Quotessence
Home / Authors / James G. Frazer Books
James G. Frazer

James G. Frazer Books

Mythological Figure

No books found for this author.

Related Quotes

“The natives of British Columbia live largely upon the fish which abound in their seas and rivers. If the fish do not come in due season, and the Indians are hungry, A Nootka wizard will make an image of a swimming fish and put it into the water in the direction from which the fish generally appear. This ceremony, accompanied by a prayer to the fish to come, will cause them to arrive at once.”

IfsCausesWaterPrayerSeaRiversSeasonsFishesBritishDuesHungrySwimmingCeremonyWizardsColumbiaBritish Columbia
Author:James G. Frazer
Create image

“Dwellers by the sea cannot fail to be impressed by the sight of its ceaseless ebb and flow, and are apt, on the principles of that rude philosophy of sympathy and resemblance... to trace a subtle relation, a secret harmony, between its tides and the life of man... The belief that most deaths happen at ebb tide is said to be held along the east coast of England from Northumberland to Kent.”

MenSaidPhilosophyHappensBeliefSecretPrinciplesFailingSeaFlowSightEnglandRelationHarmonyEastSubtleTidesImpressedRudeCoastResemblanceEast CoastEbb And FlowDwellersKent
Author:James G. Frazer
Create image

“From the earliest times man has been engaged in a search for general rules whereby to turn the order of natural phenomena to his own advantage, and in the long search he has scraped together a great hoard of such maxims, some of them golden and some of them mere dross. The true or golden rules constitute the body of applied science which we call the arts; the false are magic.”

MenLongHas BeensArtBodyTogetherOrderTurnsNaturalMagicAdvantageMereGoldenEngagedMaximsGolden RuleNatural PhenomenaDrossApplied Science
Author:James G. Frazer
Create image

“In course of time the slow advance of knowledge, which has dispelled so many cherished illusions, convinced at least the more thoughtful portion of mankind that the alterations of summer and winter, of spring and autumn, were not merely the result of their own magical rites, but that some deeper cause, some mightier power, was at work behind the shifting scenes of nature.”

CoursesCausesResultsBehindsMankindSceneSummerSpringIllusionWinterDeeperConvincedThoughtfulAutumnPortionsShiftingRiteAlterationsSummer And Winter
Author:James G. Frazer
Create image

“For extending its sway, partly by force of arms, partly by the voluntary submission of weaker tribes, the community soon acquires wealth and slaves, both of which, by relieving some classes from the perpetual struggle for a bare subsistence, afford them an opportunity of devoting themselves to that disinterested pursuit of knowledge which is the noblest and most powerful instrument to ameliorate the lot of man.”

MenOpportunityForceCommunityWealthPowerfulClassStruggleArmsInstrumentsSlavePursuitAcquireMost PowerfulPerpetualTribesSubmissionExtendingPursuit Of KnowledgeDisinterestedSubsistence
Author:James G. Frazer
Create image

“Yet it would be unfair to the generality of our kind to ascribe to their intellectual and moral weakness the gradual divergence of Buddhism and Christianity from their primitive patterns. For it should not be forgotten that by their glorification of poverty and celibacy both these religions struck straight at the root not merely of civil society but of human existence. The blow was parried by the wisdom or the folly of the vast majority of mankind, who refused to purchase a chance of saving their souls with the certainty of extinguishing the species.”

ShouldHumansKindSoulWould BeChanceExistenceMoralChristianityPovertyMankindBuddhismIntellectualWeaknessRootsMajoritySpeciesForgottenPatternsBlowSavingCertaintyFollyPrimitiveUnfairHuman ExistenceCivil SocietyCelibacyGeneralitiesGlorificationDivergenceBuddhism And Christianity
Author:James G. Frazer
Create image

“Hence the strong attraction which magic and science alike have exercised on the human mind; hence the powerful stimulus that both have given to the pursuit of knowledge. They lure the weary enquirer, the footsore seeker, on through the wilderness of disappointment in the present by their endless promises of the future: they take him up to the top of an exceeding high mountain and show him, beyond the dark clouds and rolling mists at his feet, a vision of the celestial city, far off, it may be, but radiant with unearthly splendour, bathed in the light of dreams.”

MindHumansMayShowsDreamLightStrongGivenDarkPowerfulCitiesVisionMagicFeetPromiseMountainCloudsDisappointmentAttractionPursuitEndlessWildernessHuman MindRollingWearySeekersMistStimulusCelestialRadiantLurePursuit Of KnowledgeSplendourDark CloudsPromise Of The Future
Author:James G. Frazer
Create image