A dream has power to poison sleep.
It is among men of genius and science that atheism alone is found.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote suggests that only individuals of exceptional intellect and scientific understanding tend to adopt atheistic beliefs.
Percy Bysshe Shelley argues that atheism, or the absence of belief in deities, is primarily associated with men of great intellectual capacity and scientific insight. This statement implies a connection between intellectual achievement and skepticism towards religious beliefs, suggesting that those who engage deeply with the complexities of life and the universe often come to different conclusions about existence than those who adhere to religious doctrines.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
Use this quote in a discussion about the relationship between intellect and belief systems.
More from Percy Bysshe Shelley
All quotes βSenseless is the breast and cold _x000D_ _x000D_ Which relenting love would fold;_x000D_ _x000D_ Bloodless are the veins and chill _x000D_ _x000D_ Which the pulse of pain did fill; _x000D_ _x000D_ Every little living nerve _x000D_ _x000D_ That from bitter words did swerve _x000D_ _x000D_ Round the tortur'd lips and brow, _x000D_ _x000D_ Are like sapless leaflets now _x000D_ _x000D_ Frozen upon December's bough.
A sensitive plant in a garden grew,_x000D_ _x000D_ And the young winds fed it with silver dew,_x000D_ _x000D_ And it opened its fan_x000D_ _x000D_ like leaves to the light,_x000D_ _x000D_ and closed them beneath the kisses of night.
I am the daughter of Earth and Water, And the nursling of the Sky; I pass through the pores of the ocean and shores; I change, but I cannot die. For after the rain when with never a stain The pavilion of Heaven is bare, And the winds and sunbeams with their convex gleams Build up the blue dome of air, I silently laugh at my own cenotaph, And out of the caverns of rain, Like a child from the womb, like a ghost from the tomb, I arise and unbuild it again.
O, wind, if winter comes, can spring be far behind?
Ah, woe is me! Winter is come and gone. But grief returns with the revolving year.
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Nothing so dates a man as to decry the younger generation.
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