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How long shall we drift on the wings of passion
and vain desire; how long shall we spend
our days like barbarians in the depths of ignorance
and abomination? God has given us eyes, that
we may look about us at the world, and lay hold of
whatsoever will further civilization and the arts of living.
He has given us ears, that we may hear and profit
by the wisdom of scholars and philosophers and arise
to promote and practice it. Senses and faculties have
been bestowed upon us, to be devoted to the service of
the general good; so that we, distinguished above all
other forms of life for perceptiveness and reason,
should labor at all times and along all lines, whether
the occasion be great or small, ordinary or extraordinary,
until all mankind are safely gathered into the impregnable
stronghold of knowledge. We should continually
be establishing new bases for human happiness and
creating and promoting new instrumentalities toward