forward at the same pace on the same spiritual path, that is the secret of a lasting union. (March 1933)
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Sexual activities bind man to the animal and they will be completely transformed in the future.
Those who want to work for the future and prepare themselves to live it, would do well not to be hypnotised by this subject which animalises the consciousness. Above all, do not associate it with love your
thought, for they really have nothing to do with each other. (23 November 1971)
Smoking and Drugs
Smoking must not become a public menace.
Those who cannot do without smoking may do it in a room expressly set aside for the purpose. (1971)
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Drugs are prohibited in Auroville.
If there are any who take them, they do it deceitfully.
The ideal Aurovilian, eager to become conscious of the Divine Consciousness, takes neither tobacco, nor alcohol, nor drugs. (February 1971)
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Is it true, Mother, that though you do not want drugs to be taken at Aspiration, you tolerate them on the other hand at the Centre or in other parts of Auroville?
This is a lie.
I have said, no drugs in Auroville, and I do not go back on my word.
Is it true that essentially you are not against the experience?
This so-called experience warps the development and damages the consciousness; on the pathway to the Divine it is a fall into the rut.
This is clear, I think. (15 April 1971)
Films
Children below fifteen years will see only educational films.
Care should be taken in selecting films to be shown in Auroville.
All that encourages the lower movements and actions must be avoided. (25 February 1972)
General
To take pleasure in dirt and disorder is a sure sign of a nature which rejects its psychic being and wants nothing to do with it. (21 October 1972)
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Cleanliness is the first indispensable step towards the supramental manifestation. (21 January 1973)
MONEY AND FINANCE
To find the necessary funds for Auroville one could proceed in the following manner: Find in every country a very wealthy person who would be the centre for collecting funds for Auroville.
Advantages: Such a person would carry weight, would be an example for the others and would
never give the impression of begging.
In principle this way is all right. But in practice, and to avoid all possibility of failure (because failure would have a deplorable effect), we must wait for an indication from circumstances of which I will be immediately informed. And then I will give the signal to go ahead. (November 1965)
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Divine Mother,
Do you wish us to try and raise large amounts of money for both the Ashram and the Auroville Project, in America?
If it is at all possible for you it would be extremely helpful and in conformity with the Truth of things. (30 May 1966)
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About certain individuals and groups willing to aid Auroville’s developmentThey may not practise themselves, but if they do not know about yoga, how can they understand the purpose of Auroville? (19 June 1967)
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(A donor to Auroville specified:)I want my money to be used exclusively for conquering the causes of our sufferings and miseries.
It is for this that we all work here, but not in the artificial manner of philanthropists who work on the exterior effects only.
We want to eliminate for good the cause of suffering by divinising matter through the integral transformation. (28 December 1967)
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Firstly, is there something specific being done which is impeding the flow of money to Auroville?<
It is the lack of push towards the future that impedes the flow of money.
Secondly, is there something specific which should be done to increase the flow of money to Auroville?
A confident certitude in the inevitable future can break this resistance. (17 May 1968)
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Divine Mother,
Firstly, what is the role of the United States with regard to the building of the new world?
The work of U.S.A. is to provide the financial help needed to prepare the earth for the new creation.
Secondly, what must the people of the United States do in order to begin to be able to fulfil this role?
Become aware of those, individual or organisation, capable of bringing about this transformation and give them the necessary money. (9 June 1968)
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Has the time come to attempt approaching the big finance around the world?
If so, then we have to create a compact and cohesive management structure, which will be able to handle such finance and be answerable for its proper utilisation. Only after this is done can we approach international organisations and expect favourable response. Has this Thy approval?
All right. Blessings. (April 1969)
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To raise funds for Auromodèle, what shall we do?The more you chase funds the less you get. What you should do is to inform people about Auroville. That is important. (November 1969)
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It is only when people feel that it is their good fortune to help Auroville grow that the funds will come abundantly. (December 1969)*
Ownership of Property
At Auroville nothing belongs to anyone in particular. All is collective property. To be utilised with my blessings for the welfare of all. (14 May 1970)
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In Auroville “all is collective property.” Does this mean that everything can be used by everyone? Or should things be given only to those who treat them well?
I have also noticed that delicate pieces of equipment become attached to one person and do not work well if they are lent to others.
All this implies a consciousness which is not very widespread on earth.
This does not mean that things should be given to people who do not know how to use them.
What is needed to administer Auroville is a consciousness free from all conventions and conscious of the supramental Truth. I am still waiting for someone like that. Each one must do his best to achieve that. (15 July 1970)
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The conflict about money is what might be called a “conflict of ownership”, but the truth is that money belongs to no one. This idea of possessing money has warped everything. Money should not be a “possession”: like power it is a means of action which is given to you, but you must use it according to... what we can call the “will of the Giver”, that is, in an impersonal and enlightened way. If you are a good instrument for diffusing and utilising money, then it comes to you, and it comes to you in proportion to your capacity to use it as it is meant to be used. That is the true mechanism.
The true attitude is this: money is a force intended for the work on earth, the work required to prepare the earth to receive and manifest the divine forces, and it — that is, the power of utilising it — must come into the hands of those who have the clearest, most comprehensive and truest vision.
To start with, the first thing (but this is elementary) is not to have the sense of possession — what does it mean, “it is mine”?... Now, I don’t quite understand. Why do people want it to belong to them? — so that they can use it as they like and do what they want with it and handle it according to their own conceptions? That’s how it is. On the other hand, yes, there are people who like to store it up somewhere... but that is a disease. To be sure of always having some, they hoard it.
But if people understood that one should be like a receiving and transmitting station and that the wider the range (just the opposite of personal), the more impersonal, comprehensive and wide it is, the most force it can hold (“force” that is translated materially: notes and coins). This power to hold is proportional to the capacity to use the money in the best way — “best” in terms of the general progress: the widest vision, the greatest understanding and the most enlightened, exact and true usage, not according to the warped needs of the ego but according to the general need of the earth for its evolution and development. That is to say, the widest vision will have the largest capacity.
Behind all wrong movements, there is a true movement; there is a joy in being able to direct, utilise, organise in such away that there is a minimum of waste and the maximum of result. It is a very interesting vision to have. And this must be the true side in people who want to accumulate money: it is the capacity to use it on a very large scale. Then, there are those who very much like to have it and spend it; that is something else — they are generous natures, neither regulated nor organised. But the joy of being able to satisfy all true needs, all necessities, is good. It is like the joy of changing a sickness into health, a falsehood into truth, a suffering into joy; it is the same thing: to change an artificial and foolish need — which does not correspond to anything natural — into a possibility which becomes something quite natural. So much money is needed to do this or that or the other, so much is needed to arrange this, to repair that, to build this, to organise that — that is good. And I understand that people like to be the channels through which the money goes exactly where it is needed. That must be the true movement in people who like to... translated into foolish egoism, who need to appropriate.
When the need to accumulate and the need to spend (which are both blind and ignorant) are combined, they can lead to a clear vision and a most efficient utilisation. That is good.
Then there comes, slowly and slowly, the possibility of putting it into practice.
But, naturally, the need is for very clear heads and for intermediaries of high integrity (!) to be able to be everywhere at the same time and do all at the same time. Then this famous question of money would be solved.
Money does not belong to anybody. Money is a collective possession which should be used only by those who have an integral, comprehensive and universal vision. I would add something to that: not only integral and comprehensive, but essentially true as well; a vision which can tell the difference between a use which is in accord with the universal progress, and a use which could be termed fanciful. But these are details, for even the mistakes, even, from a certain standpoint, the waste, help the general progress: these are lessons learned the hard way.
(Silence)
I always remember what X used to say (X was completely opposed to philanthropy); he used to say: Philanthropy perpetuates human misery because without human misery philanthropy would have no more reason to exist !... And you know the great philanthropist, what was his name? — during Mazarin’s time; he founded the Little Sisters of Charity....
Vincent de Paul?