Chapter 88231–234

233 – Nobleness and generosity are the soul’s ethereal firma-

ment; without them, one looks at an insect in a dungeon.

234 – Let not thy virtues be such as men praise or reward, but

such as make for thy perfection and God in thy nature demands of thee.

Could you give me your definitions of the following words?

1. Courage and love 2. Meanness and selfishness 3. Nobleness and generosity.

1. Courage is the total absence of fear in any form. 2. Love is self-giving without asking anything in return. 3. Meanness is a weakness that calculates and demands from others the virtues one does not possess oneself. 4. Selfishness is to put oneself at the centre of the universe and to want everything to exist for one’s own satisfaction. 5. Nobleness is to refuse all personal calculation. 6. Generosity is to find one’s own satisfaction in the satisfaction of others.

15 December 1969 235 – Altruism, duty, family, country, humanity are the pris-

ons of the soul when they are not its instruments.

236 – Our country is God the Mother; speak not evil of her

unless thou canst do it with love and tenderness.

237 – Men are false to their country for their own profit; yet

they go on thinking they have a right to turn in horror from the matricide.