And they see, for a moment, Stretching out, like the desert In its weary, unprofitable length, Their faded ignoble lives. While the locks are yet br… - Matthew Arnold

This is the aim of the following essay: to show that, when we come to put the right construction on the Bible, we give to the Bible a real experimental basis, and keep on this basis throughout; instead of any basis of unverifiable assumption to start with, followed by a string of other unverifiable assumptions of the like kind, such as the received theology necessitates.
And this aim we cannot seek without coming in sight of another aim, too, which we have often and often pointed out, and tried to recommend: culture, the acquainting ourselves with the best that has been known and said in the world, and thus with the history of the human spirit.

Sand-strewn caverns, cool and deep, Where the winds are all asleep.

Spells? Mistrust them.
Mind is the spell which governs earth and heaven.
Man has a mind with which to plan his safety.
Know that, and help thyself.

Empedocles on Etna: Act I, Scene II