K is for Kind

I love Lost Horizon, both the book by James Hilton and the 1937 movie starring Ronald Coleman and Jane Wyatt and directed by Frank Capra.

Here's what Wikipedia has to say about the book:

"Hugh Conway, a veteran member of the British diplomatic service, finds inner peace, love, and a sense of purpose in Shangri-La, whose inhabitants enjoy unheard-of longevity. Among the book's themes is an allusion to the possibility of another cataclysmic world war brewing. It is said to have been inspired at least in part by accounts of travels in Tibetan borderlands, published in National Geographic by the explorer and botanist Joseph Rock. The remote communities he visited, such as Muli, show many similarities to the fictional Shangri-La. One such town, Zhongdian, has now officially renamed itself Shangri La (Chinese: Xianggelila) because of its claim to be the inspiration for the novel.

"The book explicitly notes having made war on the ground man would now fill the skies with death, and all precious things were in danger of being lost, like the lost histories of Rome ("Lost books of Livy"). It was hoped that overlooked by the violent, Shangri-la would preserve them and reveal them later to a receptive world exhausted by war. That was the real purpose of the lamasery; study, inner peace, and long life were a side benefit to living there."

In the movie, the High Lama makes a speech about the philosophy of Shangri-La. It's one that I wish we would all adopt. The world would be such a better place.

"Look at the world today. Is there anything more pitiful? But when has the world known any other time? What madness there is, what blindness, what unintelligent leadership. A furiously racing mass of bewildered humanity, strengthening not in wisdom but in vulgar passions, crashing headlong into each other, motivated by greed and propelled into brutality. The time must come when evil will destroy itself.

"For when the day comes that the world begins to look for a new life, it is our belief they will find their reservoir of hope here. So here we shall stay with our books and our music and our meditation. Here we shall be to guide the footsteps of a weary people. Here we shall be with our way of life based on one simple rule: BE KIND.

"And it is our hope that Shangri-La's brotherly love will spread throughout the world. And when the strong have devoured each other, then, at last, the meek shall inherit the earth."

Wouldn't it be great if we could all be kind to each other? Even for a day. What world would we have then? It would be better than the one we have now.

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