Thoughts on Religion by George John Romanes
page 121 of 159 (76%)
page 121 of 159 (76%)
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fact, changes it entirely.
'The night has a thousand eyes, And the day but one; Yet the light of a whole world dies With the setting sun. The mind has a thousand eyes, And the heart but one; Yet the light of a whole life dies When love is done.' Love is known to be all this. How great, then, is Christianity, as being the religion of love, and causing men to believe both in the cause of love's supremacy and the infinity of God's love to man. FOOTNOTES: [55] Cf. Pascal, _Pensées_. 'For we must not mistake ourselves, we have as much that is automatic in us as intellectual, and hence it comes that the instrument by which persuasion is brought about is not demonstration alone. How few things are demonstrated! Proofs can only convince the mind; custom makes our strongest proofs and those which we hold most firmly, it sways the automaton, which draws the unconscious intellect after it.... It is then custom that makes so many men Christians, custom that makes them Turks, heathen, artisans, soldiers, &c. Lastly, we must resort to custom when once the mind has seen where truth is, in order to slake our thirst and steep ourselves in that belief which escapes us at every hour, for to have proofs always at hand were too onerous. We must acquire a more easy belief, that of custom, which without violence, |
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