Quotes 28 Feb

The Christian mind has lo these many years been pretty well switched off as far as ordinary life is concerned. ...Of course in religion and morals it has tried to do its own cooking; but across the rest of life - schooling, housing, marrying; working, playing, spending- it has been content to buy whatever packaged mixes were available on the shelves of the secular idea market. - Robert Farrar Capon, Bed and Board, p 33

Keep constantly in mind the saying, "The eye is not 

satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with 

hearing."  Strive to withdraw your heart from the 

love of visible things, and direct your affections 

to things invisible.  For those who follow only 

their natural inclinations defile their conscience, 

and lose the grace of God. 

     --Thomas A' Kempis (1380-1471) 

      _The Imitation Of Christ_ [c. 1420]; Book 1, Chapter 1 

The philosopher Plato said that those who love and seek wisdom are 

clinging in recollection (or remembrance) to things that they once had 

seen. On many occasions in my life I have had the need to say, and 

thankfully have been able to say: I know what a good worker is; I know 

what an honest man is; I know what friendship is; I know because I 

remember these things in the person of my father, in the person of his 

friend Hora, and in the example of their friendship. 

== Raimond Gaita [on his father Romulus Gaita], "Romulus my father", 

We must respect the other fellow's religion, but only in the sense and 

to the extent that we respect his theory that his wife is beautiful 

and his children smart. 

== H. L. Mencken, Minority Report : H.L. Mencken's Notebooks, 1956 

Every head turned, and the teacher stared, aghast. "How dare you say 

such a thing?" he demanded. "I dare say anything," I replied more 

cheerfully, "because I have a fast horse."  Several of the students 

laughed, and one shouted, "Well spoken, soldier!" "Have you no 

reverence?" the teacher demanded.     "I have reverence for all who 

ask questions and seek honest answers."  "A philosopher!" laughed a 

student. "A wanderer in search of answers," I said, then to the 

teacher, "You asked if I have reverence? I have reverence for truth, 

but I do not know what truth is. I suspect there are many truths, and 

therefore, I suspect all who claim to have 'the' truth." Walking my 

horse a few steps closer, I added, "I have reverence for the inquirer, 

for the seeker. I have no reverence for those who accept any idea, 

mine included, without question." "You are a heretic!" he threatened. 

"I am a pagan, and a pagan cannot be a heretic." "You ride an infidel 

horse." "My horse has never committed herself, but judging by her 

attitude on a frosty morning, she is an unbeliever." There were 

subdued chuckles, and the teacher's eyes narrowed. "You ridicule the 

Church," he threatened. "Who mentioned the Church? On the contrary, I 

have great respect for religion. My objection is to those who are 

against so many things and for so little." 

==Louis L'Amour, Walking Drum