Human affairs inspire in noble hearts only two feelings-admiration or pity.
Anatole FranceRead
Devout believers are safeguarded in a high degree against the risk of certain neurotic illnesses; their acceptance of the universal neurosis spares them the task of constructing a personal one.
Interpretation
Believers may escape certain psychological issues by accepting shared human struggles.
Anatole France highlights the idea that devout believers, through their faith, find protection from certain psychological ailments. By embracing the common 'neurosis' faced by humanity, they avoid the burden of creating their own individual psychological conflicts, suggesting that collective belief can offer a form of sanctuary for the mind.
In practice
In a sermon discussing the comfort of community belief, this quote could be used to illustrate the protective nature of faith.
Human affairs inspire in noble hearts only two feelings-admiration or pity.
Awaken people's curiosity. It is enough to open minds, do not overload them. Put there just a spark.
In its majestic equality, the law forbids rich and poor alike to sleep under bridges, beg in the streets and steal loaves of bread.
Justice is the means by which established injustices are sanctioned
There is a certain impertinence in allowing oneself to be burned for an opinion.
Lovers who love truly do not write down their happiness.
I felt like I was some kind of primitive spring-loaded machine, placed under far more tension than it had ever been built to sustain, about to blast apart at great danger to anyone standing nearby. I imagined my body parts flying off my torso in order to escape the volcanic core of unhappiness that had become: me.
There are no moral or intellectual merits. Homer composed the Odyssey; if we postulate an infinite period of time, with infinite circumstances and changes, the impossible thing is not to compose the Odyssey, at least once.
There are people who are suffering beyond description. They are innocent people, they didn't bring this upon themselves. They are the victims of the sins of other people. And while it's hard to see, it's important to understand that these people exist.
Any effort to make the death penalty speedier and less costly - more 'efficient' - will inevitably make it less just.
Instead of buying six things, buy one thing that you really like. Don't keep buying just for the sake of it.
Reality - Dreams = Animal Being Reality + Dreams = A Heart-Ache (usually called Idealism) Reality + Humor = Realism (also called Conservatism) Dreams - Humor = Fanaticism Dreams + Humor = Fantasy Reality + Dreams + Humor = Wisdom
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.