I hope I never get so old I get religious.

I hope I never get so old I get religious.

The human understanding is no dry light, but receives infusion from the will and affections; which proceed sciences which may read more

The human understanding is no dry light, but receives infusion from the will and affections; which proceed sciences which may be called "sciences as one would." For what a man had rather were true he more readily believes. Therefore he rejects difficult things from impatience of research; sober things, because they narrow hope; the deeper things of nature, from superstition; the light of experience, from arrogance and pride; things not commonly believed, out of deference to the opinion of the vulgar. Numberless in short are the ways, and sometimes imperceptible, in which the affections color and infect the understanding.

To speak of God, to think of God, is in every respect to show what one is made of. I read more

To speak of God, to think of God, is in every respect to show what one is made of. I have always wagered against God and I regard the little that I have won in this world as simply the outcome of this bet. However paltry may have been the stake (my life) I am conscious of having won to the full. Everything that is doddering, squint-eyed, vile, polluted and grotesque is summoned up for me in that one word: God!

I hope with all my heart there will be painting in heaven.

I hope with all my heart there will be painting in heaven.

The savior who wants to turn men into angels is as much a hater of human nature as the totalitarian read more

The savior who wants to turn men into angels is as much a hater of human nature as the totalitarian despot who wants to turn them into puppets.

Idolatry is in a man's own thought, not in the opinion of another.

Idolatry is in a man's own thought, not in the opinion of another.

And even in our sleep pain that cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart, and in our own read more

And even in our sleep pain that cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart, and in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom to us by the awful grace of God.

Theology is never any help; it is searching in a dark cellar at midnight for a black cat that isn't read more

Theology is never any help; it is searching in a dark cellar at midnight for a black cat that isn't there. Theologians can persuade themselves of anything.

O God, thy sea is so great, and my boat is so small.

O God, thy sea is so great, and my boat is so small.