The Master works for the race, knowing well that he cannot safely ignore it. Even if he made himself equal with the gods and desired to build a world of his own, he would have to take the substance for it from the common reservoir of substance. If like a spider he could spin his world-web from himself, he would have to eat the common substance to sustain himself in his power. You may as well love the race, for you cannot escape it altogether. Even if you rise and dwell in the thin air of the kingdom of the mind, you will feel the wind-currents from your fellows above and below. Some will deny this, but I have made the test. I recently sought a high place for rest. But the needs of the world pulled me back. The greatest need of the world for the next few years will be the knowledge of the law of conservation. Retain, O world! the treasures you have labored for throughout the centuries, and discard only the worn-out garments and utensils. The wooden plough and the wooden shoe are no longer needed in a wisely ordered world; but the sciences and the arts you will need, and the Gothic cathedrals you destroy can never be replaced. LETTER XXXI THE ALTAR FIRE _February 18, 1918._ ALWAYS the pull of the opposites! In all the talk of internationalism, let us not forget nationalism. The enemy of the present hour made great use of it, but he did not reckon with its opposite. It is not true internationalism to support spies as commercial agents in all the countries of earth. America of all nations is best fitted to carry on her standards: Each for all, and all for each. But in her love for other races, for other nationalities, let her not forget to strengthen and uphold her own. “My Country, ’tis of Thee!” As that sentiment grows ever stronger in your heart, so will your justice to other nations make you recognize that their countries are of them. For your country was not built upon the idea of world domination, but of freedom--for yourselves and for all men. Your president has been called a maker of phrases. That is good. A man who can make phrases that shall carry themselves around the world can influence the thought of the world. “To make the world safe for democracy.” Those words will go down the centuries. You Americans who love the storied lands of Europe, do not underestimate this land that gave you birth. It is great as the greatest now, and its clock has not yet struck twelve noonday. It is still morning in America. The present day American is the ancestor of the man of the Sixth Race. From many stocks he will spring, and his blood will be blended from that of all the races which have preceded him. He will be unique in his qualities. No man of the older races can imitate him, for his consciousness will be his own.