But a somewhat more liberal and sympathetic examination of mankind will convince us that the cross is even older than the gibbet, that voluntary suffering was before and independent of compulsory; and in short that in most important matters a man has always been free to ruin himself if he chose.

It is absurd for the Evolutionist to complain that it is unthinkable for an admittedly unthinkable God to make everything out of nothing and then pretend that it is more thinkable that nothing should turn itself into everything.

The most poetical thing in the world is not being sick.

Unfortunately, 19th-century scientists were just as ready to jump to the conclusion that any guess about nature was an obvious fact, as were 17th-century sectarians to jump to the conclusion that any guess about Scripture was the obvious explanation . . . . and this clumsy collision of two very impatient forms of ignorance was known as the quarrel of Science and Religion.

The man who kills a man kills a man. The man who kills himself kills all men. As far as he is concerned, he wipes out the world.

There is nothing the matter with Americans except their ideals. The real American is all right; it is the ideal American who is all wrong.

With every step of our lives we enter into the middle of some story which we are certain to misunderstand.