29 quotes
There are two kinds of fools: one says, "This is old, therefore it is good"; the other says, "This is new, therefore it is better."
More Lay Thoughts of a Dean (1931)
The fruit of the tree of knowledge, always drives man from some paradise or other.
Outspoken Essays (1919)
It is useless for the sheep to pass resolutions in favour of vegetarianism while the wolf remains of a different opinion.
Outspoken Essays (1919)
Patriotism varies, from a noble devotion to a moral lunacy.
Outspoken Essays (1919)
It is becoming impossible for those who mix at all with their fellow-men to believe that the grace of God is distributed denominationally.
Outspoken Essays (1919)
No word in our language — not even "Socialism"— has been employed more loosely than "Mysticism."
Christian Mysticism (1899)
I have never understood why it should be considered derogatory to the Creator to suppose that he has a sense of humour.
Outspoken Essays (1919)
On the whole, the happiest people seem to be those who have no particular cause for being happy except the fact that they are so.
Lay Thoughts of a Dean (1926)
The command 'Be fruitful and multiply' was promulgated according to our authorities, when the population of the world consisted of two people.
More Lay Thoughts of a Dream (1931)
The happiest people seem to be those who have no particular cause for being happy except that they are so.
Civilization is a disease which is almost invariably fatal.
Outspoken Essays (1919)
True contemplation considers Reality (or Being) in its manifestations as well as in its origin. If this is remembered, there need be no conflict between social morality and the inner life.
Light, Life, and Love: Selections from the German Mystics of the Middle Ages (1904)
A nation is a society united by a delusion about its ancestry and by a common hatred of its neighbours.
The End of an Age: and other essays (1948)
To become a popular religion, it is only necessary for a superstition to enslave a philosophy.
The European talks of progress because by the aid of a few scientific discoveries he has established a society which has mistaken comfort for civilization.
Events in the past may be roughly divided into those which probably never happened and those which do not matter. This is what makes the trade of historian so attractive.
Assessments and Anticipations (1929)
The enemies of Freedom do not argue; they shout and they shoot.
The End of an Age, and Other Essays (1948)
A man may build himself a throne of bayonets, but he cannot sit upon it.
Looking back, I think I can separate the years when I was happy and those when I was unhappy. But perhaps at the time I should have judged differently.
Lay Thoughts of a Dean (1926)
So the pendulum swings, now violently, now slowly; and every institution not only carries within it the seeds of its own dissolution, but prepares the way for its most hated rival.
Democracy and the future (1922)