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The philosopher ... is well able to understand religion as one of the expressions of the central phenomenon of consciousness. But the example of Socrates reminds us that it is not the same thing, but almost the opposite, to understand religion and to accept it.

— Maurice Merleau-Ponty

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Atheism

More quotes by Maurice Merleau-Ponty

Socrates reminds us that it is not the same thing, but almost the opposite, to understand religion and to accept it.

In Praise of Philosophy (1963)

Montaigne [puts] not self-satisfied understanding but a consciousness astonished at itself at the core of human existence.

It is a great good fortune, as Stendhal said, for one “to have his passion as a profession.”

In Praise of Philosophy (1963)

What makes a philosopher is the movement which leads back without ceasing from knowledge to ignorance, from ignorance to knowledge, and a kind of rest in this movement.

In Praise of Philosophy (1963)

The world is nothing but 'world-as-meaning.'

Phenomenology of Perception (1945)

All Maurice Merleau-Ponty quotes →

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Most intellectual people do not believe in God, but they fear him just the same.

Wilhelm Reich Philosophy : An Introduction to the Art of Wondering (2005)

Religion in so far as it is a source of consolation is a hindrance to true faith; and in this sense atheism is a purification.

Simone Weil

One of the most exquisite pleasures of human love — to serve the loved one without his knowing it — is only possible, as regards the love of God, through atheism.

Simone Weil Last Notebook (1942)

In the province of the mind, what one believes to be true is true or becomes true, within certain limits to be found experientially and experimentally. These limits are further beliefs to be transcended.

John C. Lilly The Human Biocomputer (1974)

Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Maurice Merleau-Ponty (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.