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Religion is not a matter of God, church, holy cause, etc. These are but accessories. The source of religious preoccupation read more
Religion is not a matter of God, church, holy cause, etc. These are but accessories. The source of religious preoccupation is in the self, or rather the rejection of the self. Dedication is the obverse side of self-rejection. Man alone is a religious animal because, as Montaigne points out, "it is a malady confined to man, and not seen in any other creature, to hate and despise ourselves.".
It is common to assume that human progress affects everyone- that even the dullest man, in these bright days, knows read more
It is common to assume that human progress affects everyone- that even the dullest man, in these bright days, knows more than any man of, say, the Eighteenth Century, and is far more civilized. This assumption is quite erroneous...The great masses of men, even in this inspired republic, are precisely where the mob was at the dawn of history. They are ignorant, they are dishonest, they are cowardly, they are ignoble. They know little if anything that is worth knowing, and there is not the slightest sign of a natural desire among them to increase their knowledge.
Controversy is only dreaded by the advocates of error.
Controversy is only dreaded by the advocates of error.
The smashing of idols is in itself such a preoccupation that it is almost impossible for the iconoclast to look read more
The smashing of idols is in itself such a preoccupation that it is almost impossible for the iconoclast to look clearly into a future when there will not be many idols left to smash.
How much easier is self-sacrifice than self-realization.
How much easier is self-sacrifice than self-realization.
Rejoicing not in the many but in the probity of the few, we toil for truth alone.
Rejoicing not in the many but in the probity of the few, we toil for truth alone.
Delay is ever fatal to those who are prepared.
Delay is ever fatal to those who are prepared.
It is a governing principle of nature, that the agency which can produce most good, when perverted from its proper read more
It is a governing principle of nature, that the agency which can produce most good, when perverted from its proper aim, is most productive of evil. It behooves the well-intentioned, therefore, vigorously to watch the tendency of even their most highly prized institutions, since that which was established in the interests of the right, may so easily become the agent of the wrong.
