Various kinds of ideas can be classified by their relationship to the authentication process. There are ideas systematically prepared for read more

Various kinds of ideas can be classified by their relationship to the authentication process. There are ideas systematically prepared for authentication ("theories"), ideas not derived from any systematic process ("visions"), ideas which could not survive any reasonable authentication process ("illusions"), ideas which exempt themselves from any authentication process ("myths"), ideas which have already passed authentication processes ("facts"), as well as ideas known to have failed- or certain to fail- such processes ("falsehoods" - both mistakes and lies).

I know that most men, including those at ease with problems of the greatest complexity, can seldom accept even the read more

I know that most men, including those at ease with problems of the greatest complexity, can seldom accept even the simplest and most obvious truth if it be such as would oblige them to admit the falsity of conclusions which they have delighted in explaining to colleagues, which they have proudly taught to others, and which they have woven, thread by thread, into the fabric of their lives.

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.

If one age believes too much it is natural that another believes too little.

If one age believes too much it is natural that another believes too little.

Measure not men by Sundays, without regarding what they do all the week after.

Measure not men by Sundays, without regarding what they do all the week after.

Religion is the sum of the expansive impulses of a being.

Religion is the sum of the expansive impulses of a being.

Take this kiss upon the brow! And, in parting from you now,
Thus much let me avow--
You are not read more

Take this kiss upon the brow! And, in parting from you now,
Thus much let me avow--
You are not wrong who deem
That my days have been a dream;
Yet if hope has flown away
In a night, or in a day,
In a vision, or in none,
Is it therefore the less gone?
All that we see or seem
Is but a dream within a dream.

The neer to the church, the further from God.

The neer to the church, the further from God.

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!