RITUALISM, n. A Dutch Garden of God where He may walk in rectilinear freedom, keeping off the grass.
Interpretation
Ritualism refers to structured practices that may restrict genuine connection with the divine.
In this quote, Ambrose Bierce critiques ritualism by portraying it as a rigid structure that separates individuals from a true, free relationship with God. The imagery of a 'Dutch Garden' suggests an artificial and orderly space where the divine presence is constrained, leading to a metaphorical limitation on spiritual experience.
In practice
In a discussion about the constraints of organized religion during a philosophy class.
PALM, n. A species of tree . . . of which the familiar "itching palm" ("Palma hominis") is most widely distributed . . . . This noble vegetable exudes a kind of invisible gum, which may be detected by applying to the bark a piece of gold or silver.
Human nature is pretty well balanced; for every lacking virtue there is a rough substitute that will serve at a pinch--as cunning is the wisdom of the unwise, and ferocity the courage of the coward.
Indigestion: A disease which the patient and his friends frequently mistake for deep religious conviction and concern for the salvation of mankind. As the simple Red Man of the Western Wild put it, with, it must be confessed, a certain force: 'Plenty well, no pray; big belly ache, heap God.'
Disobey n:To celebrate with an appropriate ceremony the maturity of a command
NOUMENON, n. That which exists, as distinguished from that which merely seems to exist, the latter being a phenomenon. The noumenon is a bit difficult to locate; it can be apprehended only by a process of reasoning - which is a phenomenon.
PARDON, v. To remit a penalty and restore to the life of crime. To add to the lure of crime the temptation of ingratitude.
If the highest things are unknowable, then the highest capacity or virtue of man cannot be theoretical wisdom.
Every person you meet is waging his or her own war against a callous universe that is plotting against them.
What's lost is nothing to what's found, and all the death that ever was, set next to life, would scarcely fill a cup.
The juvenile sea squirt wanders through the sea searching for a suitable rock or hunk of coral to cling to and make its home for life. For this task, it has a rudimentary nervous system. When it finds its spot and takes root, it doesn't need its brain anymore so it eats it!
There is a world inside the world.
Title and ancestry render a good man more illustrious, but an ill one more contemptible.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.