Society functions at its very best when each member finds security in their place in the social structure. When all members can be gainfully employed, yet have individual initiative, when they can excel in their own craft and find satisfaction in their work contributing to the overall goals of society, then there exists harmony and a sense of community. When members have an interest in the continuity of their community, great deeds can be accomplished. This is because the many work for the One.
These are the three steps of truth. We climb to the first by the toil of humility, to the second by the deep feelings of compassion, and to the third by the ecstasy of contemplation. On the first step we experience the severity of truth, on the second its tenderness, on the third its purity. Reason brings us to the first as we judge ourselves; compassion brings us to the second when we have mercy on others; on the third the purity of truth sweeps us up to the sight of things invisible.
~ from BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX ed. by M. Basil Pennington
