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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There is apparently no surer way of turning a thing into its opposite than by exaggerating it.
There is apparently no surer way of turning a thing into its opposite than by exaggerating it.
Society knows perfectly well how to kill a man and has methods more subtle than death
Society knows perfectly well how to kill a man and has methods more subtle than death
Cultures contain many cues and inducements to dissuade the individual from approaching ultimate limits, in much the same way that read more
Cultures contain many cues and inducements to dissuade the individual from approaching ultimate limits, in much the same way that a special warning strip of land around the edge of a baseball field lets a player know that he is about to run into a concrete wall when he is preoccupied with catching the ball. The wider that strip of land and the more sensitive the player is to the changing composition of the ground under his feet as he pursues the ball, the more effective the warning. Romanticizing or lionizing as "individualistic" those people who disregard social cues and inducements increases the danger of head-on collisions with inherent social limits. Decrying various forms of social disapproval is in effect narrowing the warning strip.
All rising to great place is by winding stair.
All rising to great place is by winding stair.
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.
...most scientific problems are far better understood by studying their history than their logic.
...most scientific problems are far better understood by studying their history than their logic.
Specialization is for insects.
Specialization is for insects.
