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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To love truth for truth's sake is the principal part of human perfection in this world, and the seed-plot of read more
To love truth for truth's sake is the principal part of human perfection in this world, and the seed-plot of all other virtues.
A system in which the two great commandments were, to hate your
neighbour and to love your neighbour's wife.
A system in which the two great commandments were, to hate your
neighbour and to love your neighbour's wife.
Scientists often have a naive faith that if only they could discover enough facts about a problem, these facts would read more
Scientists often have a naive faith that if only they could discover enough facts about a problem, these facts would somehow arrange themselves in a compelling and true solution.
Anyone taken as an individual, is tolerably sensible and reasonable- as a member of a crowd, he at once becomes read more
Anyone taken as an individual, is tolerably sensible and reasonable- as a member of a crowd, he at once becomes a blockhead.
The technique of a mass movement aims to infect people with a malady and then offer the movement as a read more
The technique of a mass movement aims to infect people with a malady and then offer the movement as a cure.
American public education is a remarkable enterprise; it succeeds best where it fails. Imagine an industry that consistently fails to read more
American public education is a remarkable enterprise; it succeeds best where it fails. Imagine an industry that consistently fails to do what it sets out to do. a factory where this year's product is invariably sleazier than last year's but, nevertheless, better than next year's. Imagine a corporation whose executives are always spending vast sums of money on studies designed to discover just what it is they are supposed to do and then vaster sums for further studies on just how to do it. Imagine a plant devoted to the manufacture of factory seconds to be sold at a loss. Imagine a producer of vacuum cleaners that rarely work hiring whole platoons of engineers who will, in time, report that it is, in fact, true that the vacuum cleaners rarely really work, and who will, for a larger fee, be glad to find out why, if that's possible. If you discover some such outfit, don't invest in it. Unfortunately, we are all required to invest in public education.
...mammalian embryos, regardless of their sex chromosome constitutions, have an inherent tendency to develop the female phenotype; the mammalian male read more
...mammalian embryos, regardless of their sex chromosome constitutions, have an inherent tendency to develop the female phenotype; the mammalian male is essentially a female that has been exposed to androgenic steroid hormones.
Every man's ability may be strengthened or increased by culture.
Every man's ability may be strengthened or increased by culture.
The thoughts of Plato and Machiavelli... don't seem quite enough armor for a world beset with splitting the atoms, urban read more
The thoughts of Plato and Machiavelli... don't seem quite enough armor for a world beset with splitting the atoms, urban guerrillas, nineteen varieties of psychotherapists, amplified guitars, napalm, computers, astronauts, and an atmosphere polluted simultaneously with auto exhaust and TV commercials.
