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Page:George Lansbury - What I saw in Russia.pdf/22

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xvi
PREFACE

is there amongst the Churches and Governments of Europe and America that dare cast the first stone at the Soviet Government of Russia ?

Above and over everything else we need to understand that personal success is of no account. The one and only thing that matters is we should be true to the highest that is in us.

Through long weary ages men and women have struggled toward the golden age. Again and again they have found themselves disappointed, cast down, because the higher they reached, the more severe their struggles, the farther off appeared their goal. In Russia, indeed throughout the world, this struggle for the highest has assumed a new guise. We are understanding that from within comes salvation, and at the same time we understand what appears to be a paradox, that in modern life we cannot be socially saved alone. We understand clearer than ever the meaning of the cry, “ Am I my brother’s keeper ? ” for we know “ our brother is our keeper.” Look where we will, go where we may, the old theories of life have proved themselves valueless, and to-day the hope of the world is the cry of the ages—“ Liberty, Equality,