Superficial, inexact observation sees contrasts everywhere in nature
(for instance, "hot and cold"), where there are no contrasts, only
differences of degree. 2, 231
On two hypotheses alone is there any sense in prayer, that not quite
extinct custom of olden times. It would have to be possible either
to fix or alter the will of the godhead, and the devotee would have
to know best himself what he needs and should really desire. Both
hypotheses, axiomatic and traditional in all other religions, are
denied by Christianity. 2, 235-233
Distrust is the touchstone for the gold of certainty. 2, 266
Wrath and punishment are our inheritance from the animals. Man does
not become of age until he has restored to the animals this gift of
the cradle.--Herein lies buried one of the mightiest ideas that men
can have, the idea of a progress of all progresses.--Let us go forward
together a few millenniums, my friends! There is still reserved for
mankind a great deal of joy, the very scent of which has not yet been
wafted to the men of our day! Indeed, we may promise ourselves this
joy, nay summon and conjure it up as a necessary thing, so long as the
development of human reason does not stand still. Some day we shall no
longer be reconciled to the logical sin that lurks in all wrath and
punishment, whether exercised by the individual or by society--some
day, when head and heart have learnt to live as near together as they
now are far apart. That they no longer stand so far apart as they did
originally is fairly palpable from a glance at the whole course of
humanity. The individual who can review a life of introspective work
will become conscious of the _rapprochement_ arrived at, with a proud
delight at the distance he has bridged, in order that he may thereupon
venture upon more ample hopes. 2, 284-285
Natural death is independent of all reason and is really an irrational
death, in which the pitiable substance of the shell determines how long
the kernel is to exist.... 2, 286
The more fully and thoroughly we live, the more ready we are to
sacrifice life for a single pleasurable emotion. 2, 288
All intellectual movements whereby the great may hope to rob and the
small to save, are sure to prosper. 2, 311-312
The desire for victory and pre-eminence is an ineradicable trait of
human nature, older and more primitive than any respect of or joy in
equality. 2, 312
If all alms were given only out of compassion, the whole tribe of
beggars would long since have died of starvation.... The greatest of
almsgivers is cowardice. 2, 317
The exertion of power is laborious and demands courage. That is why so
many do not assert their most valid rights, because their rights are a
kind of power, and they are too lazy or too cowardly to exercise them.
_Indulgence_ and _patience_ are the names given to the virtues that
cloak these faults. 2, 319-320
"Stupid as a man," say the women; "Cowardly as a woman," say the men.
Stupidity in a woman is unfeminine. 2, 328