{
  "schema": "tga.work.v1",
  "identifier": "dresden:vol-11:the-improved-man",
  "slug": "the-improved-man",
  "title": "The Improved Man",
  "subtitle": "Essay.",
  "excerpt": "A sketch of the human being as he might one day be — when reason, kindness, and work have done their work upon the race.",
  "year": 1890,
  "volume": 11,
  "category": "Essay",
  "author": {
    "name": "Robert G. Ingersoll",
    "wikidata": "Q360326",
    "viaf": "44331023"
  },
  "isPartOf": {
    "title": "The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll",
    "edition": "Dresden Edition",
    "publisher": "C. P. Farrell",
    "year": 1900
  },
  "license": "https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/",
  "url": "https://thegreatagnostic.com/works/the-improved-man/",
  "wordCount": 989,
  "body": "THE Improved Man will be in favor of universal liberty, that is to say, he\nwill be opposed to all kings and nobles, to all privileged classes.\nHe will give to all others the rights he claims for himself. He will\nneither bow nor cringe, nor accept bowing and cringing from others. He\nwill be neither master nor slave, neither prince nor peasant—simply\nman.\n\nHe will be the enemy of all caste, no matter whether its foundation be\nwealth, title or power, and of him it will be said: \"Blessed is that man\nwho is afraid of no man and of whom no man is afraid.\"\n\nThe Improved Man will be in favor of universal education. He will\nbelieve it the duty of every person to shed all the light he can, to the\nend that no child may be reared in darkness. By education he will mean\nthe gaining of useful knowledge, the development of the mind along the\nnatural paths that lead to human happiness.\n\nHe will not waste his time in ascertaining the foolish theories of\nextinct peoples or in studying the dead languages for the sake of\nunderstanding the theologies of ignorance and fear, but he will turn his\nattention to the affairs of life, and will do his utmost to see to it\nthat every child has an opportunity to learn the demonstrated facts of\nscience, the true history of the world, the great principles of right\nand wrong applicable to human conduct—the things necessary to the\npreservation of the individual and of the state, and such arts and\nindustries as are essential to the preservation of all.\n\nHe will also endeavor to develop the mind in the direction of the\nbeautiful—of the highest art—so that the palace in which the mind\ndwells may be enriched and rendered beautiful, to the end that these\nstones, called facts, may be changed into statues.\n\nThe Improved Man will believe only in the religion of this world. He\nwill have nothing to do with the miraculous and supernatural. He will\nfind that there is no room in the universe for these things. He will\nknow that happiness is the only good, and that everything that tends to\nthe happiness of sentient beings is good, and that to do the things—and\nno other—that add to the happiness of man is to practice the highest\npossible religion. His motto will be: \"Sufficient unto each world is the\nevil thereof.\" He will know that each man should be his own priest, and\nthat the brain is the real cathedral. He will know that in the realm\nof mind there is no authority—that majorities in this mental world can\nsettle nothing—that each soul is the sovereign of its own world, and\nthat it cannot abdicate without degrading itself. He will not bow to\nnumbers or force; to antiquity or custom. He, standing under the flag of\nnature, under the blue and stars, will decide for himself. He will not\nendeavor by prayers and supplication, by fastings and genuflections, to\nchange the mind of the \"Infinite\" or alter the course of nature, neither\nwill he employ others to do those things in his place. He will have no\nconfidence in the religion of idleness, and will give no part of what he\nearns to support parson or priest, archbishop or pope. He will know that\nhonest labor is the highest form of prayer. He will spend no time\nin ringing bells or swinging censers, or in chanting the litanies\nof barbarism, but he will appreciate all that is artistic—that is\nbeautiful—that tends to refine and ennoble the human race. He will not\nlive a life of fear. He will stand in awe neither of man nor ghosts. He\nwill enjoy not only the sunshine of life, but will bear with fortitude\nthe darkest days. He will have no fear of death. About the grave, there\nwill be no terrors, and his life will end as serenely as the sun rises.\n\nThe Improved Man will be satisfied that the supernatural does not\nexist—that behind every fact, every thought and dream is an efficient\ncause. He will know that every human action is a necessary product,\nand he will also know that men cannot be reformed by punishment, by\ndegradation or by revenge. He will regard those who violate the laws\nof nature and the laws of States as victims of conditions, of\ncircumstances, and he will do what he can for the wellbeing of his\nfellow-men.\n\nThe Improved Man will not give his life to the accumulation of wealth.\nHe will find no happiness in exciting the envy of his neighbors. He will\nnot care to live in a palace while others who are good, industrious and\nkind are compelled to huddle in huts and dens. He will know that great\nwealth is a great burden, and that to accumulate beyond the actual\nneeds of a reasonable human being is to increase not wealth, but\nresponsibility and trouble.\n\nThe Improved Man will find his greatest joy in the happiness of others\nand he will know that the home is the real temple. He will believe in\nthe democracy of the fireside, and will reap his greatest reward in\nbeing loved by those whose lives he has enriched.\n\nThe Improved Man will be self-poised, independent, candid and free.\nHe will be a scientist. He will observe, investigate, experiment and\ndemonstrate. He will use his sense and his senses. He will keep his mind\nopen as the day to the hints and suggestions of nature. He will always\nbe a student, a learner and a listener—a believer in intellectual\nhospitality. In the world of his brain there will be continuous summer,\nperpetual seed-time and harvest. Facts will be the foundation of his\nfaith. In one hand he will carry the torch of truth, and with the other\nraise the fallen.—The World, New York, February 28,1890.\n"
}