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.".
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No amount of artificial reinforcement can offset the natural inequalities of human individuals.
No amount of artificial reinforcement can offset the natural inequalities of human individuals.
The presence of a body of well-instructed men, who have not to labor for their daily bread, is important to read more
The presence of a body of well-instructed men, who have not to labor for their daily bread, is important to a degree which cannot be overestimated; as all high intellectual work is carried on by them, and on such work material progress of all kinds mainly depends, not to mention other and higher advantages.
Punishment is now unfashionable... because it creates moral distinctions among men, which, to the democratic mind, are odious. We prefer read more
Punishment is now unfashionable... because it creates moral distinctions among men, which, to the democratic mind, are odious. We prefer a meaningless collective guilt to a meaningful individual responsibility.
A people is but the attempt of many
To rise to the completer life of one--
And read more
A people is but the attempt of many
To rise to the completer life of one--
And those who live as models for the mass
Are singly of more value than they all.
The wise man sometimes flees from society from fear of being
bored.
The wise man sometimes flees from society from fear of being
bored.
Human civilization is not something achieved against nature; it is rather the outcome of the working of the innate qualities read more
Human civilization is not something achieved against nature; it is rather the outcome of the working of the innate qualities of man.
A doctrine insulates the devout not only against the realities around them but also against their own selves. The fanatical read more
A doctrine insulates the devout not only against the realities around them but also against their own selves. The fanatical believer is not conscious of his envy, malice, pettiness and dishonesty. There is a wall of words between his consciousness and his real self.
There is in the universe something for the description and analysis of which the natural sciences cannot contribute anything. There read more
There is in the universe something for the description and analysis of which the natural sciences cannot contribute anything. There are events beyond the range of those events that the procedures of the natural sciences are fit to observe and describe. There is human action.
Disapproval is a very important factor in all progress. There has really never been any progress without it.
Disapproval is a very important factor in all progress. There has really never been any progress without it.
