One principle we must grasp,
Otherwise no development will be possible in our crucial time.
Seek the truly practical life
but seek it in a way
that does not numb you towards the Spirit that is working in it.
Seek the Spirit,
but do no seek it out of greed for the supersensible,
from supersensible egoism;
but seek it, because you want to apply it
unselfishly in practical life, in the material world.
Make use of the ancient principle:
“Spirit is never without matter, matter never without Spirit.”
So that you say:
We intend to handle all material matters in the light of the Spirit,
And we shall seek the light of the Spirit in such a way
That it will kindle in us a warmth for our practical deeds.
Spirit that is led into matter by us;
Matter that is shaped by us until it reveals the Spirit it contains;
Matter that receives through us the Spirit revealed;
The Spirit that is brought by us to and into matter;
All this will build that active and vivid substance
Which can take humanity into real development;
Into that kind of progress that the people of today
In the deepest and most worthy longings of their souls
Can only but yearn for.
– Rudolf Steiner
9th House 