Quotes About Reason

The rationalist imagines an imbecile-free society; the empiricist and imbecile-proof one, or even better, a rationalist-proof one.

There is only one reality - the reality knowable to reason. And if man does not choose to perceive it, there is nothing else for him to perceive; if it is not of this world that he is conscious, then he is not conscious at all

There was a listlessness in his gait, as if he saw no reason for taking one step further, nor felt any desire to do so, but would have been glad, could he be glad of anything, to fling himself down at the root of the nearest tree, and lie there passive for evermore. The leaves might bestrew him, and the soil gradually accumulate and form a little hillock over his frame, no matter whether there were life in it or no. Death was too definite an object to be wished for or avoided.

Either things happen for a reason, or they happen for no reason at all. Either one's life is a thread in a glorious tapestry or humanity is just a hopelessly tangled knot.

He looks very authoritative—even more so now in his uniform of brass buttons and blue wool—but authority and reason are two different things.

There have always been, and will always be, those who exist on the fringe of reason

There have always been, and will always be, those who exist on the fringe of reason, the Thunderhead told Greyson. They must be set straight early and often.

He sadly resumes his path toward a desert that he knows is similar to the one he just crossed, escorted by the pale phantom they call Reason, who lights up the aridity of his path with a weak lantern, and who, when the thirst of passion comes back from time to time, quenches it with the poison of ennui.

Tout ce qui plaît a une raison de plaire, et mépriser les attroupements de ceux qui s'égarent n'est pas le moyen de les ramener où ils devraient être.

where some god pissed a rain of reason to make things grow only to die

I once lay in a white hospital for the dying and the dying self, where some god pissed a rain of reason to make things grow only to die

The reason so much bad poetry is written is that it is written as poetry instead of concept. And the reason the public doesn't understand poetry is that there is nothing to understand, and the reason most poets write it is that they think they understand. Nothing is to be understood or regained. It is simply to be written. By someone. Sometime. And not too often.

My father was a great literary teacher. He taught me the meaning of pain. Pain without reason.

So I drank every night after work, alone, up at my place and I had enough left for a day at the track on Saturday, and life was simple and without too much pain. Maybe without too much reason, but getting away from pain was reasonable enough.

We are not here concerned with hopes or fears, only with truth as far as our reason permits us to discover it.

The very essence of instinct is that it's followed independently of reason.

As to me, so long as I have the strength, I shall battle against Melancholy. I am not philosopher enough to reason it away, so I'll be content with singing it off.

The Cult of Reason sprang up all over France in 1793 and was even worshipped in the Cathedral of Notre Dame. After the Bishop of Paris resigned, proclaiming his previous error of supporting Christianity, the Goddess of Reason, impersonated by an actress of wealthy means, took his place at the altar. She sat under a baldachino holding the new symbols of power, while all around her danced Jacobins in various states of religious, revolutionary and reasoned ecstasy.

One is distressed by the failure of reasonable people to perceive either the depths of evil or the depths of the holy." —ETHICS

Reasonable people maintain the world. Passionate people change it. And wise people guide the change process.

Which should be an excellent reminder that when God tells you to do something, you'd better do it; He always has a reason.

However, if we do discover a complete theory, it should in time be understandable in broad principle by everyone, not just a few scientists. Then we shall all, philosophers, scientists, and just ordinary people, be able to take part in the discussion of the question of why it is that we and the universe exist. If we find the answer to that, it would be the ultimate triumph of human reason—for we would know the mind of God.

You've just spent an entire prehistoric human lifetime as an ice ghoul and people are needling you for having too many arms? I shake my head. I just assume you have a good reason.

They were brilliant, widely read, incisive, and effortlessly effective analysts and programmers. Which is another reason why, ultimately, so many people died.