My father once told me that respect for truth comes close to being the basis for all morality. 'Something cannot emerge from nothing,' he said. This is profound thinking if you understand how unstable 'the truth' can be.
Frank HerbertRead
Religion must remain an outlet for people who say to themselves, "I am not the kind of person I want to be." It must never sink into an assemblage of the self-satisfied.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Religion should help individuals strive for personal growth rather than becoming complacent.
This quote emphasizes that religion should serve as a means for individuals to reflect on their shortcomings and encourage personal improvement. Rather than becoming a gathering for those content with their current state, it should inspire a continuous pursuit of betterment in one's character and actions.
Themes
ReligionGrowthSelf-ImprovementPhilosophyReflection
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational speech about personal development.
More from Frank Herbert
All quotes →If you need something to worship, then worship life - all life, every last crawling bit of it! We're all in this beauty together!
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Technology tends toward avoidance of risks by investors. Uncertainty is ruled out if possible. People generally prefer the predictable. Few recognize how destructive this can be, how it imposes severe limits on variability and thus makes whole populations fatally vulnerable to the shocking ways our universe can throw the dice.
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It is impossible to live in the past, difficult to live in the present and a waste to live in the future.
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. . . is to attempt seeing Truth without knowing Falsehood. It is the attempt to see the Light without knowing Darkness. It cannot be.
Frank HerbertRead
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