Ernest Renan Quotes

Never has any one been less a priest than Jesus, never a greater enemy of forms, which stifle religion under the pretext of protecting it. By this we are all his disciples and his successors; by this he has laid the eternal foundation-stone of true religion; and if religion is essential to humanity, he has by this deserved the Divine rank the world has accorded him. - View Quote Details on Never has any one been less a priest than Jesus,…
He whom God has touched will always be a being apart: he is, whatever he may do, a stranger among men; he is marked by a sign. - View Quote Details on He whom God has touched will always be a being…
You may take great comfort from the fact that suffering inwardly for the sake of truth proves abundantly that one loves it and marks one out as being of the elect. - View Quote Details on You may take great comfort from the fact that suffering…
As a rule, all heroism is due to a lack of reflection, and thus it is necessary to maintain a mass of imbeciles. If they once understand themselves the ruling men will be lost. - View Quote Details on As a rule, all heroism is due to a lack…
To conceive the good, in fact, is not sufficient; it must be made to succeed among men. To accomplish this less pure paths must be followed. - View Quote Details on To conceive the good, in fact, is not sufficient; it…
To be free in an age like ours, one must be in a position of authority. That in itself would be enough to make me ambitious. - View Quote Details on To be free in an age like ours, one must…
All the great things of humanity have been accomplished in the name of absolute principles. - View Quote Details on All the great things of humanity have been accomplished in…
Communism is in conflict with human nature. - View Quote Details on Communism is in conflict with human nature.
Let us pardon him his hope of a vain apocalypse, and of a second coming in great triumph upon the clouds of heaven. Perhaps these were the errors of others rather than his own; and if it be true that he himself shared the general illusion, what matters it, since his dream rendered him strong against death, and sustained him in a struggle to which he might otherwise have been unequal? - View Quote Details on Let us pardon him his hope of a vain apocalypse,…
Man makes holy what he believes. - View Quote Details on Man makes holy what he believes.
Religion is not a popular error; it is a great instinctive truth, sensed by the people, expressed by the people. - View Quote Details on Religion is not a popular error; it is a great…
As a rule, all heroism is due to a lack of reflection, and thus it is necessary to maintain a mass of imbeciles. If they once understand themselves the ruling men will be lost. - View Quote Details on As a rule, all heroism is due to a lack…
Let us pardon him his hope of a vain apocalypse, and of a second coming in great triumph upon the clouds of heaven. Perhaps these were the errors of others rather than his own; and if it be true that he himself shared the general illusion, what matters it, since his dream rendered him strong against death, and sustained him in a struggle to which he might otherwise have been unequal? - View Quote Details on Let us pardon him his hope of a vain apocalypse,…
The simplest schoolboy is now familiar with truths for which Archimedes would have sacrificed his life. - View Quote Details on The simplest schoolboy is now familiar with truths for which…
The liberty of the individual is a necessary postulate of human progress. - View Quote Details on The liberty of the individual is a necessary postulate of…
When people complain of life, it is almost always because they have asked impossible things of it. - View Quote Details on When people complain of life, it is almost always because…
The greatest men of a nation are those it puts to death. - View Quote Details on The greatest men of a nation are those it puts…
I can die when I wish to: that is my elixir of life. - View Quote Details on I can die when I wish to: that is my…