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In crossing a heath, suppose I pitched my foot against a stone and were asked how the stone came to be there, I might possibly answer that for anything I knew to the contrary it had lain there forever; nor would it, perhaps, be very easy to show the absurdity of this answer.

— William Paley Natural Theology (1802)

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More quotes by William Paley

It is a step to have it proved, that there must be something in the world more than what we see. It is a further step to know, that, amongst the invisible things of nature, there must be an intelligent mind, concerned in its production, order, and support.

Natural Theology (1802)

I have seldom known any one who deserted truth in trifles that could be trusted in matters of importance.

Wanton, and, what is worse, studied cruelty to brutes, is certainly wrong.

The Principles of Moral and Political Philosophy (1785)

A large part of Christian virtue consists in right habits.

God, when he created the human species, wished their happiness; and made for them the provision which he has made, with that view, and for that purpose.

The Principles of Moral and Political Philosophy (1785)

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All religions, arts and sciences are branches of the same tree. All these aspirations are directed toward ennobling man's life, lifting it from the sphere of mere physical existence and leading the individual towards freedom.

Albert Einstein Moral Decay (1937)

The great artists are the ones who dare to entitle to beauty things so natural that when they're seen afterward, people say: Why did I never realize before that this too was beautiful?

André Gide The Immoralist (1902)

A genuine work of art must mean many things; the truer its art, the more things it will mean.

George MacDonald The Fantastic Imagination (1893)

Were art to redeem man, it could do so only by saving him from the seriousness of life and restoring him to an unexpected boyishness.

José Ortega y Gasset The Dehumanization of Art and Ideas about the Novel (1925)

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