Part Six Essays, letters, etc. written in Japan between 1916 and 1920 Woman and the War You have asked me what I think of the feminist movement and what will be the consequences of the present war for it.  One of the first effects of the war has certainly been to give quite a new aspect to the question. The futility of the perpetual oppositions between men and women was at once made clearly apparent, and behind the conflict of the sexes, only relating to exterior facts, the gravity of the circumstances allowed the discovery of the always existent, if not always outwardly manifested fact, of the real collaboration, of the tr

Six The Simple Life The Prophet Mohammed, who devoted his life to teaching the Arab people, cared not for ease or riches.  One night he slept on a hard mat, and when he awoke his skin bore the marks of the knots and fibres of his bed.  A friend said to him, “O Messenger of Allah! This bed was too hard for you, and if you had asked me I would joyfully have prepared a softer one, so that your rest might have been better.”  The Prophet replied, “A soft bed is not for me. I have a work to do in the world. When my body needs rest, I give it rest, but only as a horseman who ties his horse for a little while under the shade of a tre

Fifteen The Family A traveller in Morocco noticed that in the evening when the flocks of ewes and the flocks of lambs were brought together after having been separated all day, the good creatures ran eagerly here and there as if they were looking for something. In fact, each ewe was looking for its lamb, each lamb was looking for its mother.  A monkey had young ones and she loved them, but her love was like a fountain, giving drink not only to her own children, but pouring out on all. She found other little monkeys and was kind to them. Not only that, she took puppies and kittens with her as if she had adopted them. And when she had fo

Four Self-Reliance Hatim Tai had a great reputation among the Arabs of old for the lavishness of his gifts and alms.  “Have you ever met anyone more excellent than yourself?” his friends once asked him.  “Yes,” replied Hatim Tai.  “Who was he?”  “One day I had forty camels sacrificed and I offered a feast to whoever would like to come and share in it. Then I set out with several chiefs to invite guests from far and wide. On the way we came across a woodcutter who had just cut a bundle of thorns. This was the way he earned his livelihood. Seeing that he was poor, I asked him why he did not go to the many feasts given by Hati

On Thought – III It has always seemed to me that apart from a very few exceptions, the mental role of women is not to speculate on the metaphysical causes of the phenomena which are perceptible to us, but to draw practical conclusions from these phenomena. Madame Martial was telling you very rightly last Friday that it would be wrong for women to want to think in the same way as men, that they would be in danger of losing their own qualities – profound intuition and practical deduction – without acquiring those of their masculine counterparts – logical reasoning and the capacity of analysis and synthesis. That is why today I shall not at

Seven Prudence “Good shot!” The cry rang out as the young Indian let fly his arrow and hit his mark. “Yes,” someone said, “but it is broad daylight. The archer can see his target. He is not so skilled as Dasaratha.”  “And what does Dasaratha do?”  “He is Sabdabhedi.”  “What is that?”  “He shoots by sound.”  “What do you mean?”  “Well, he can shoot in the dark. At night he goes out into the jungle and listens, and when he has judged, from the sound of wings or footsteps, what kind of game he has encountered he lets fly his arrow and hits it as surely as if he had shot by day.”  Thus the reputation of Das

Appendix Stories not published in previous editions of  Tales of All Times Twelve The Giver Rantideva who was a king, became a hermit in the forest. He had given his wealth to the poor and lived a simple life in the solitude of the jungle. He and his family had only the bare necessities of life.  One day, after a fast of forty-eight hours, a light meal of rice with milk and sugar was prepared for him.  A poor Brahmin came up to the door of the hut and asked for food. Rantideva gave him half of his rice. Then came a Sudra begging for help and Rantideva gave him half of what remained.  Then

To Know How to Suffer If at any time a deep sorrow, a searing doubt or an intense pain overwhelms you and drives you to despair, there is an infallible way to regain calm and peace.  In the depths of our being there shines a light whose brilliance is equalled only by its purity; a light, a living and conscious portion of a universal godhead who animates and nourishes and illumines Matter, a powerful and unfailing guide for those who are willing to heed his law, a helper full of solace and loving forbearance towards all who aspire to see and hear and obey him. No sincere and lasting aspiration towards him can be in vain; no strong and respect

Eleven Building and Destroying Children, you all know what it is to build and to destroy.  Weapon in hand, the warrior goes forth to destroy.  The builder draws up plans, digs foundations, and the toiling hands of men build a farmhouse for the peasant or a palace for a prince.  It is better to build than to destroy, and yet destroying is sometimes necessary.  You, children, who have strong arms and hands, do you only build? Do you never destroy? And if you do, what do you destroy?  Listen to this account of an Indian legend:  A new-born baby lay in a grove. You might think that he was sure to die, fo

The Central Thought* We are meeting for the last time this year – at least physically, for I hope we shall always remain united in thought, at all events in the same desire for progress, for perfection. This desire should always be the centre of our action, animating our will, for, whatever the goal we set ourselves, whatever the duty which devolves to us, whatever the work we have to achieve, in order to attain this goal, to fulfil this duty, to accomplish this work to the best of our ability, we must progress at each moment, we must use yesterday as the stepping-stone to tomorrow. Life is in perpetual movement, in perpetual transformation