Robert Browning Quotes

Science and religion are not at odds. Science is simply too young to understand.

Great minds are always feared by lesser minds.

Men go to far greater lengths to avoid what they fear than to obtain what they desire.

Google' is not a synonym for 'research'.

Who hears music, feels his solitude Peopled at once.

To live in the world without becoming aware of the meaning of the world is like wandering about in a great library without touching the books.

History is always written by the winners. When two cultures clash, the loser is obliterated, and the winner writes the history books-books which glorify their own cause and disparage the conquered foe. As Napoleon once said, 'What is history, but a fable agreed upon?

God answers all prayers, but sometimes his answer is 'no'.

Nothing is more creative... nor destructive... than a brilliant mind with a purpose.

Nothing captures human interest more than human tragedy.

Our minds sometimes see what our hearts wish were true.

The decisions of our past are the architects of our present.

Everyone loves a conspiracy.

Faith ― acceptance of which we imagine to be true, that which we cannot prove.

The human mind has a primitive ego defense mechanism that negates all realities that produce too much stress for the brain to handle. It’s called Denial.

The only difference between you and God is that you have forgotten you are divine.

Science tells me God must exist. My mind tells me I will never understand God. And my heart tells me I am not meant to.

Grow old along with me! The best is yet to be, the last of life, for which the first was made. Our times are in his hand who saith, 'A whole I planned, youth shows but half; Trust God: See all, nor be afraid!

God, grant me strength to accept those things I cannot change.

Faith is universal. Our specific methods for understanding it are arbitrary. Some of us pray to Jesus, some of us go to Mecca, some of us study subatomic particles. In the end we are all just searching for truth, that which is greater than ourselves.

Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp, Or what's a heaven for?

I walked a mile with Pleasure; She chatted all the way; But left me none the wiser For all she had to say. I walked a mile with Sorrow; And ne’er a word said she; But, oh! The things I learned from her, When Sorrow walked with me.

By its very nature, history is always a one-sided account.

how sad and bad and mad it was - but then, how it was sweet

Telling someone about what a symbol means is like telling someone how music should make them feel.

These books can't possibly compete with centuries of established history, especially when that history is endorsed by the ultimate bestseller of all time." Faukman's eyes went wide. "Don't tell me Harry Potter is actually about the Holy Grail." "I was referring to the Bible." Faukman cringed. "I knew that.

What really matters is what you believe.

The power of human thought grows exponentially with the number of minds that share that thought.

Remember tonight...for it's the beginning of forever. - Dante Alighieri

Whether or not you believe in God, you must believe this: when we as a species abandon our trust in a power greater than us, we abandon our sense of accountability. Faiths… all faiths… are admonitions that there is something we cannot understand, something to which we are accountable. With faith we are accountable to each other, to ourselves, and to a higher truth. Religion is flawed, but only because man is flawed. The church consists of a brotherhood of imperfect, simple souls wanting only to be a voice of compassion in a world spinning out of control.

Believe me, I know what it's like to feel all alone...the worst kind of loneliness in the world is the isolation that comes from being misunderstood, It can make people lose their grasp on reality.

The Bible did not arrive by fax from heaven. The Bible is the product of man, my dear. Not of God. The Bible did not fall magically from the clouds. Man created it as a historical record of tumultuous times, and it has evolved through countless translations, additions, and revisions. History has never had a definitive version of the book.

Wide acceptance of an idea is not proof of its validity.

I was made and meant to look for you and wait for you and become yours forever.

When a question has no correct answer, there is only one honest response. The gray area between yes and no. Silence.

My sun sets to rise again.

Forgiveness is God's greatest gift

The media is the right arm of anarchy.

The darkest places in hell are reserved for those who maintain their silence at times of crisis.

Knowledge grows exponentially. The more we know, the greater our ability to learn, and the faster we expand our knowledge base.

stand tall, smile bright, and let them wonder what secrets making you laugh!

Even the technology that promises to unite us, divides us. Each of us is now electronically connected to the globe, and yet we feel utterly alone.

Religion is like language or dress. We gravitate toward the practices with which we were raised. In the end, though, we are all proclaiming the same thing. That life has meaning. That we are grateful for the power that created us.

Days decrease, / And autumn grows, autumn in everything.

Love is the energy of life.

Knowledge is a tool, and like all tools, its impact is in the hands of the user.

Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm. —WINSTON CHURCHILL

Can you keep secrets? Can you know a thing and never say it again?

Nothing in Christianity is original.

Religion is flawed, but only because man is flawed.

I believe that thinking about the problem … is your problem.

The more man learned, the more he realized he did not know.

Madness breeds madness.

I'm a fan of the truth... even if it's painfully hard to accept.

No good deed goes unpunished.

Why, what is to live? Not to eat and drink and breathe,—but to feel the life in you down all the fibres of being, passionately and joyfully.

Sometimes, all you have to do is shift your perspective to see someone else’s truth.

I show you doubt, to prove that faith exists.

Learning the truth has become my life's love.

Only one form of contagion travels faster than a virus. And that's fear.

Each of us is now electronically connected to the globe, and yet we feel utterly alone.

Best be yourself, imperial, plain, and true.

May our philosophies keep pace with our technologies. May our compassion keep pace with our powers. And may love, not fear, be the engine of change.

Darkness feeds on apathy.

Take away love and our earth is a tomb.

Buddha had said: "Each of us is a God. Each of us knows all. We need only open our minds to hear our own wisdom.

But believe me, just because the human mind can't imagine something happening...doesn't mean it won't.

the most dangerous enemy is that which no one fears!

Grow old with me! The best is yet to be.

Denial is a critical part of the human coping mechanism. Without it, we would all wake up terrified every morning about all the ways we could die. Instead, our minds block out our existential fears by focusing on stresses we can handle—like getting to work on time or paying our taxes.

Dante's poem, Langdon was now reminded, was not so much about the misery of hell as it was about the power of the human spirit to endure any challenge, no matter how daunting.

No love is greater than that of a father for His son.

Skepticism has become a virtue. Cynicism and demand for proof has become enlightened thought. Is it any wonder that humans now feel more depressed and defeated than they have at any point in human history?

The truth can be glimpsed only through the eyes of death.

We all fear what we do not understand.

Today is today. But there are many tomorrows

Historically, the most dangerous men on earth were men of God…especially when their gods became threatened.

There comes a moment in history when ignorance is no longer a forgivable offense... a moment when only wisdom has the power to absolve. - Bertrand Zobrist

Sometimes a legend that endures for centuries... endures for a reason.

I've got to stop being such a snob about leather-bound books, he reminded himself. E-books do have their moments.

Love is a private thing. The world does not need to know.

Angels and demons were identical--interchangeable archetypes--all a matter of polarity. The guardian angel who conquered your enemy in battle was perceived by your enemy as a demon destroyer.

Fear cripples faster than any implement of war.

If it wasn't painfully difficult, you did it wrong!

Authors, he thought. Even the sane ones are nuts.

But who is more ignorant? The man who cannot define lightning, or the man who does not respect its awesome power?

One does not need to have cancer to analyze its symptoms.

Ignorance is not innocence but sin.

Paracelsus At times I almost dream I too have spent a life the sages’ way, And tread once more familiar paths. Perchance I perished in an arrogant self-reliance Ages ago; and in that act a prayer For one more chance went up so earnest, so Instinct with better light let in by death, That life was blotted out — not so completely But scattered wrecks enough of it remain, Dim memories, as now, when once more seems The goal in sight again.

My lawyers will fricassee your testicles for breakfast. And if you dare board my plane without a warrant, your spleen will follow.

It has always been this way. Death is followed by birth. To reach paradise, man must pass through inferno. - Bertrand Zobrist

When swimming into a dark tunnel,there arrives a point of no return when you no longer have enough breath to double back.your choice is to swim forward into the unknown....and pray for an exit

Those who truly understand their faiths understand the stories are metaphorical.

There is an inmost center in us all, where truth abides in fullness;....and, to know, rather consists in opening out a way where the imprisoned splendor may escape, then in effecting entry for a light supposed to be without.

Don't tell anyone, but on the pagan day of the sun god Ra, I kneel at the foot of an ancient instrument of torture and consume ritualistic symbols of blood and flesh. ...And if any of you care to join me, come to the Harvard chapel on Sunday, kneel beneath the crucifix, and take Holy Communion.

Truth has power. And if we all gravitate toward similar ideas, maybe we do so because those ideas are true...written deep within us. And when we hear the truth, even if we don't understand it, we feel that truth resonate within us...vibrating with our unconscious wisdom. Perhaps the truth is not learned by us, but rather, the truth is re-called...re-membered...-re-cognized...as that which is already inside us.

Every faith in the world is based on fabrication. That is the definition of faith―acceptance of that which we imagine to be true, that which we cannot prove. Every religion describes God through metaphor, allegory, and exaggeration, from the early Egyptians through modern Sunday school. Metaphors are a way to help our minds process the unprocessible. The problems arise when we begin to believe literally in our own metaphors. Should we wave a flag and tell the Buddhists that we have proof the Buddha did not come from a lotus blossom? Or that Jesus was not born of a literal virgin birth? Those who truly understand their faiths understand the stories are metaphorical.

Mr. Langdon, I did not ask if you believe what man says about God. I asked if you believed in God. There is a difference. Holy scripture is stories...legends and history of man's quest to understand his own need for meaning. I am not asking you to pass judgment on literature. I am asking if you believe in God. When you lie out under the stars, do you sense the divine? Do you feel in your gut that you are staring up at the work of God's hands?

Lieutenant Chatrand: I don’t understand this omnipotent-benevolent thing. Camerlengo Carlo Ventresca: You are confused because the Bible describes God as an omnipotent and benevolent deity. Lieutenant Chatrand: Exactly. Camerlengo Carlo Ventresca: Omnipotent-benevolent simply means that God is all-powerful and well-meaning. Lieutenant Chatrand: I understand the concept. It’s just... there seems to be a contradiction. Camerlengo Carlo Ventresca: Yes. The contradiction is pain. Man’s starvation, war, sickness... Lieutenant Chatrand: Exactly! Terrible things happen in this world. Human tragedy seems like proof that God could not possibly be both all-powerful and well-meaning. If He loves us and has the power to change our situation, He would prevent our pain, wouldn’t he? Camerlengo Carlo Ventresca: Would He? Lieutenant Chatrand: Well... if God Loves us, and He can protect us, He would have to. It seems He is either omnipotent and uncaring, or benevolent and powerless to help. Camerlengo Carlo Ventresca: Do you have children? Lieutenant Chatrand: No, signore. Camerlengo Carlo Ventresca: Imagine you had an eight-year-old son... would you love him? Lieutenant Chatrand: Of course. Camerlengo Carlo Ventresca: Would you let him skateboard? Lieutenant Chatrand: Yeah, I guess. Sure I’d let him skateboard, but I’d tell him to be careful. Camerlengo Carlo Ventresca: So as this child’s father, you would give him some basic, good advice and then let him go off and make his own mistakes? Lieutenant Chatrand: I wouldn’t run behind him and mollycoddle him if that’s what you mean. Camerlengo Carlo Ventresca: But what if he fell and skinned his knee? Lieutenant Chatrand: He would learn to be more careful. Camerlengo Carlo Ventresca: So although you have the power to interfere and prevent your child’s pain, you would choose to show you love by letting him learn his own lessons? Lieutenant Chatrand: Of course. Pain is part of growing up. It’s how we learn. Camerlengo Carlo Ventresca: Exactly.

Professor Langdon,' called a young man with curly hair in the back row, 'if Masonry is not a secret society, not a corporation, and not a religion, then what is it?' 'Well, if you were to ask a Mason, he would offer the following definition: Masonry is a system of morality, veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols.' 'Sounds to me like a euphemism for "freaky cult." ' 'Freaky, you say?' 'Hell yes!' the kid said, standing up. 'I heard what they do inside those secret buildings! Weird candlelight rituals with coffins, and nooses, and drinking wine out of skulls. Now that's freaky!' Langdon scanned the class. 'Does that sound freaky to anyone else?' 'Yes!' they all chimed in. Langdon feigned a sad sigh. 'Too bad. If that's too freaky for you, then I know you'll never want to join my cult.' Silence settled over the room. The student from the Women's Center looked uneasy. 'You're in a cult?' Langdon nodded and lowered his voice to a conspiratorial whisper. 'Don't tell anyone, but on the pagan day of the sun god Ra, I kneel at the foot of an ancient instrument of torture and consume ritualistic symbols of blood and flesh.' The class looked horrified. Langdon shrugged. 'And if any of you care to join me, come to the Harvard chapel on Sunday, kneel beneath the crucifix, and take Holy Communion.' The classroom remained silent. Langdon winked. 'Open your minds, my friends. We all fear what we do not understand.