In every one of the higher religions there is a strain of infinite optimism1 on the one hand, and on the other, of a profound pessimism. In the depths of our being, they all teach, there is an inner high—but an inner Light which our egotism2 keeps, for most of the time, in a state of more or lessplete eclipse. If, however, it so desires, the ego can get out of the way, so to speak, can dis-eclipse the Light and be identified with its divine source. Hence the unlimited optimism of the traditional religions. Their pessimism3 springs from the observed fact that, though all are called, few are chosen—for the sufficient reason that few choose to be chosen.
To me, this older conception of man’s nature and destiny seems more realistic, more nearly in accord with the given facts, than any form of modern utopianism.