William Ralph Inge Quotes

two chief pitfalls into which the mystic is liable to fall — dreamy inactivity and Antinomianism.

Patriotism varies, from a noble devotion to a moral lunacy.

The fruit of the tree of knowledge, always drives man from some paradise or other.

It is becoming impossible for those who mix at all with their fellow-men to believe that the grace of God is distributed denominationally.

"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.

Faith begins as an experiment and ends as an experience.

The old civilisation, with all the brilliant qualities which make many moderns regret its destruction, rested on too narrow a base. The woman and the slave were left out, the woman especially by the Greeks, and the slave by the Romans.

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.

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. Eckhart recognises that it is a harder and a nobler task to preserve detachment in a crowd than in a cell; the little daily sacrifices of family life are often a greater trial than selfimposed mortifications. "We need not destroy any little good in ourselves for the sake of a better, but we should strive to grasp every truth in its highest meaning, for no one good contradicts another." "Love God, and do as you like, say the Free Spirits. Yes; but as long as you like anything contrary to God's will, you do not love Him." There is much more of the same kind in Eckhart's sermons — as good and sensible doctrine as one could find anywhere.

what is originality ? undetected plagiarism!

the Father is the Fountain-head of the Son, and the Son is the outflowing of the Father; and the Father and Son pour forth the Spirit; and the Unity, which is the essence of the Fountain-head, is also the substance of the three Persons.

We have enslaved the rest of the animal creation, and have treated our distant cousins in fur and feathers so badly that beyond doubt, if they were able to formulate a religion, they would depict the Devil in human form.

A nation is a society united by a delusion about its ancestry and a common hatred of its neighbors.

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.

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.