The ignorance of French society gives one a rough sense of the infinite. 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-numberspracticemen Our opinions become fixed at the point where we stop thinking. Ernest Renan fixedopinionthinking 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 spiritualmemoriespeace 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 sacrificereligiousmen Forgetfulness, and I would even say historical error, are essential in the creation of a nation. Ernest Renan essentialserrorshistorical 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 islamvictimfirsts A nation is a body of people who have done great things together. Ernest Renan donetogetherpeople When people complain of life, it is almost always because they have asked impossible things of it. Ernest Renan impossible-thingslifepeople 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 rockschristianwriting Man makes holy what he believes as he makes beautiful what he loves. Ernest Renan beautifulbeautybelieve 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 wishpeoplepast It is through Christianity that Judaism has really conquered the world. Christianity is the masterpiece of Judaism. Ernest Renan judaismchristianityworld To be able to think freely, a man must be certain that no consequence will follow whatever he writes. Ernest Renan freedomwritingmen 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-godsoulprayer No idea can succeed except at the expense of sacrifice; no one ever escapes without enduring strain from the struggle of life. Ernest Renan sacrificestruggleideas A grain of sand leads to the fall of a mountain when the moment has come for the mountain to fall. Ernest Renan mountainmomentsfall Communism is in conflict with human nature. Ernest Renan conflicthuman-naturecommunism The simplest schoolboy is now familiar with truths for which Archimedes would have sacrificed his life. Ernest Renan teachingeducationlife The talent of historians lies in their creating a true ensemble out of facts which are but half true. Ernest Renan creatinglyinghistory 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 atheistbelievecountry
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