“Fusion, inner unity, is obtained by means of ‘friction,’ by the struggle between ‘yes’ and ‘no’ in man. If a man lives without inner struggle, if everything happens in him without opposition, if he goes wherever he is drawn or wherever the wind blows, he will remain such as he is. But if a struggle begins in him, and particularly if there is a definite line in this struggle, then, gradually, permanent TRAITS begin to form themselves, he begins to ‘crystallize.’ But crystallization is possible on a right founda-tion and it is possible on a wrong foundation. ‘Friction,’ the struggle between ‘yes’ and ‘no,’ can easily take place on a wrong foundation. For instance, a fanatical belief in some or other idea, or the ‘fear of sin,’ can evoke a terribly intense struggle between ‘yes’ and ‘no,’ and a man may crystallize on these foundations. But this would be a wrong, incomplete crystallization. Such a man will not possess the possibility of further development. In order to make further development possible he must be melted down again, and this can be accomplished only through terrible suffering. Fragments: Two

“Partly in connection with what I have just said it is imperative that you should understand the principles of the classification and the definition of living beings from the cosmic point of view, from the point of view of their cosmic existence. In ordinary science classification is made according to external TRAITS — bones, teeth, functions; mammals, vertebrates, rodents, and so on; in exact knowledge classification is made according to cosmic TRAITS. As a matter of fact there are exact TRAITS, identical for every-thing living, which allows us to establish the class and the species of a given creature with the utmost exactitude, both in relation to other creatures as well as to its own place in the universe. Fragments: Sixteen

“These TRAITS are the TRAITS of being. The cosmic level of being of every living creature is determined: “First of all by what this creature eats, “Secondly by what he breathes, and “Thirdly by the medium in which it lives. “These are the three cosmic TRAITS of being. Fragments: Sixteen

“These cosmic TRAITS of being are immediately connected with the definition of intelligence according to the ‘table of hydrogens.’ Fragments: Sixteen

In one of the following conversations G. again returned to the subject of classification according to cosmic TRAITS. Fragments: Sixteen