But when a man’s religion becomes really frantic; when it is a positive torment to him; and in fine, makes this earth of ours an uncomfortable inn to lodge in; then I think it high time to take that individual aside and argue the point with him.
Interpretation
This quote suggests that when someone's strong beliefs cause them distress, it's important to address this situation thoughtfully.
The quote reflects on the nature of religious conviction and its impact on individual well-being. It highlights that if a person's faith leads to suffering or discomfort, it is essential to engage with them and explore these challenges in a supportive manner. The speaker implies that faith should offer solace rather than torment, prompting a reconsideration of beliefs when they become burdensome.
In practice
During a group discussion about the challenges of faith in modern society.
So in 1987 I gave up all animal products and became a vegan. Simply so that I could eat and live in accordance with my beliefs that animals have their own lives, that they're entitled to their own lives and that contributing to animal suffering is something that I don't want to be a part of.
I love to be busy. I'm envious of people who are able to take their spare time and relax. All I like to do is work. Perhaps it's lingering Calvinist guilt?
There might be a lot of difference between Republicans and Democrats on key social issues like women's rights and health care. But when it comes to taking corporate cash, they're pretty much the same beast.
And if we obey God, we must disobey ourselves, and it is in this disobeying ourselves, wherein the hardness of obeying God consists.
It's heartbreaking that so many hundreds of millions of people around the world are desperate for the right to vote, but here in America people stay home on election day.
Keep your weather eye open, and sing out every time.
all I wanted to do was sneak out into the night and disappear somewhere, and go and find out what everybody was doing all over the country.
I came to China to follow my star and to steep myself in the raw regions of the universe.
Well, the future for me is already a thing of the past.
I am willing to admit that some people might live there for years, or even a lifetime, so protected that they never sense the sweet stench of corruption that is all around them - the keen, thin scent of decay that pervades everything and accuses with a terrible accusation the superficial youthfulness, the abounding undergraduate noise, that fills those ancient buildings.
I have no illusions concerning the precarious status of my tales and do not expect to become a serious competitor of my favorite weird authors.
What makes a nation great is not primarily its great men, but the stature of its innumerable mediocre ones.
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