He who will not reason, is a bigot; he who cannot is a fool; and
he who dares not, read more

He who will not reason, is a bigot; he who cannot is a fool; and
he who dares not, is a slave.

The more reason, the less government.

The more reason, the less government.

Say first, of God above or man below,
What can we reason but from what we know?

Say first, of God above or man below,
What can we reason but from what we know?

Two angels guide
The path of man, both aged and yet young.
As angels are, ripening through read more

Two angels guide
The path of man, both aged and yet young.
As angels are, ripening through endless years,
On one he leans: some call her Memory,
And some Tradition; and her voice is sweet,
With deep mysterious accords: the other,
Floating above, holds down a lamp with streams
A light divine and searching on the earth,
Compelling eyes and footsteps. Memory yields,
Yet clings with loving check, and shines anew,
Reflecting all the rays of that bright lamp
Our angel Reason holds. We had not walked
But for Tradition; we walk evermore
To higher paths by brightening Reason's lamp.

But it is not reason that governs love.
[Fr., Mais la raison n'est pas ce qui regle l'amour.]

But it is not reason that governs love.
[Fr., Mais la raison n'est pas ce qui regle l'amour.]

Reason is a supple nymph, and slippery as a fish by nature. She had as leave give her kiss to read more

Reason is a supple nymph, and slippery as a fish by nature. She had as leave give her kiss to an absurdity any day, as to syllogistic truth. The absurdity may turn out truer.

Man has received direct from God only one instrument wherewith to know himself and to know his relation to the read more

Man has received direct from God only one instrument wherewith to know himself and to know his relation to the universe--he has no other--and that instrument is reason.

I can stand brute force, but brute reason is quite unbearable. There is something unfair about its use. It is read more

I can stand brute force, but brute reason is quite unbearable. There is something unfair about its use. It is hitting below the intellect.

An appeal to the reason of the people has never been known to fail in the long run.

An appeal to the reason of the people has never been known to fail in the long run.