WIDENED BOUNDARIES

But because of such things, must we, in acceptance of the standards of traditional culture and in development of our aesthetic ideals, be blind to the beauties that present themselves to the observer of Manhattan's sky line from the harbor approach, or of the Chicago water front from Lake Michigan, or of the environs of San Francisco Bay as one comes through the Golden Gate? There are built and building in this country in these modern days great bridges as beautiful as anything wrought by the hands of man and there are railroad terminals as inspiring as cathedrals of old. There are ships which sail the sea the lines of whose hulls are poems, and there are great machines doing the world's work whose rhythms are sweet music to those who sense their songs. So it is that the boundaries are constantly extended that define what may legitimately be included within the aesthetic appreciations of our cultural life. In all our seeking, let us not be blind to the multiform sources from which culture may in our time be derived in comparison with centuries long gone.

Moreover, education is incomplete in which appreciative understanding is not bred for the men of the world who envisage these things and make their dreams come true. The man who dreams great dreams and associates these with great thinking expands the area of culture regardless of the special field wherein he works. A new culture is growing up about us in America, not competitive with the old but an extension of it, broader in scope, bolder in spirit, and more widely applicable to the needs of our common life. Herein lie new resources for aesthetic satisfaction and spiritual inspiration. Herein lie new responsibilities for education. With all our getting in understanding, let us not fail in understanding this!