A nation has a soul, a spiritual principle. One is in the past, the other in the present. One is the possession of a rich legacy of memories; the other is the desire to live together and to value the common heritage. Ernest Renan More Quotes by Ernest Renan More Quotes From Ernest Renan Muslims are the first victims of Islam. Many times I have observed in my travels in the Orient that fanaticism comes from a small number of dangerous men who maintain the others in the practice of religion by terror. To liberate the Muslim from his religion is the best service one can render him. Ernest Renan small-numbers practice men Our opinions become fixed at the point where we stop thinking. Ernest Renan fixed opinion thinking To act well in this world, one must sacrifice all personal desires. The people who become missionaries of religious thought have no other Fatherland than this thought. Man is not on Earth merely to be happy, nor even simply to be honest. He is here to realize great things for humanity, to attain nobility, and to surmount the vulgarity of nearly every individual. Ernest Renan sacrifice religious men Forgetfulness, and I would even say historical error, are essential in the creation of a nation. Ernest Renan essentials errors historical Muslims are the first victims of Islam. To liberate a Muslim from his religion is the best service that one can render him! Ernest Renan islam victim firsts A nation is a body of people who have done great things together. Ernest Renan done together people When people complain of life, it is almost always because they have asked impossible things of it. Ernest Renan impossible-things life people True Christianity, which will last forever, comes from the gospel words of Christ not from the epistles of Paul. The writings of Paul have been a danger and a hidden rock, the causes of the principal defects of Christian theology. Ernest Renan rocks christian writing Man makes holy what he believes as he makes beautiful what he loves. Ernest Renan beautiful beauty believe To have common glories in the past, a common will in the present; to have done great things together, to will to do the like again, — such are the essential conditions for the making of a people. Ernest Renan wish people past It is through Christianity that Judaism has really conquered the world. Christianity is the masterpiece of Judaism. Ernest Renan judaism christianity world To be able to think freely, a man must be certain that no consequence will follow whatever he writes. Ernest Renan freedom writing men The prayer of the agnostic: "O God, if there is a God, save my soul if I have a soul." Ernest Renan if-there-is-a-god soul prayer No idea can succeed except at the expense of sacrifice; no one ever escapes without enduring strain from the struggle of life. Ernest Renan sacrifice struggle ideas A grain of sand leads to the fall of a mountain when the moment has come for the mountain to fall. Ernest Renan mountain moments fall Communism is in conflict with human nature. Ernest Renan conflict human-nature communism The simplest schoolboy is now familiar with truths for which Archimedes would have sacrificed his life. Ernest Renan teaching education life The talent of historians lies in their creating a true ensemble out of facts which are but half true. Ernest Renan creating lying history None of the miracles with which ancient histories are filled, occurred under scientific conditions. Observation never once contradicted, teaches us that miracles occur only in periods and countries in which they are believed in and before persons disposed to believe in them. Ernest Renan atheist believe country Getting its history wrong is part of being a nation. Ernest Renan nations history
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