Is it too much to expect from the schools that they train their students not only to interpret but to criticize; that is, to discriminate what is sound from error and falsehood, to suspend judgement if they are not convinced, or to judge with reason if they agree or disagree?

All genuine learning is active, not passive. It involves the use of the mind, not just the memory. It is a process of discovery, in which the student is the main agent, not the teacher.

I suspect that most of the individuals who have religious faith are content with blind faith

If we consider men and women generally, and apart from their professions or occupations, there is only one situation I can think of in which they almost pull themselves up by their bootstraps, making an effort to read better than they usually do. When they are in love and are reading a love letter, they read for all they are worth.

Sometimes it feels like I'm thinking against the wind.

True freedom is impossible without a mind made free by discipline.

One of the aims of sexual union is procreation - the creation by reproduction of an image of itself, of the union.