Human affairs inspire in noble hearts only two feelings-admiration or pity.
Anatole FranceRead
Devout believers are safeguarded in a high degree against the risk of certain neurotic illnesses; their acceptance of the universal neurosis spares them the task of constructing a personal one.
Interpretation
Believers may escape certain psychological issues by accepting shared human struggles.
Anatole France highlights the idea that devout believers, through their faith, find protection from certain psychological ailments. By embracing the common 'neurosis' faced by humanity, they avoid the burden of creating their own individual psychological conflicts, suggesting that collective belief can offer a form of sanctuary for the mind.
In practice
In a sermon discussing the comfort of community belief, this quote could be used to illustrate the protective nature of faith.
Human affairs inspire in noble hearts only two feelings-admiration or pity.
Awaken people's curiosity. It is enough to open minds, do not overload them. Put there just a spark.
In its majestic equality, the law forbids rich and poor alike to sleep under bridges, beg in the streets and steal loaves of bread.
Justice is the means by which established injustices are sanctioned
There is a certain impertinence in allowing oneself to be burned for an opinion.
Lovers who love truly do not write down their happiness.
The Universe, as has been observed before, is an unsettlingly big place, a fact which for the sake of a quiet life most people tend to ignore.
I can think of nothing less pleasurable than a life devoted to pleasure.
Do not struggle. Go with the flow of things, and you will find yourself at one with the mysterious unity of the Universe.
Ever since the days of Adam, man has been hiding from God and saying, 'God is hard to find.
Those who, like the beasts, have no such Hope, pass their old age shrouded with an inward gloom.
There is nothing one fears more or is more ashamed of than not being oneself. Yet few people realize even an approximation of their true potential. Most people must live with varying degrees of the shame and fear of not being fully in control of themselves.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.