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George Santayana Quotes

Philosopher

George Santayana was an American philosopher, essayist, and critic renowned for his unique philosophical thoughts and profound insights into culture, art, and science. His philosophy emphasizes individualism, naturalism, and pragmatism, and his works have had a profound impact on 20th-century philosophy and culture.

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Famous George Santayana Quotes

“The worship of power is an old religion.”

Wisdom Religion Power

Author:George Santayana

“Christianity persecuted, tortured, and burned. Like a hound it tracked the very scent of heresy. It kindled wars, and nursed furious hatreds and ambitions. It sanctified, quite like Mohammedism, extermination and tyranny. All this would have been impossible if, like Buddhism, it had looked only for peace and the liberation of souls. It looked beyond; it dreamt of infinite blisses and crowns it should be crowned with before an electrified universe and an applauding God... Buddhism had tried to quiet a sick world with anesthetics; Christianity sought to purge it with fire.”

“An operation that eventually kills may be technically successful, and the man may die cured; and so a description of religion thatshowed it to be madness might first show how real and warm it was, so that if it perished, at least it would perish understood.”

Ifs Men Firsts May Real Shows Might Religion Dies Successful He Man Understood Madness Warm Operations Description

Book:Character and Opinion in the United States

Source: Character and Opinion in the United States

“The Bible is literature, not dogma.”

Religion Literature Religious Bible Dogma Hygiene

Book:Spinoza's Ethics and

Source: Spinoza's Ethics and

“Advertising is the modern substitute for argument; its function is to make the worse appear the better.”

Religion Modern Argument Function Advertising Substitutes Advertisements Adverts Advertisement Negative

Book:The Works of George Santayana

Source: The Works of George Santayana

“Wealth, religion, military victory have more rhetorical than efficacious worth.”

Religion Wealth Military Victory Prosperity Rhetorical

Book:The Life of Reason: Human Understanding

Source: The Life of Reason: Human Understanding

“Each religion, by the help of more or less myth, which it takes more or less seriously, proposes some method of fortifying the human soul and enabling it to make its peace with its destiny.”

Life Inspirational Humans Soul Helping Religion Peace Destiny Serious Method Myth Human Soul Propose Enabling

Book:Persons and Places: My host the world

Source: Persons and Places: My host the world

“Christianity persecuted, tortured, and burned. Like a hound it tracked the very scent of heresy. It kindled wars, and nursed furious hatreds and ambitions... Man, far from being freed from his natural passions, was plunged into artificial ones quite as violent and much more disappointing.”

Men War Religion Passion Natural Christianity Ambition Hatred Violent Artificial Burned Scent Heresy Disappointing Furious Persecuted Being Free Hounds

Book:Little essays drawn from the writings of George Santayana

Source: Little essays drawn from the writings of George Santayana

“Religions are the great fairy tales of conscience.”

Religion Conscience Tales Fairy Fairy Tale

Book:The Essential Santayana: Selected Writings

Source: The Essential Santayana: Selected Writings

“Faith in the supernatural is a desperate wager made by man at the lowest ebb of his fortunes.”

Men Made Religion Atheism Fortune Desperate Lowest Wagers

Book:The Essential Santayana: Selected Writings

Source: The Essential Santayana: Selected Writings

“Religion is the natural reaction of the imagination when confronted by the difficulties in a truculent world.”

World Religion Imagination Natural Atheism Difficulty Reactions

Author:George Santayana

“Fear first created the gods.”

Firsts Religion Atheism

Book:The Life of Reason

Source: The Life of Reason

“Miracles are propitious accidents, the natural causes of which are too complicated to be readily understood.”

Religion Causes Natural Understood Miracle Complicated Accidents

Author:George Santayana

“Matters of religion should never be matters of controversy. We neither argue with a lover about his taste, nor condemn him, if we are just, for knowing so human a passion.”

Ifs Should Humans Matter Religion Passion Knowing Lovers Taste Arguing Controversy Greatest Love

Book:The Life of Reason: Human Understanding

Source: The Life of Reason: Human Understanding

“Religion is indeed a convention which a man must be bred in to endure with any patience; and yet religion, for all its poetic motley, comes closer than work-a-day opinion to the heart of things.”

Men Heart Religion Opinion Endure Poetic Conventions

Book:The Works of George Santayana: Dialogues in limbo. Platonism and the spiritual life. A long way round to Nirvana. The prestige of the infinite. Ultimate religion

Source: The Works of George Santayana: Dialogues in limbo. Platonism and the spiritual life. A long way round to Nirvana. The prestige of the infinite. Ultimate religion

“Religion is the love of life in the consciousness of impotence.”

Religion Consciousness Love Life Impotence

Book:Winds of Doctrine: Studies in Contemporary Opinion

Source: Winds of Doctrine: Studies in Contemporary Opinion

“Religion should be disentangled as much as possible from history and authority and metaphysics, and made to rest honestly on one's fine feelings, on one's indomitable optimism and trust in life.”

Should Made Feelings Religion Fine Authority Optimism Honestly Metaphysics Indomitable

Book:Character and Opinion in the United States

Source: Character and Opinion in the United States

“It would repel me less to be a hangman than a soldier, because the one is obliged to put to death only criminals sentenced by the law, but the other kills honest men who like himself bathe in innocent blood at the bidding of some superior.”

Men War Law Religion Blood Honest Morality Soldier Criminals Innocent Superiors Obliged Honest Man Bidding Hangman

Book:The Works of George Santayana

Source: The Works of George Santayana