Page 127 - Age of Peace Goodword.indd

Peace of Mind is Most Important

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he mind is the greatest faculty of man and peace is the most
Tfavourable environment in which the mind can function to
its full capacity.
The mind is the greatest blessing of the Creator. All the
great achievements of the world have been as a result of the
functioning of the mind. But it requires peace to function
smoothly, as without peace one cannot proceed normally.
The Roman Empire ruled the greater portion of Europe and
Africa for about 2,000 years. However, there was no scientific
development during this long period. Historians generally
attribute this phenomenon to the lack of freedom of thought
under the Roman rule. Anyone who expressed dissent from
the view of the king was put to death. The watchword of this
period was that ‘the king could do no wrong’. Thus only one
person was allowed to think freely and the thinking process of
all others was severely constrained. This atmosphere naturally
led to intellectual stagnation.

The French Revolution of 1789, in putting an end to the
hereditary monarchical system of governance, marked the
dawn of a new democratic era in the world. The democratic
culture gave every person the freedom to think. If earlier only
the king could think, now every individual person was free
to think. In this way the thinking process was increased by
a billion times over. This intellectual revolution meant that
scientists were now intellectually unfettered and had every
opportunity to think freely and make new discoveries.

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