“Do you not think that sometimes when matters are at the worst with us, when we appear to have done all which we ourselves can do, yet all has been unavailing, and we have only shown we cannot, not we will not, help ourselves; that often just then something comes, almost as if supernaturally, to settle for us, as if our guardian angel took pity on our perplexities, and then at last obtained leave to help us? And if it be so, then what might only be a coincidence becomes a call of Providence, a voice from Heaven, a command.” IfsThinkingHas BeensSometimesMatterDoneHelpingMightLastsHeavenVoiceCan DoWorstAngelPityCommandSettlingProvidenceCoincidenceGuardianGuardian AngelPerplexity Book:The Nemesis of Faith Source: The Nemesis of Faith
“If you listen to two people who are arguing about something, and they each of them have passionate faith that they're right, but they believe different things---they belong to different religions, different faiths, there is nothing they can do to settle their disagreement short of shooting each other, which is what they very often actually do.” PeopleIfsBelieveTwoDifferentCan DoPassionateArguingShootingSettlingDifferent ThingsDisagreementDifferent ReligionsDifferent Faiths Author:Richard Dawkins
“A quarter-horse jockey learns to think of a twenty-second race as if it were occurring across twenty minutes--in distinct parts, spaced in his consciousness. Each nuance of the ride comes to him as he builds his race. If you can do the opposite with deep time, living in it and thinking in it until the large numbers settle into place, you can sense how swiftly the initial earth packed itself together, how swiftly continents have assembled and come apart, how far and rapidly continents travel, how quickly mountains rise and how quickly they disintegrate and disappear.” IfsThinkingEarthTogetherCan DoNumbersRaceConsciousnessMinutesMountainOppositesHorseTwentiesDisappearSettlingQuartersContinentsInitialsLarge NumbersNuanceJockeys Author:John McPhee