It takes a wonderful brain and exquisite senses to produce a few stupid ideas.
George SantayanaRead
Faith in the supernatural is a desperate wager made by man at the lowest ebb of his fortunes.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote suggests that people often turn to supernatural beliefs when they are in desperate situations.
George Santayana's quote reflects on the human tendency to seek refuge in supernatural beliefs during times of great hardship or despair. It implies that faith in the supernatural, while often viewed as a source of hope and comfort, can also stem from a place of desperation and vulnerability when faced with the challenges of life.
Themes
FaithSupernaturalDesperationFortuneBelief
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a discussion about the role of religion in coping with life's challenges.
More from George Santayana
All quotes βThe working of great institutions is mainly the result of a vast mass of routine, petty malice, self interest, carelessness and sheer mistake. Only a residual fraction is thought.
George SantayanaRead
There is no cure for birth and death save to enjoy the interval. The dark background which death supplies brings out the tender colours of life in all their purity.
George SantayanaRead
Not to believe in love is a great sign of dullness. There are some people so indirect and lumbering that they think all real affection rests on circumstantial evidence.
George SantayanaRead
To feel beauty is a better thing than to understand how we come to feel it. To have imagination and taste, to love the best, to be carried by the contemplation of nature to a vivid faith in the ideal, all this is more, a great deal more, than any science can hope to be.
George SantayanaRead
The vital straining towards an ideal, definite but latent, when it dominates a whole life, may express that ideal more fully than could the best chosen words.
George SantayanaRead
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If you don't understand how something works, never mind: just give up and say God did it. You don't know how the nerve impulse works? Good! You don't understand how memories are laid down in the brain? Excellent! Is photosynthesis a bafflingly complex process? Wonderful! Please don't go to work on the problem, just give up, and appeal to God.
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