The Lost Prince

And it was then he spoke about the broken Link - and about the greatest books in the world - that in all their different ways, they were only saying over and over again one thing thousands of times. Just this thing - 'Hate not, Fear not, Love.' And he said that was Order. And when it was disturbed, suffering came - poverty and misery and catastrophe and wars.

When man learns that he is one with The Word and Thought which itself created all beauty, all power, all splendor and all repose, he will never fear that his brother can rob him of his heart's desire. He will stand in the light and draw to himself his own. In this, out of the disorder of human misery, will arise the order which is Peace.

Hate not, Fear not, Love.

One of the most absorbingly fascinating things he and his father talked about together was the power of the thoughts which human beings allow to pass through their minds - the strange strength of them. When they talked of this, Marco felt as if he were listening to some marvelous Eastern story of magic which was true. What he believed was this: he himself, was the magician. He held and waved his wand - and his wand was his Thought. "Let pass through thy mind, my son, only the image thou wouldst desire to see a truth. Meditate only upon the wish of thy heart, seeing first that it can injure no man and is not ignoble. Then will it take earthly form and draw near to thee. This is the law of that which creates.

When things go wrong or when I'm lonely, he's taught me to sit down and make myself think of things I like - pictures, books, splendid places. It pushes the other things out and sets your mind going properly. He doesn't know I nearly always think of him. He's so quiet that to think about him makes you quiet yourself. He's the best thought himself. You try it. You're not really jealous - you only think you are. You'll find that out if you always stop yourself in time. Anyone can be a fool if he lets himself, and anyone can stop it if he makes up his mind. You must let that thought alone, kick it into the street.

Marco, are you jealous of - your father? Don't you mind how much I care for him? Here's the living truth, if I were you and you were me, I should see every low thing there was in you, your manners and voice and looks. I should see nothing but the contrast between you and me. I should be so jealous that I should just rage, hate you, and despise you!" Marco lay still a few minutes and thought it over. "You might, if you were with other people who thought the same way. But you see, if you were I, you would have lived with my father, and he'd have told you what the knows and what he's been finding out all his life." "What's he found out?" "Oh!" Marco answered casually, "just that you can't set savage thoughts loose in the world, any more than you can let loose savage beasts with hydrophobia. They spread a sort of rabies, and they always tear you first of all. You have to be either on one side or the other, like an army. You choose your side. You either build up or tear down. You either keep in the light where you can see, or you stand in the dark and fight everything that comes near you, because you can't see and you think it's an enemy. He knows things that wizards know but better; he says they're just simple laws of nature. No, you wouldn't have been jealous if you'd been I and I'd been you.

... history is not a mere lesson in a schoolbook, but is a relation of the life stories of men and women who saw strange and splendid days, and sometimes suffered strange and terrible things.

(Marco's thoughts in captivity). "What will it be best to think about first? This he said because one of the most absorbedly fascinating things he and his father talked about together was the power of the thoughts which human beings allow to pass through their minds, the strange strength of them... What he (his father) believed, he had taught Marco quite simply from his childhood. It was this: he himself, Marco... was the magician. He held and waved his wand himself, and his wand was his own thought. When special privation or anxiety beset them, it was their rule to say, What will it be best to think about first, which was Marco's reason for saying it to himself now... (recalling his father's words): Let pass through thine mind, my son, only the image which thou would desire to see as truth. Meditate only upon the wish of thy heart, seeing first that it could injure no man and is not ignoble. Then will it take earthly form and draw near to thee. This is the law of that which creates.

Two years before, a rival claimant to the throne had assassinated the then reigning king and his sons, and since then, bloody war and tumult had raged. The new king was a powerful man, and had a great following of the worst and most self-seeking of the people. Neighboring countries had interfered for their own welfare's sake,