One makes mistakes; that is life. But it is never a mistake to have loved.
Romain RollandRead
Skepticism, riddling the faith of yesterday, prepared the way for the faith of tomorrow.
Interpretation
Skepticism challenges existing beliefs, paving the way for new understandings and faiths.
This quote suggests that questioning and doubting established beliefs can lead to new and profound insights. By dismantling the certainties of the past, skepticism creates an opportunity for a more evolved faith or understanding in the future, emphasizing growth and progress in human thought.
In practice
In a discussion about the evolution of scientific theories, this quote can be used to highlight the importance of skepticism in scientific advancement.
One makes mistakes; that is life. But it is never a mistake to have loved.
The greatest human ideal is the great cause of bringing together the thoughts of Europe and Asia; the great soul of India will topple our world.
Discussion is impossible with someone who claims not to seek the truth, but already to possess it.
I find war detestable but those who praise it without participating in it even more so.
Each man must learn his own ideal and try to accomplish it: that is a surer way of progress than to take the ideas of another.
The true Vedantic spirit does not start out with a system of preconceived ideas. It possesses absolute liberty and unrivalled courage among religions with regard to the facts to be observed and the diverse hypotheses it has laid down for their coordination. Never having been hampered by a priestly order, each man has been entirely free to search wherever he pleased for the spiritual explanation of the spectacle of the universe.
Concerning the gods, I have no means of knowing either that they exist or that they do not exist, nor what sort of form they may have; there are many reasons why knowledge on this subject is not possible, owing to the lack of evidence and the shortness of human life.
People think dreams aren't real just because they aren't made of matter, of particles. Dreams are real. But they are made of viewpoints, of images, of memories and puns and lost hopes.
If you are seeking for security, certainty, your eyes will become closed. And you will be less and less surprised and you will lose the capacity to wonder. Once you lose the capacity to wonder, you have lost religion. Religion is the opening of your wondering heart. Religion is a receptivity for the mysterious that surrounds us. Don't seek security; don't seek advice on how to live your life.
The end of labor is to gain leisure.
Iβve always liked the feeling of traveling light; there is something in me that wants to feel I could leave wherever I am, at any time, without any effort. The idea of being weighed down made me uneasy, as if I lived on the surface of a frozen lake and each new trapping of domestic life - a pot, a chair, a lamp - threatened to be the thing that sent me through the ice.
Not only is the past of a person with no memory inaccessible; his ability to think about the future is imperilled. Time travel, then, is ultimately - and paradoxically - an exercise in remembering. And without that capacity it simply cannot exist.
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