Excerpt from The Collected Works of Theodore Parker, Minister of the Twenty-Eighth Congregational Society at Boston, U. S, Vol. 9: Containing His Theological, Polemical, and Critical Writings, Sermons, Speeches, and Addresses, and Literary Miscellanies; Critical Writings, Vol. I Every man has at times in his mind the Ideal of what he should be, but is not. This ideal may be high and com plete, or it may be quite low and insufficient yet in all men that really Seek to improve, it is better than the actual character. Perhaps no one is satisfied with himself, so that he never wishes to be wiser, better, and more holy. Man never falls so low, that he can see nothing higher than him self. This ideal man which we project, as it were, out of ourselves, and seek to make real this Wisdom, Goodness, and Holiness, which we aim to transfer from our thoughts to our life, has an action, more or less powerful, on each man, rendering him dissatisfied with present attainments, and restless unless he is becoming better. With some men it takes the rose out of the cheek, and forces them to wander a long pilgrimage of temptation S, before they reach the delectable mountains of Tranquillity, and find Rest for the Soul, under the Tree of Life. N ow there is likewise an ideal of perfection floating be fore the eyes of a community or nation; and that idea. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.