The three
stages are not traceable in all men with infallible certainty, there are
numerous individuals whose development in this respect has been
arrested, but in the emotional life of every highly differentiated
member of the human race they are clearly distinguishable, and the
greater the wealth and strength of a soul, the more perfectly will it
reflect the history of the race. The evolution of every well-endowed
individual presents a rough sketch of the history of civilisation; it
has its prehistoric, its classical, its mediaeval, and its modern
period. Many men remain imprisoned in the past; others are fragmentary,
or appear to be suspended in mid-air, rootless. The spirit of humanity
has lived through the past and overcome it, so as to be able to create
its future.
The gynecocratic stage actually survives to this day in the nursery.
Here the mother rules supreme; the father is an intruder, the brothers
are dominated by their sisters, often their juniors. Women mature at an
earlier age than men; this assertion applies with equal force to
individual and sex in connection with the history of civilisation.
Pages:
462
463
464
465
466
467
468
469
470
471
472
473
474
475
476
477
478
479
480
481
482
483
484
485
486