V. THE SPIRITUAL ATTITUDE TO BE OBSERVED TOWARDS FELLOW-MEN IN GENERAL, IRRESPECTIVE OF THE SPECIAL RELATIONS WHICH CONNECT US MORE CLOSELY WITH SOME THAN OTHERS 179 VI. THE MEANING OF FORGIVENESS 202 VII. THE SUPREME ETHICAL RULE: ACT SO AS TO ELICIT THE BEST IN OTHERS AND THEREBY IN THYSELF 208 VIII. THE SUPREME ETHICAL RULE (_Continued_) 220 IX. HOW TO LEARN TO SEE THE SPIRITUAL _Numen_ IN OTHERS 223 BOOK IV APPLICATIONS: THE ETHICS OF THE FAMILY, THE STATE, THE INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS, ETC. I. THE COLLECTIVE TASK OF MANKIND AND THE THREE-FOLD REVERENCE 241 II. THE FAMILY 249 III. THE VOCATIONS 260 IV. THE PRACTICAL VOCATIONS 270 V. THE VOCATION OF THE ARTIST: OUTLINE OF A THEORY OF THE RELATION OF ART TO ETHICS 277 VI. EDUCATIONAL VOCATIONS, OR VOCATIONS CONNECTED WITH THE STATE 289 VII. THE STATE 305 VIII. THE NATIONAL CHARACTER SPIRITUALLY TRANSFORMED: THE INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY, OR THE ORGANIZATION OF MANKIND 324 IX. RELIGIOUS FELLOWSHIP AS THE CULMINATING SOCIAL INSTITUTION 341 X. THE LAST OUTLOOK ON LIFE 354 APPENDIX APPENDIX I: SPIRITUAL SELF-DISCIPLINE 365 APPENDIX II: THE EXERCISE OF FORCE IN THE INTEREST OF FREEDOM 369 INDEX 375 BOOK I AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL INTRODUCTION CHAPTER I PRELUDE What this book offers is a system of thought and of points of view as to conduct, as these have jointly grown out of personal experience. It will be useful to introduce them with an autobiographical statement. The ideas which follow are such as have been found by me, the author, to be fruitful. Certainly I claim for them objectivity; but I do so because of what I have found them to mean in my own life. He who has been scorched by lightning knows that the effects of the lightning will be felt by all who are exposed to the same experience. I narrate my experience; let others compare with it theirs.