[Religion is a] primitive insurance against disaster. ... Originally religion was merely a function of the self-preservative instinct. Offer sacrifices to the gods and save your crops. And even Christianity, after all, insures heavily against the flaws in this life by belief in another.
Rose MacaulayThe manuscript may go forth from the writer to return with a faithfulness passing the faithfulness of the boomerang or the homing pigeon.
Rose MacaulayWords move, turning over like tumbling clowns; like certain books and like fleas, they possess activity. All men equally have the right to say, 'This word shall bear this meaning,' and see if they can get it across. It is a sporting game, which all can play, only all cannot win.
Rose MacaulayThe poet has to make a synthesis out of the moral life of our time, and this life is lived at this moment on a political plane.
Rose MacaulayTo lunch with the important ... that should be the daily goal of those for whom life is not a playground but a ladder.
Rose Macaulay