Replies

"It came to me in a vision long, long ago. I saw all the nations strengthening, not in wisdom, but in the vulgar passions and the will to destroy. I saw the machine power multiplying until a single weaponed man might match a whole army. I forsaw a time when man, exulting in the technique of murder, would rage so hotly with a world that every book, every treasure, would be doomed to destruction. The vision was so vivid and so moving that I determined to gather together all things of beauty and of culture that I could, and preserve them here against the doom toward which the world is rushing.

"Look at the world today. Is there anything more pitiful? What madness there is, what blindness, what unintelligent leadership, a scurrying mass of humanity, crashing headlong against each other, upheld by an orgy of greed and brutality. A time must come...when this orgy will spend itself, when brutality and the lust for power must perish by its own sword....For when that day comes, the world must begin to look for a new life, and it is our hope that they may find it here, for here we shall be with their books, and their music, and a way of life based on one simple rule: be kind. When that day comes, it is our hope that the brotherly love of Shangri-La will spread throughout the world. Yes...when the strong have devoured each other, the Christian ethic may at last be fulfilled and the meek shall inherit the earth." - James Hilton