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.

That which especially distinguishes a high order of man from a low order of man, that which constitutes human goodness, human nobleness, is surely not the degree of enlightenment with which men pursue their own advantage; but it is self-forgetfulness; it is self-sacrifice; it is the disregard of personal pleasure, personal indulgence, personal advantage, remote or present, because some other line of conduct is more right.

What is called virtue in the common sense of the word has nothing to do with this or that man's prosperity, or even happiness.

I have long been convinced that the Christian Eucharist is but a continuation of the Eleusinian mysteries. St Paul, in using the word teleiois, almost confirms this.

Sacrifice is the first element of religion, and resolves itself in theological language into the love of God.

Science rests on reason and experiment, and can meet an opponent with calmness; [but] a creed is always sensitive.

Nature is less partial than she appears, and all situations in life have their compensations along with them.