There are many ways of saying that to get the best from humanity we must treat each other with affection, tenderness, love and respect. These principles are at the root of anarchism and are encapsulated in the terms mutual aid, free association and voluntary co-operation. However to get people to listen to or read long winded statements on political theory can be a daunting task. It would be nice if we could find a phrase or paragraph that said it beautifully, simply and sincerely that perhaps could lead to that change of consciousness and opened people's eyes to the possibilities within anarchism. The following, though far from perfect, does come close and is worth reading over a few times.
Most men, even in this comparatively free country, through mere ignorance and mistake, are so occupied with the factitious cares and superfluously coarse labors of life that its finer fruits cannot be plucked by them. Their fingers, from excessive toil, are too clumsy and tremble too much for that. Actually, the laboring man has not leisure for a true integrity day by day; he cannot afford to sustain the manliest relations to men; his labor would be depreciated in the market. He has no time to be anything but a machine. How can he remember well his ignorance--which his growth requires--who has so often to use his knowledge? We should feed and clothe him gratuitously sometimes, and recruit him with our cordials, before we judge of him. The finest qualities of our nature, like the bloom on fruits, can be preserved only by the most delicate handling. Yet we do not treat ourselves nor one another thus tenderly." Walden-H.D.Thoreau
