The essence of essences is called quintessence. Successful societies know the secret of production, production of the primary needs of food, shelter and clothing. Expansive societies know of the ORGANISATION of these productive processes such as collective cooperation, mutual help, trade, commerce, service, etc. A higher society in the urban pockets has discovered the value of education, especially the value of education that is entertainment. The quality of the entertainment of a society is its quality of existence - civilisation.

We do believe that man is becoming more and more civilised with the passage of time. The nomad settled down in one place. He began to grow his own food, learned to build a shelter for himself, acquired a language for communication, and made tools to make work easy. In our view, these were landmarks of civilisation. They were comforts of life. This is how man ceased to be physical and showed signs of becoming mental. Moving from gross physicality to subtle mentality is to civilise oneself. The twentieth century has witnessed the latest expressions of such symbols of civilisation.

Bharathi was a personality that exuded fire. He was in Pondicherry for about ten years which were years of inspiration. He used to visit Sri Aurobindo who recognised his passion for freedom. They read the Vedas together, discussed the Thirukural and the Alwars. Struck by the grandeur of the poetic eminence of Nammalvar, Sri Aurobindo says he rose to the level of the greatest poets of the world.

We know of intelligence and are happy if we are possessed of it. In a wide world of ignorance, intelligence is of value, of great personal and social value. A bright child becomes a favourite of all because of his brilliance. Insight is rare. At times of election or any crisis, we see people of insight emerging out into prominence. Not all insights are taken for action, but when they are so taken, their end value is apparent and the owner is respected for his insight.

Shakespeare's words have become household idioms of which the Milk of Human Kindness is one. A lady who was enticed by an intellectual phase in her life took to acquiring higher knowledge of English language and literature. In her quest she came to reading Shakespeare for the first time and exclaimed, "Who is this author who has taken all the household phrases and put them into his dramas?" People travelling north of Madras for the first time find the Andhras gentle and North Indians soft. In the South, the mind is clearer than usual, and is quick in its perception.

The inner voice is also known as asariri, vani. It is that inner voice which brought Sri Aurobindo to Pondicherry. Mahatma Gandhiji relied on the inner voice which is the reason for stalwart leaders to submit to him. The inner voice in a man rises when he accepts what comes to him and ceases to desire for anything. In that sense, we can say the penultimate step to inner voice is NOT to seek for anything, not even moksha or God. Not to ask for anything is not to rely on men or circumstances.

Any work profits someone. Man is interested only in the work that profits himself. He likes work that gives satisfaction, in which he is directly interested. Beyond this known phenomenon lies a vast, dark ocean of life's reality. There are unproductive works. They are wearisome. They are done in offices where form is maintained for form's sake. Such a work is given to a man as a punishment. Even such work has a meaning, 1) for very meaningful people, and 2) people who are below the meaningless majority. That is the zone of rituals. We call them thankless jobs.

An expert in international security said fifteen years ago that there were 26 intra-state and inter-state conflicts in the world. The demise of the Cold War was received with a sigh of relief by the world. But there was disappointment about these minor conflicts. It is a law of life that the abolition of a major problem will be followed by minor problems unless the major relief is received with gratitude. The abolition of Cold War, the process by which it came about was the first of its kind. Revolutions rise from outside, never from inside.

Writers, artists, musicians and poets are unique expressions of human Personality.  If they are proud of anything, it is their creativity. One becomes creative when he is unique.  The world has not produced another Shakespeare in 400 years. That fact confirms one's claim to be unique. Nor has another Vyasa been born in India to write an epic that condenses all life into its slokas. Sri Aurobindo says each truth has an opposite which is equally true. Mathew Arnold speaks of the birth of culture and the birth of great literature.

Where POWER acts in freedom, man is uncompromising. The employer will be merciless if there is no law restraining him and if the workers are timid and unorganised. The workers will not be reasonable if the courts take their side. How far these expressions of power - assertions - will go has been seen in different decades. When the situations change, it will be a sight to see the parties on their own switching sides and becoming rational. There was a time when a mother-in-law asserted against her daughter-in-law for having used eight chillies instead of six.