"One hour devoted to the pursuit of beauty and love is worth a full century of glory given by the frightened weak to the strong.

"From that hour comes humanity's truth. And during that century truth sleeps between the restless arms of disturbing dreams.

"In that hour the soul sees for herself the natural law, and for that century she imprisons herself behind the laws of humanity, and she is shackled with irons of oppression.

"That hour was the inspiration for the Songs of Solomon, and that century was the blind power that destroyed the temple of Baalbek.

"That hour was the birth of the Sermon on the Mount, and that century wrecked the castles of Palmyra and the Tower of Babylon.

"That hour was the Hejira of Muhammad, and that century forgot Allah, Golgotha, and Sinai.

"One hour devoted to mourning and lamenting the stolen equality of the weak is nobler than a century filled with greed and usurpation.

"It is at that hour that the heart is purified by flaming sorrow and illuminated by the torch of love.

"And in that century that desires for truth are buried in the bosom of the earth.

"That hour is the root that must flourish.

"That hour is the hour of contemplation, the hour of prayer, and the hour of a new era of good.

"And that century is a life of Nero spent on self-investment taken solely from earthly substance.

"This is life – portrayed on the stage for ages, recorded on earth for centuries, lived in strangeness for years, sung as a hymn for days, exalted for but an hour – but the hour is treasured by eternity as a jewel."