From The Conduct of Life:
When Erasmus came to England he was delighted to find that the Englishwomen of that day habitually saluted the newcomer with a kiss, out of affectionate courtesy; and what could have been a better proof of their sound erotic life?—a life that was to break forth, presently, into such lyric poetry as only a woodland of mating birds might produce. "Come live with me and be my love!" Though one may not or can not usually carry out that invitation, it ought to hover over the threshold of all human meetings; and where social relations are healthy, and love itself has not become sick with denial, art may honestly serve as surrogate for love: the social blessing bestowed for the personal blessing withheld.
For the awakened man and woman, life itself is essentially a process of education, through maturation, crisis, and renewal: in that process, the fullest potentialities of the community and the person are realized. Such a philosophy does not segregate learning from living, or knowledge from action. As adult he never leaves school behind him, for at no point does he believe that his education is completed. When his daily work ceases to be formative and educative, he will make special efforts to restore these qualities, or seek another occupation; for he will regard such a loss of interest as a direct impoverishment of life.
Books by Mumford at Powell's Books
