“If we must not act save on a certainty, we ought not to act on religion, for it is not certain. But how many things we do on an uncertainty, sea voyages, battles!”
Religion“Nothing is so intolerable to man as being fully at rest, without a passion, without business, without entertainment, without care.”
Business“If we must not act save on a certainty, we ought not to act on religion, for it is not certain. But how many things we do on an uncertainty, sea voyages, battles!”
Religion“Thus so wretched is man that he would weary even without any cause for weariness... and so frivolous is he that, though full of a thousand reasons for weariness, the least thing, such as playing billiards or hitting a ball, is sufficient enough to amuse him.”
Sports“Chance gives rise to thoughts, and chance removes them no art can keep or acquire them.”
Art“Man is but a reed, the most feeble thing in nature, but he is a thinking reed.”
Nature“Men are so necessarily mad, that not to be mad would amount to another form of madness.”
Men“Imagination disposes of everything it creates beauty, justice, and happiness, which are everything in this world.”
Beauty“That we must love one God only is a thing so evident that it does not require miracles to prove it.”
God“The struggle alone pleases us, not the victory.”
Alone“Small minds are concerned with the extraordinary, great minds with the ordinary.”
Great“As men are not able to fight against death, misery, ignorance, they have taken it into their heads, in order to be happy, not to think of them at all.”
Death“Men blaspheme what they do not know.”
Men“In each action we must look beyond the action at our past, present, and future state, and at others whom it affects, and see the relations of all those things. And then we shall be very cautious.”
Future“I have made this letter longer than usual, only because I have not had the time to make it shorter.”
Time“Vanity of science. Knowledge of physical science will not console me for ignorance of morality in time of affliction, but knowledge of morality will always console me for ignorance of physical science.”
Knowledge“The greatness of man is great in that he knows himself to be wretched. A tree does not know itself to be wretched.”
Great“There is a God shaped vacuum in the heart of every man which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God, the Creator, made known through Jesus.”
God“Atheism shows strength of mind, but only to a certain degree.”
Strength“It is not good to be too free. It is not good to have everything one wants.”
Good“Time heals griefs and quarrels, for we change and are no longer the same persons. Neither the offender nor the offended are any more themselves.”
Change“Human beings must be known to be loved but Divine beings must be loved to be known.”
Religion