I admit that the generation which produced Stalin, Auschwitz and Hiroshima will take some beating; but the radical and universal read more

I admit that the generation which produced Stalin, Auschwitz and Hiroshima will take some beating; but the radical and universal consciousness of the death of God is still ahead of us; perhaps we shall have to colonize the stars before it is finally borne in upon us that God is not out there.

Repentance may be old-fashioned, but it is not outdated so long as there is sin.

Repentance may be old-fashioned, but it is not outdated so long as there is sin.

Scientific criticism has no nobler task than to shatter false beliefs.

Scientific criticism has no nobler task than to shatter false beliefs.

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.

None preaches better than the ant, and she says nothing.

None preaches better than the ant, and she says nothing.

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.

Religion is the idol of the mob; it adores everything it does not understand.

Religion is the idol of the mob; it adores everything it does not understand.

I am treated as evil by people who claim that they are being oppressed because they are not allowed to read more

I am treated as evil by people who claim that they are being oppressed because they are not allowed to force me to practice what they do.

Either God is in the whole of nature, with no gaps, or He's not there at all.

Either God is in the whole of nature, with no gaps, or He's not there at all.