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Documents for History
I am a biologist. The biologist every day has an appointment with life en his laboratory. He is filled with the passion to know it. He is never disappointed when under his sight new aspects of creation are unveiled.
At the very rare instant of the thrill of discovery, he is always dazzled by the splendor of the order and the majesty of the laws of the universe and the living world. Dazzled and then overcome with respect. After such a vision his will is keener not to let man wreck and destroy life for which he is now accountable.
I love life and life is worthloving.
The creation of the Institut de la Vie appeared to me as the expression of a fervor as well as the ultimate challenge in front of the clamor of death.”
Maurice MAROIS, Documents for History, éditions Rive Droite.
Maurice Marois said
(Documents for History, p 541)
“For more than one third of a century, the Institut de la Vie has been observing the course of our own history. Anxious, with a soul scared by the suffering of the world but also filled with hope when the chaotic adventure opens up on happy promises, when tumult gives way to its fight sovereign life asserts itself in its power and splendor.
We too are “children of the century”, but what a century! A century dominated by the power of men, still in their prehistory, that they give themselves through science and who must necessarily educate their freedom, master their passions, return to the springs of eternal wisdoms, and be inspired by them to forge a renewed wisdom. In front of situations they have never known, they must confront huge challenges not with bare hands as travelers without luggage, but enriched with all experiences, filled with all its expectations, as adults at last, determined to accomplish man’s humanity.
In the tumult of the end of our millennium, every one perceives the expectation of a new “renaissance”, of the advent of a time when the value of life and the greatness of man would be acknowledged, man in the full exercise of his responsible freedom, man, spark of spirit, creature of love.
We call for reconciliation of man with his full being. Not as a ebble carried away by the torrent, but as an actor and subject of history, man with intact purity in the deepest mystery of a conscience.
There is human condition, and it is the same misery and the same greatness, there is anguish, and it is the same wreckage, there is failure and it is the same sadness, there is evil and it is the same abyss, there is death and it is the same vertigo. But there is life and it is the same bedazzlement, there is the future and it is the same chance, and the same peril, there is intelligence and it is the same light, there is freedom and it is hope and it is the same surge, there is tenderness and it is the same masterpiece, there is love and it is the same fulfillment.
Listen to the moan of life who wants to live.
Hear the call of the millennia to come.
Be attentive to the germination of a new world: soon, the buds will open out.”
We, men of the XXth Century, are aware of the signs of the times. Science enriches our vision of the universe, of life and of man. It testifies to the greatness of the human mind. But knowledge is power. And carried by the tide of contemporary history, men have acquired through science, a power without limits. At this critical moment, destiny falters.
We reject the pessimistic viewpoint which considers any civilization as mortal. Power of expression must be given to irrepressible hope. We have created great civilizations. The fact that their triumphs are but partial only accentuates our keen desire to accomplish that which remains unaccomplished. Their further achievements must give, to an even greater degree, full rights to the passionate claim of life which wants to live and develop. We assert our attachment to human life. This assertion cannot be dissociated from the proclamation of the highest values which give life a purpose and a sense.
We would like to reach the essential purpose, that is to say life itself, the immediate truth, a simple and undeniable principle, the greatest possession, agent of unity, sole treasure of the living world. And to say “my country “ is not only a statement of earthly and national existence, it is to say “life”. This message, in its aim, is historic. It is a call for a new approach. If science revolutionizes humanity, we at least hope to control it in the service of life. Applied to the upholding of life, science is a liberator, warding off ancient fatalities and lessening the weight of suffering.
The future of life is entrusted to the liberty of man. To open the gates of the future, it is our purpose to develop, in every human action, a full attention to life – life, the radiant face of peace. “The day will come when the world will lay aside its armor of steel to devote itself to beauty and the joy of living”
In the name of all men on earth whose common aim is the will to live, in our name, and in the name of human tenderness, we celebrate life, we propose it as our major challenge today and for the millions of centuries to come.
The INSTITUT DE LA VIE sets itself a new mission:
- Study of the state of life (and more particularly human life) on earth, its opportunities and risks ; and periodic diffusion of messages on the state of life ;
- Permanent inventory of all actions carried out to improve life in selected fields and assessment of their effectiveness, possibilities and limitations ;
- Suggestions for improving existing programs and undertaking new ones.
The work of such an organization will be based on strict scientific methodology and on the positive philosophy of the INSTITUT DE LA VIE, which is respectful of life, devoted to man in his entirety and to all mankind. Conclusions will be apolitical in accordance with the Charter of the INSTITUT DE LA VIE which refrains from any involvement in national politics (Cf. Constitution of the INSTITUT DE LA VIE, page 3, article III, §2)
(note : Panegyric upon Rome by the rhetor Aelius Aristides before the Emperor Antonius in 143 A.D.)
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