“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

Ideals are vital, for they provide an impetus toward beneficial action, action that is meant to lead to some actualization of that ideal in fact. An ideal represents events that do not as yet exist in fact. They should serve as plans for concentrated action.

Many ideals, however, must remain by their nature somewhat generalized, a matter of inspiration, for example, that cannot perhaps so easily be put into words; or sometimes the ideal exists simply as a yearning for a better situation, though no immediate steps come to mind that offer any concerted plan for action.

The ideal may be specific, then, or ill-defined, and man’s idea of “the good” varies considerably. The better you can define your idea of the ideal, the better off you are, for it—the definition—at least clears your own mind, and suggests lines of action too. “The best” idealist is a practical one—someone who realizes that most men like to work with specifics. Many might shy away from any philosophical discussions concerning the nature of “the good,” but many would also understand and appreciate the meaning of the word “better,” when applied to any situation.

(Pause.) You appeared as both young men. Ruburt appeared as himself, and as Pat Norelli. The amphitheatre stands both for the world, and for the dramatic action of your lives, in which your ideals and aspirations are actualized or played out to whatever extent. The couples show your own double faces. One couple is brave, daring, assured, headed for the center of the stage. The other couple, while headed in the same direction, are frightened of the high ledge that must be covered, and afraid that it can lead to a dead end.