To Rulers Religion, Like Almost Everything Else,

Civilization Is A Stream With Banks. The Stream Is Sometimes Filled With Blood From People Killing, Stealing, Shouting And Doing The Things Historians Usually Record, While On The Banks, Unnoticed, People Build Homes, Make Love, Raise Children, Sing Songs, Write Poetry And Even Whittle Statues. The Story Of Civilization Is What Happened On The Banks.

The Dog That Buried The Bone Which Even A Canine Appetite Could Not Manage, The Squirrel That Gathered Nuts For A Later Feast, The Bees That Filled The Comb With Honey, The Ants That Laid Up Stores For A Rainy Day - These Were Among The First Creators Of Civilization. It Was They....who Taught Our Ancestors The Art Of Providing For Tomorrow Out Of The Surplus Of Today, Or Of Preparing For Winter In Summer's Time Of Plenty.

Music And Religion Are As Intimately Related As Poetry And Love; The Deepest Emotions Require For Their Civilized Expression The Most Emotional Of Arts.

The Islamic Conquest Of India Is Probably The Bloodiest Story In History. It Is A Discouraging Tale, For Its Evident Moral Is That Civilization Is A Precious Good, Whose Delicate Complex Of Order And Freedom, Culture And Peace, Can At Any Moment Be Overthrown By Barbarians Invading From Without Or Multiplying Within.

Forced To Choose, The Poor, Like The Rich, Love Money More Than Political Liberty; And The Only Political Freedom Capable Of Enduring Is One That Is So Pruned As To Keep The Rich From Denuding The Poor By Ability Or Subtlety And The Poor From Robbing The Rich By Violence Or Votes.