Common Religions Quotes

All Religions have this in common, that they are an outrage to common sense for they are pieced together out of a variety of elements, some of which seem so unworthy, sordid and at odds with man's reason, that any strong and vigorous intelligence laughs at them ... The human intellect is only capable of tackling mediocre subjects: it disdains petty subjects, and is startled by large ones. There is no reason to be surprised if it finds any religion hard to accept at first, for all are deficient in the mediocre and the commonplace, nor that it should require skill to induce belief. For the strong intellect laughs at religion, while the weak and superstitious mind marvels at it but is easily scandalized by it. ~ Pierre Charron

For the plague-stricken their peace of mind is more important than a human life. Decent folks must be allowed to sleep easy o' nights, mustn't they? Really it would be in shockingly bad taste to linger on such details, that's common knowledge. But personally I've never been able to sleep well since then. The bad taste remained in my mouth and I've kept lingering on the details, brooding over them. ~ Albert Camus

The unfortunate are not as miserable as the world imagines. That urchins, the handicapped, orphans, prisoners and others are much happier than people think. And that language is a trap, that a dark evolutionary force has created languages to limit human thought. That writers are overrated fools. That all religions come from ancient comic writers. And the ultimate goal of comics is same as the purpose of humanity – to break free from language. ~ Manu Joseph

I agree, intellectualism in photography is overrated. I just wish it could be replaced by common sense. ~ Bill Jay

The greatest vicissitude of things amongst men, is the vicissitude of sects and religions. ~ Francis Bacon

Jurors have found, again and again, and at critical moments, according to what is their sense of the rational and just. If their sense of justice has gone one way, and the case another, they have found "against the evidence," ... the English common law rests upon a bargain between the Law and the people: The jury box is where the people come into the court: The judge watches them and the people watch back. A jury is the place where the bargain is struck. The jury attends in judgment, not only upon the accused, but also upon the justice and the humanity of the Law. ~ E.P. Thompson

What paper planes and empty seats most have in common
is that they are best made by children still learning how to ride things out. ~ Buddy Wakefield

Art without accomplishment becomes a form of faith, sustained more by the intensity of its common practice than by the pleasure it gives to its adherents in private. ~ Adam Gopnik

If we want to reach them, our articulation of the problem has to avoid ascribing personal evil to them, while also being uncompromising in describing the dynamics of the problem. I cannot offer a formula for how to do this. The right words and strategies arise naturally from compassion: from the understanding that the bankers or whoever do as I would do, were I in their shoes. In other words, compassionate - and effective - words arise from a deeply felt realization of our common humanity. And this is possible only to the extent to which we have applied the same to ourselves. Truly, to be an effective activist requires an equivalent inner activism. ~ Charles Eisenstein

And from this followeth another law: that such things as cannot
be divided be enjoyed in common, if it can be; and if the quantity
of the thing permit, without stint; otherwise proportionably to the
number of them that have right. ~ Thomas Hobbes

We assume a common sense as the necessary condition of the universal communicability of our knowledge, which is presupposed in every logic and every principle of knowledge that is not one of skepticism. ~ Immanuel Kant

am proud to belong to a nation which has sheltered the persecuted and the refugees of all religions and all nations of the earth. ~ Swami Vivekananda

Is the Son of God praying in me, or am I dictating to Him? ... Prayer is not simply getting things from God, that is a most initial form of prayer; prayer is getting into perfect communion with God. If the Son of God is formed in us by regeneration, He will press forward in front of our common sense and change our attitude to the things about which we pray. ~ Oswald Chambers

But I am not discouraged. I do not despair for our country. I believe tonight, as I always have, that the essential decency, compassion and common sense of the American people will prevail. ~ Jimmy Carter

In January 1776, Thomas Paine issued 'Common Sense,' advocating independence from Great Britain. ~ Mike Crapo

I firmly believe that American society would not endure ten years if subjected to half the trials and tortures we've put Natives through. And yet Native peoples have not been utterly destroyed, not by the world's strongest military. They have not been totally assimilated, not by the world's largest religion. Native religions are indeed concerned with being a good person, respecting one's family, ancestors, community, and the Earth - and when these principles are lived, there is great strength. ~ Israel Morrow

Those were the two prerequisites, in my conception, to perfect friendship: capacity to worship and capacity to laugh. Modern life is not made for friendship: common interests are not strong enough, private interests too absorbing. In each person I catch the fleeting suggestion of something beautiful and swear eternal friendship with that. ~ George Santayana

Modesty, and all that, is very well in its way, but really a little common honesty is sometimes quite as becoming. ~ Jane Austen

The madder people. A lot of them seem to be leaders of countries or religions or armies. The real loonies. ~ Iain Banks

The two boys faced each other. There was the brilliant world of hunting, tactics, fierce exhilaration, skill; and there was the world of longing and baffled common-sense. ~ William Golding

Almost getting killed is stressful.' Kylen said, wiping his eyes. 'I feel like I've been doing it my whole life.' 'We have so much in common,' Jo said as they resumed their march. ~ S.D. Smith

According to Jesus, acknowledging our neediness opens the door to genuine and lasting happiness. Religions usually talk about what a person has to "do", but Jesus talks about what we "can't do". He says that our weakness, not our power or what we bring to God, enables us to know God. ~ Paul E. Miller

Third, it is helpful to seek advice from those who are spiritually mature and solid in their faith. A godly counselor or pastor can assist you in avoiding the common mistakes that confuse many young people. ~ James C. Dobson

That Americans are entitled to freedom is incontestable on every rational principle. All men have one common original: they participate in one common nature, and consequently have one common right. No reason can be assigned why one man should exercise any power or preeminence over his fellow-creatures more than another; unless they have voluntarily vested him with it. ~ Alexander Hamilton

All false religions cut away parts of God's revelation, add ideas of their own, and come out with various viewpoints that differ from God's revelation in the Bible. ~ Billy Graham

He carded his fingers through Bach's gleaming hair. "You're like the sun," he whispered.

"What does that make you?" Bach asked, nuzzling his face into the cradle of Einion's hip and untying his stockings with work-nimble fingers.

"Common as earth."

"More like the moon." Bach sat back on his heels and looked up. His eyes were gravity, night-dark and huge. Einion felt himself about to fall in. "Moving tides with the force of your will, forever holding half of yourself away from the rest of creation, silent and still and seductively changeable. Maddening. Caught in a dance with the sun for all of time." (Einion and Bach from The Prophecy of Ydrys Vega ~ Bran Mydwynter

Organizing around a common interest is a fundamental part of democracy. We should no more try to take away the right of individuals to collectively bargain than we should try to take away the right to a secret ballot. ~ Michael Bloomberg

Whenever the legislators endeavour to take away and destroy the property of the people, or to reduce them to slavery under arbitrary power, they put themselves into a state of war with the people, who are thereupon absolved from any farther obedience, and are left to the common refuge which God hath provided for all men against force and violence. John Locke ~ Murray N. Rothbard

Fasting and prayer are common injunctions in my religion. ~ Mahatma Gandhi

America is still the best country for the common man
white or black ... if he can't make it here he won't make it anywhere else. ~ Eric Hoffer

Normalization takes place not because there is Western-ideology that normalizes third-world texts in any special way (other than the usual play with exoticism) but because this academic seeks to domesticate everything, even Marx. ~ Aijaz Ahmad

The left has come to regard common sense - the traditional wisdom and folkways of the community - as an obstacle to progress and enlightenment. ~ Christopher Lasch

Not longevity. Not peace. Not some chloroformed happiness. Not tranquility. They are all such common goals ... No. I want audacity. High color. Total independence. ~ Erika Robuck

The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don't have any. ~ Alice Walker

Modern historians have suggested that in his last years he (Richard II) was overtaken by mental disease, but that is only a modern view of the malfunction common to 14th century rulers: inability to inhibit impulse. ~ Barbara Tuchman

Publishers, editors, agents all have one thing in common, aside from their love of cocktail parties. It's an incredible taste and an ability to find and nurture authors. ~ John Hodgman

Silence reigned.
Well, except for Mallory's thundering heartbeat. She was in an attic loft, flat beneath her Mr. Wrong. Her common sense was screaming flee! But her secret inner bad girl was screaming oh please can't we have him? Just once?
-Mallory ~ Jill Shalvis

I'm into a lot of Eastern philosophy. It's kind of like theosophy; it's about finding the relationships between all the great religions and focusing in on the good stuff. ~ Weyes Blood

Having a family that loves books and loves to read has always created a common ground for communication. ~ Tony DiTerlizzi

To be a scientist is to be naive. We are so focused on our search for truth, we fail to consider how few actually want us to find it. But it is always there, whether we see it or not, whether we choose to or not. The truth doesn't care about our needs or wants. It doesn't care about our governments, our ideologies, our religions. It will lie in wait for all time. And this, at last, is the gift of Chernobyl. Where I once would fear the cost of truth, now I only ask: What is the cost of lies? ~ HBO

The office was a treasure trove for those who delighted in the macabre. It was the Smithsonian of the Lowest Common Denominator. My ~ Kenneth C. Johnson

And thanks to Christina McMullen, who has taught me that common sense and intelligence need not have any correlation whatsoever. ~ Lois Greiman

The two World Wars came in part, like much modern literature and art, because men, whose nature is to tire of everything in turn ... tired of common sense and civilization. ~ F.L. Lucas

The waking have one world in common; sleepers have each a private world of his own. ~ Heraclitus

There are at bottom but two possible religions
that which rises in the moral nature of man, and which takes shape in moral commandments, and that which grows out of the observation of the material energies which operate in the external universe. ~ James Anthony Froude

Law is neither a divine revelation nor a scientific discovery. It is a wholly human creation that includes the contribution of those who claim to study it and who cannot remain blind to the values implied by their interpretations. Every society must develop a vision of justice that is shared by all its members, in order to avoid civil war, and this is what the legal framework provides. Whereas conceptions of justice differ from epoch to epoch and from country to country, the need for a shared representation of justice in a particular country and at a particular time does not. The legal system is where this representation takes shape and, although it may well be contradicted by the facts, it gives shared meaning and a common orientation to people's actions. ~ Alain Supiot

Think of it: the lowest common denominator in being digital is not your operating system, modem, or model of computer. It's a tiny piece of plastic, designed decades ago by Bell Labs' Charles Krumreich, Edwin Hardesty, and company, who thought they were making an inconspicuous plug for a few telephone handsets. Not in their wildest dreams was Registered Jack 11 - a modular connector more commonly known as the RJ-11 - meant to be plugged and unplugged so many times, by so many people, for so many reasons, all over the world. ~ Nicholas Negroponte

I wanted to double-check with you that your mailing address is still the same as the one you sent us back in April? If you're a college student I know address changes are really common at this time of year! ~ Marilynne Robinson