Love draws people to unity; reason, which is common to all, affirms this unity.
A human being thinks—that is how he was made. It is clear that he must think rationally. A human being who thinks rationally thinks before all else about the purpose of his life: he thinks about his soul, about God. Now observe, what do worldly people think about? About anything but this. They think about dancing, about music, about singing; they think about real estate, about wealth, about power; they envy the position of the rich and the kings. But they do not at all think about what it means to be a human being.
— Pascal
One of the main duties of a human being consists in making the bright source of reason, which we receive from Heaven, shine with all its strength.
— Chinese wisdom
Only that which is accepted and cannot but be accepted by everyone is a manifestation of true reason.
The one who wants to become a true human being must stop trying to please the world; the one who wants to live a true life must not be guided by what is accepted as good, but should diligently look for where and what the true good is. There is nothing more sacred and more productive than an independent, spiritual curiosity. Before all else, establish within yourself this attitude to the phenomena of life, and only afterwards begin to solve for yourself all the questions that arise.
— Emerson
We insult truth when we doubt its power, when we allow or disallow the expression of this or that thought. Let truth and falsehood grapple; truth is invincible in a free and open encounter. By refuting falsehood, it destroys it better than any censorship.
— Milton
Our church Christianity is built upon empty and shaky foundations; those who rely on it are in constant danger and are always afraid of something. A strongly expressed doubt, which shakes its very foundations, provokes thunder and lightning from the side of the representatives of the church, and the more well-founded the doubts, the stronger the alarm.
Do people really fear that mountains might fall? And yet, church traditions are ready to collapse at any moment. “Maybe it is just, or maybe not,” that is all that the people who rely upon it can say. Nevertheless, they had built the foundation of their religion upon it. Authority is taken for truth, and a blind trust has become the essence of religion.
— Parker
Nothing can alter the decisions of reason. Everything that we know, we know through reason. And that is why you should not believe those who say that we should not follow reason. Those who say this are akin to people who would advise us to extinguish the light of the only lamp that guides us in the darkness.
