As in those momentous days that preceded the declaration of the war which it was a moral duty to wage against Nazi wickedness, so in these fateful days which have followed the declarations of peace, the situation in which humanity finds itself driven by the course of events offers it a choice of two alternatives. Two roads open up before it and each leads in a very different direction. Upon which of these diverging ways it is now taking depends whether it is going to rise or fall spiritually, no less than whether it is going to experience more prosperity or more poverty, ultimate war or peace. When war and crisis have so crushed humanity that its hopes have almost completely vanished and its outlook almost wholly blackened, it seeks sordid forgetfulness in drink and sensuality or noble relief in religion and mysticism. Thus the future of one large section is moral collapse and of another section, moral uplift. The confused postwar generation is being divided into two groups. The first comprises those people who are going down and becoming worse. This group, being more sensual and material, are becoming more brutalized, more addicted to violence. The second comprises those people who are going up and becoming better. Those who are only just entering it look for a guiding faith, an inspiring leadership, to enable them to rid themselves of uncertainties and futilities. Time will henceforth increasingly develop their character and aspirations. The world-crisis has brought about the first stirrings of spirituality in the hearts of these people. But to clarify and intensify these feelings, some time will be needed.
-- Notebooks Category 11: The Negatives > Chapter 3 : Their Presence in The World > # 288
