of kings and nobles, the tyranny of the mass and the inquisition, the
tyranny of battle and murder and crime--how was a man to live in those
ages?

How is a man to live in _this_ age? The tyranny of kings and of
priests is gone, and from the tyranny of industrialism the individual can
escape. But the lightning--is not that an inquisition? And if it comes
after you, will it not find out all your secrets? And the tyranny of
hurricane and shipwreck, of accident, disease, and death? Any tyranny is
all tyranny, I say; and the existence of tyranny is its presence.

It is conceivable that some day the sovereign mind may shake off its
shackles, and the tyranny of matter be at an end. But that day is not yet;
and meanwhile, the thing existing, how shall a man be free? That has been
the matter of my deepest brooding.

This much I have learned:

The man may accept this life, if it please him, and its chances; but while
he does he can never be a soul. So long as he accepts this life and its
chances, he is the slave of tyranny. When the day comes that mind is
sovereign, I will give myself into the hands of this life. But meanwhile I
will know myself for what I am--a bubble upon the surface of a whirling
torrent, an insect borne aloft upon a flying wheel.

* * * * *

It is by your will that you are free; by your will you are one with the
infinite freedom, by your will you are master of time and your fate, lord
of the stars and the endless ages, thinker of all truth, hearer of all