--| Soul's Awakening - Machines & Art |-----


Manager:
        So much is happening that makes it clear
        how our production slackens more and more
        and how we're failing in our obligations.
        Too many are complaining that our products
        are growing worse in quality and so
        the other firms are starting to outdo us.
        Our well-known punctuality is lacking,
        as many customers have rightly claimed.
        Soon all the best friends that the firm has made
        will find themselves no longer satisfied.

Hilary:
        The one who wishes to create the new
        must calmly watch the old things pass away.
        I will no longer carry on the work
        as up to now it has been organised.
        It seems to me degrading when a business--
        is profit-making in the narrowest range--
        and throws the workers' output thoughtlessly
        upon the general market of the world,
        quite unconcerned with what becomes of it.
        I've gained this view since I have realised
        how human wor can take noble form,
        if human spirit puts its stamp upon it.

        Thomasius, the artist, shall direct
        the workshops that I build for him nearby.
        The products made by our machines will first
        be formed with art by his creative spirit
        and so supply for daily human needs
        things useful that are truly beautiful.
        Thus craftsmanship will be combined with art
        and bring good taste to ordinary life.
        So I would add to what I see today,
        as corpselike body in our work, the soul
        that can alone bestow on it true meaning.

        (*The Souls Awakening*, by Rudolf Steiner, pp. 30-32, 1922)


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