...to see the world; to eyewitness great events; to watch the faces of the poor
     and the gestures of the proud; to see strange things — machines, armies,
     multitudes, shadows in the jungle and on the moon; to see man's work —
     his paintings, towers and discoveries; to see things thousands of miles away,
     things hidden behind walls and within rooms, things dangerous to come to;
     the women men love and many children; to see and to take pleasure in seeing;
     to see and be amazed; to see and be instructed...

     The words of LIFE's founding editor, Henry Luce.
     His description of the magazine's mission, written in 1936.