Steiner describes three ideals for today's time that can truly form the foundation, the space for development, and the guiding force of future social communities. The more individual characteristics develop—whether in a single human life or within a specific group—the more conflictual the relationships seem to become, and the stronger the desire for a new kind of community grows. In the midst of the crisis-laden period of World War I, Rudolf Steiner discussed how these three ideals for human coexistence should be increasingly made conscious and nurtured within people. In particular, in three lectures given in an intimate context to members of the Anthroposophical Society, he describes with various nuances and increasing urgency how the well-being of future communal life among people depends on the recognition, cultivation, and realization of these ideals.