No one should approach the temple of science with the soul of a money changer.
Thomas BrowneRead
Men live by intervals of reason under the sovereignty of humor and passion.
Interpretation
Human life is a balance between rational thought and emotional experiences.
This quote by Thomas Browne suggests that while reason is essential for making sense of life, it is humor and passion that truly govern our existence. It highlights the duality of human nature, where logical thinking coexists with emotional depth, emphasizing that both elements are necessary for a fulfilling life.
In practice
A speaker may use this quote to illustrate the complexity of human emotions during a psychology seminar.
No one should approach the temple of science with the soul of a money changer.
Content may dwell in all stations. To be low but above contempt may be high enough to be happy.
Thus there are two books from whence I collect my Divinity; besides that written one of God, another of his servant Nature, that universal and public Manuscript, that lies expans'd unto the eyes of all; those that never saw him in the one, have discovered him in the other.
To be content with death may be better than to desire it.
Life itself is but the shadow of death, and souls departed but the shadows of the living.
The long habit of living indisposeth us for dying.
Between two groups of people who want to make inconsistent kinds of worlds, I see no remedy but force.
When I was growing up, I don't remember being told that America was created so that everyone could get rich. I remember being told it was about opportunity and the pursuit of happiness. Not happiness itself, but the pursuit.
I have the legacy of my father and his nocturnal automatic waking up. But I like those periods. I immediately have a different vision of humanity and my life.
Paris is the fountain-head of European civilisation, as Gomukhi is of the Ganga.
All human desire is poised on an axis of paradox, absence and presence its poles, love and hate its motive energies.
I am always interested in that relationship between outer reality and inner desire, and I think it is important to pay attention to the inner voice because it is the only way to discover your mission in life and the only way to develop the strength to break with whatever familial or cultural norms are preventing you from fulfilling your destiny.
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