11 quotes
The foundation of democracy is the sense of spiritual independence which nerves the individual to stand alone against the powers of this world.
Religion and the Rise of Capitalism (1926)
It is probable that democracy owes more to Nonconformity than to any other single movement.
Religion and the Rise of Capitalism (1926)
The certainties of one age are the problems of the next.
Religion and the Rise of Capitalism (1926)
Mankind may wring her secrets from nature, and use their knowledge to destroy themselves.
Religion and the Rise of Capitalism (1926)
Too often, contemning the external order as unspiritual, [the Puritan] has made it, and ultimately himself, less spiritual by reason of his contempt.
Religion and the Rise of Capitalism (1926)
Virtues are often conquered by vices, but their rout is most complete when it is inflicted by other virtues, more militant, more efficient, or more congenial.
Religion and the Rise of Capitalism (1926)
In every human soul there is a socialist and an individualist, an authoritarian and a fanatic for liberty, as in each there is a Catholic and a Protestant. The same is true of the mass movements in which men marshal themselves for common action.
Religion and the Rise of Capitalism (1926)
A society which reverences the attainment of riches as the supreme felicity will naturally be disposed to regard the poor as damned in the next world, if only to justify itself for making their life a hell in this.
Religion and the Rise of Capitalism (1926)
By a kind of happy pre-established harmony, such as a later age discovered between the needs of society and the self-interest of the individual, success in business is in itself almost a sign of spiritual grace, for it is a proof that a man has laboured faithfully in his vocation.
Religion and the Rise of Capitalism (1926)
Practically, the Church was an immense vested interest, implicated to the hilt in the economic fabric, especially on the side of agriculture and land tenure. Itself the greatest of landowners, it could no more quarrel with the feudal structure than the Ecclesiastical Commission, the largest of mineral owners today, can lead a crusade against royalties.
Religion and the Rise of Capitalism (1926)
Convinced that character is all and circumstances nothing, [the Puritan] sees in the poverty of those who fall by the way, not a misfortune to be pitied and relieved, but a moral failing to be condemned, and in riches, not an object of suspicion … but the blessing which rewards the triumph of energy and will.
Religion and the Rise of Capitalism (1926)