William Ralph Inge Quotes

The church that is married to the spirit of this age, becomes a widow in the next.

God does not always punish a nation by sending it adversity. More often He gives the oppressors their hearts' desire, and sends leanness withal into their soul.

The fruit of the tree of knowledge always drives man from some paradise or other; and even the paradise of fools is not an unpleasant abode while it is habitable.

The world belongs to those who think and act with it, who keep a finger on its pulse.

Action is the normal completion of the act of will which begins as prayer. That action is not always external, but it is always some kind of effective energy.

Worry is interest paid on trouble before it comes due.

Faith begins as an experiment, and ends as an experience.

Nobody is bored when he is trying to make something that is beautiful or to discover something that is true.

Don't get up from the feast of life without paying for your share of it.

In imperialism nothing fails like success. If the conqueror oppresses his subjects, they will become fanatical patriots, and sooner or later have their revenge; if he treats them well, and governs them for their good, they will multiply faster than their rulers, till they claim their independence.

The wealth of a soul is measured by how much it can feel; its poverty by how little.

The soul is dyed by the color of its leisure hours.

Public opinion, a vulgar, impertinent, anonymous tyrant who deliberately makes life unpleasant for anyone who is not content to the average person.

To become a popular religion, it is only necessary for a superstition to enslave a philosophy.

No healthy civilization can ever be reared on a foundation of devitalized work.

Literature flourishes best when it is half a trade and half an art.

I have never understood why it should be considered derogatory to the Creator to suppose that he has a sense of humour.

Philosophy means thinking things out for oneself. Ultimately, there can be only one true philosophy, since reason is one and we all live in the same world.

Every institution not only carries within it the seeds of its own dissolution, but prepares the way for its most hated rival.

The great discovery of the nineteenth century, that we are of one blood with the lower animals, has created new ethical obligations which have not yet penetrated the public conscience. The clerical profession has been lamentably remiss in preaching this obvious duty.

The enemies of freedom do not argue; they shout and they shoot.