Nature smiles at the union of freedom and equality in our utopias. For freedom and equality are sworn and everlasting enemies, and when one prevails the other dies.
Will DurantRead
The failure of the Reformation to capture France had left for Frenchmen no half-way house between infallibility and infidelity; and while the intellect of Germany and England moved leisurely in the lines of religious evolution, the mind of France leaped from the hot faith which had massacred the Huguenots to the cold hostility with which La Mettrie, Helvetius, Holbach, and Diderot turned upon the religion of the fathers.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects on the failure of the Reformation in France, leading to a stark divide between belief and skepticism.
Will Durant examines the consequences of the Reformation's inability to establish a moderate religious stance in France. As a result, French thinkers swiftly transitioned from fervent faith, which led to violent acts against the Huguenots, to a profound skepticism and critique of established religion, as seen in the works of Enlightenment philosophers who challenged traditional beliefs. This illustrates a significant shift in the intellectual landscape of France compared to Germany and England, where a gradual evolution in religious thought occurred.
Themes
ReformationFranceFaithSkepticismPhilosophyIntellectualReligion
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a lecture about the impact of the Reformation on French intellectual history.
More from Will Durant
All quotes βThe greatest question of our time is not communism vs. individualism, not Europe vs. America, not even the East vs. the West; it is whether men can bear to live without God.
Will DurantRead
If we have never been amazed by the very fact that we exist, we are squandering the greatest fact of all.
Will DurantRead
Philosophy is harmonized knowledge making a harmonious life; it is the self-discipline which lifts us to serenity and freedom. Knowledge is power, but only wisdom is liberty.
Will DurantRead
If you wish to be loved, be modest; if you wish to be admired, be proud; if you wish both, combine external modesty with internal pride.
Will DurantRead
When liberty destroys order the hunger for order will destroy liberty.
Will DurantRead
Similar quotes
The water hollows out the stone, not by force but drop by drop.
LucretiusRead
Pray without ceasing on behalf of other men...For cannot he that falls rise again?
Ignatius Of AntiochRead
Thoughts can create such a barrier that even if you are standing before a beautiful flower, you will not be able to see it. Your eyes are covered with layers of thought. To experience the beauty of the flower you have to be in a state of meditation, not in a state of mentation. You have to be silent, utterly silent, not even a flicker of thought - and the beauty explodes, reaches to you from all directions. You are drowned in the beauty of a sunrise, of a starry night, of beautiful trees.
RajneeshRead
Happily ever after?" "If justice doesn't triumph and love doesn't make the circle in entertainment fiction, what's the point? Real life sucks too often.
Nora RobertsRead
This was another of our fears: that Life wouldn't turn out to be like Literature.
Julian BarnesRead
Has not the experience of two centuries shown that gradualism in theory is perpetuity in practice? Is there an instance, in the history of the world, where slaves have been educated for freedom by their task-masters?
William Lloyd GarrisonRead