University Of Cambridge Alumni

"Christians...deliberately severed themselves from that Body of which by human generation they had been made members. They were as mortified limbs yielding themselves to the domination of an outside force other than that which was their only life, and by that very act imperilled the entire Body. This madness, then, was the one crime which still deserved the name. Murder, theft, rape, even anarchy itself, were as trifling faults compared to this monstrous sin, for while these injured indeed the Body they did not strike at its heart—individuals suffered, and therefore those minor criminals deserved restraint; but the very Life was not struck at. But in Christianity there was a poison actually deadly. Every cell that became infected with it was infected in that very fibre that bound it to the spring of life. This, and this alone, was the supreme crime of High Treason against man—and nothing but complete removal from the world could be an adequate remedy."

"You say Christianity is absurd and impossible. Now, you know, it cannot be that! It may be untrue,— I am not speaking of that now, even though I am perfectly certain that it is absolutely true—but it cannot be absurd so long as educated and virtuous people continue to hold it. To say that it is absurd is simple pride; it is to dismiss all who believe in it as not merely mistaken, but unintelligent as well."

"It is understood now, by fanatic barbarians as well as by civilised nations, that the reign of War is ended. 'Not peace but a sword,' said ; and bitterly true have those words proved to be. 'Not a sword but peace' is the retort, articulate at last, from those who have renounced Christ’s claims or have never accepted them. The principle of love and union learned however falteringly in the West during the last century, has been taken up in the East as well. There shall be no more an appeal to arms, but to justice; no longer a crying after a God Who hides Himself, but to Man who has learned his own Divinity. The Supernatural is dead; rather, we know now that it never yet has been alive. What remains is to work out this new lesson, to bring every action, word and thought to the bar of Love and Justice; and this will be, no doubt, the task of years. Every code must be reversed; every barrier thrown down; party must unite with party, country with country, and continent with continent. There is no longer the fear of fear, the dread of the hereafter, or the paralysis of strife. Man has groaned long enough in the travails of birth; his blood has been poured out like water through his own foolishness; but at length he understands himself and is at peace."

"He began, as his custom was in mental prayer, by a deliberate act of self-exclusion from the world of sense. Under the image of sinking beneath a surface he forced himself downwards and inwards, till the peal of the organ, the shuffle of footsteps, the rigidity of the chair-back beneath his wrists—all seemed apart and external, and he was left a single person with a beating heart, an intellect that suggested image after image, and emotions that were too languid to stir themselves. Then he made his second descent, renounced all that he possessed and was, and became conscious that even the body was left behind, and that his mind and heart, awed by the Presence in which they found themselves, clung close and obedient to the will which was their lord and protector. He drew another long breath, or two, as he felt that Presence surge about him; he repeated a few mechanical words, and sank to that peace which follows the relinquishment of thought."

""Until our Lord comes back," he thought to himself; and for an instant the old misery stabbed at his heart. How difficult it was to hold the eyes focussed on that far horizon when this world lay in the foreground so compelling in its splendour and its strength!"

"He stood a moment or two at the door after his wife had gone, drinking in reassurance from that glorious vision of solid sense that spread itself before his eyes: the endless house-roofs; the high glass vaults of the public baths and gymnasiums; the pinnacled schools where Citizenship was taught each morning; the spider-like cranes and scaffoldings that rose here and there; and even the few pricking spires did not disconcert him. There it stretched away into the grey haze of London, really beautiful, this vast hive of men and women who had learnt at least the primary lesson of the gospel that there was no God but man, no priest but the politician, no prophet but the schoolmaster."

"The one condition of progress and the building of Jerusalem, on the planet that happened to be men’s dwelling place, was peace, not the sword which Christ brought or that which Mahomet wielded; but peace that arose from, not passed, understanding; the peace that sprang from a knowledge that man was all and was able to develop himself only by sympathy with his fellows. To Oliver and his wife, then, the last century seemed like a revelation; little by little the old superstitions had died, and the new light broadened; the Spirit of the World had roused Himself, the sun had dawned in the west; and now with horror and loathing they had seen the clouds gather once more in the quarter whence all superstition had had its birth."

"His emotions had been stormed, his intellect silenced, his memory of grace obscured, a spiritual nausea had sickened his soul, yet the secret fortress of the will had, in an agony, held fast the doors and refused to cry out and call Felsenburgh king."

"It was ever his doctrine that we lose nothing of what is good and sweet in the past, and that we suck out of all things a kind of essence that abides with us always, and that every soul that loves is a treasure-house of all that she has ever loved. It is only the souls that do not love that go empty in this world and in saecula saeculorum."

"Z or , the good kitchen-maid; She prayed, and she prayed, and she prayed, and she prayed."

"It is marvellous how our Lord sets His seal upon all that we do, if we will but attend to His working, and not think too highly upon what we do ourselves."

"It is perfectly true that Protestantism is dead. Men do recognise at last that a supernatural Religion involves an absolute authority, and that Private Judgment in matters of faith is nothing else than the beginning of disintegration. And it is also true that since the Catholic Church is the only institution that even claims supernatural authority, with all its merciless logic, she has again the allegiance of practically all Christians who have any supernatural belief left. There are a few faddists left, especially in America and here; but they are negligible."

"Now, we Catholics, remember, are losing; we have lost steadily for more than fifty years. I suppose that we have, nominally, about one-fortieth of America now—and that is the result of the Catholic movement of the early twenties. In France and Spain we are nowhere; in Germany we are less. We hold our position in the East, certainly; but even there we have not more than one in two hundred—so the statistics say—and we are scattered. In Italy? Well, we have Rome again to ourselves, but nothing else; here, we have Ireland altogether and perhaps one in sixty of England, Wales and Scotland; but we had one in forty seventy years ago. Then there is the enormous progress of psychology—all clean against us for at least a century. First, you see, there was Materialism, pure and simple—that failed more or less—it was too crude—until psychology came to the rescue. Now psychology claims all the rest of the ground; and the supernatural sense seems accounted for. That’s the claim. No, father, we are losing; and we shall go on losing, and I think we must even be ready for a catastrophe at any moment."

"Friendliness took the place of charity, contentment the place of hope, and knowledge the place of faith."

"Well, what they call the Incarnation is really the point. Everything else flows from that. And, once a man believes that, I must confess that all the rest follows—even down to scapulars and holy water." "Mr. Francis, I don’t understand a word you’re saying." He smiled indulgently. "Of course not," he said; "it is all incredible nonsense. But, you know, I did really believe it all once." "But it’s unreasonable," she said. He made a little demurring sound. "Yes," he said, "in one sense, of course it is—utterly unreasonable. But in another sense——"

"The Socialist saw plainly the rights of the Society; the Anarchist saw the rights of the Individual. How therefore were these to be reconciled? The Church stepped in at that crucial point and answered, By the Family — whether domestic or religious. For in the Family you have both claims recognized: there is authority and yet there is liberty. For the union of the Family lies in Love; and Love is the only reconciliation of authority and liberty."

"In the ages of faith a very inadequate grasp of religion would pass muster; in these searching days none but the humble and the pure could stand the test for long, unless indeed they were protected by a miracle of ignorance. The alliance of Psychology and Materialism did indeed seem, looked at from one angle, to account for everything; it needed a robust supernatural perception to understand their practical inadequacy."

"It is scarcely likely that men on fire with success, whether military or commercial, will be patient of the restraints of religion."

"In these days, when there is so much enterprise, money has become, as it were, a living thing that grows; or at the least a tool that can be used."

"Forward and backward all in one; that is the way she loves to be wooed. She is a woman, remember that."

"The sense of home-coming was stronger than all else — that strange passion for a particular set of inanimate things — or, at the most, for an association of ideas — that has no parallel in human emotions."

"I agree that your troubles are real enough. But all the better. ... I think that the Authorities are pleased sometimes 'to give us something to cry for.' ... Most of us cry without anything. ... And I think that the insane desire one has sometimes to bang and kick grumblers and peevish persons, is a Divine instinct. ... Ergo. ... Therefore thank Them that you something to cry for. One doesn't get far without it."

"Every man may err, but not the whole gathered together; for the whole hath a promise, but so hath not every particular man."

"Philosophers tell us that the value of existence lies not in the objects perceived, but in the powers of perception."

"Saint went to Angleland for Pope Saint , And converted our poor ancestors to Christianity; And that is why both you and I are Christians, don't you see?"

"It is strange, sometimes, to find that some silent old lady has a power for sounding human character, which far shrewder persons lack."

"Ignorance may be bliss, but it certainly is not freedom, except in the minds of those who prefer darkness to light, and chains to liberty. The more true information we can acquire, the better for our enfranchisement."

"To-day as in Bethlehem, the bourgeois sits at home and discusses the Census, while Shepherds and Kings adore in the Stable."

"Cast away Authority, and authority shall forsake you."

"The tragedy of a child over a broken doll is not less poignant than the anguish of a worshipper over a broken idol, or of a king over a ruined realm."

"Just as in social things the essential bourgeois is one who, being tolerably well off, is completely complacent with his position—unlike the lowest class which has no position to be complacent about, and the highest class which does not think about it at all either way; so in matters of mind. 'How hardly shall they who trust in riches,' says our Lord, 'enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.'"

"It is a good deal more fashionable, and considered a great deal more 'spiritual,' to stand outside creeds and churches than within them."

"Perhaps that is the reason that I think I see it all so plainly; just because I want to see it plainly."

"To say 'Hail Mary, Hail Mary,' is the best way of telling her how much we love her. And then this string of beads is like Our Lady's girdle, and her children love to finger it, and whisper to her. And then we say our paternosters, too; and all the while we are talking she is shewing us pictures of her dear Child, and we look at all the great things He did for us, one by one; and then we turn the page and begin again."

"Nothing is so bad as not trusting God."

"You see, when competition ceases, effort ceases. Human nature is human nature, after all. The Socialists forgot that."

"He pictured the peace of the ransomed soul, that knows itself safe in the arms of God; that rejoices, even in this world, in the Light of His Face and the ecstasy of His embrace; that dwells by waters of comfort and lies down in the green pastures of the Heavenly Love; while, round this little island of salvation in an ocean of terror, the thunders of wrath sound only as the noise of surge on a far-off reef."

""Praise the , and love His creatures, birds and beasts as well as men." Sweet Saint of , would that he were here again!"

"Those who most confidently appeal to Reason are usually the very persons most controlled by Imagination."

"Religion always is and always has been at the root of every world-movement."

"Whenever your soul begins to be disturbed and anxious, put yourself in His Hands, and refuse to decide for yourself. It is so easy, so easy."

"She has been taught to hold herself in, and not to show her feelings; and that, I think, is as much a drawback sometimes as wearing the heart upon the sleeve."

"It seems to me probable that any one who has a series of intolerable positions to put up with must have been responsible for them to some extent:—not that it was simply 'their fault'—I don’t mean that—but that they contributed to it by un-patience, or intolerance, or brusqueness—or some provocation."

"The individual saves his life by losing it, and realises the meaning of his own identity only by merging it in the commonwealth."

"The man who says, 'Unless I feel, I will not believe,' is as narrow and foolish as the man who says, 'Unless I understand, I will not believe.'"

"Religion...must at least touch the will; for however small our will may be, it is always large enough to be united to the Will of God."

"You can love a person deeply and sincerely whom you do not like. You can like a person passionately whom you do not love."

"It remained for Alfred Cobban to play the role of Copernicus and point out the emperor-theory's nakedness. At least his writings of some twenty years ago constitute the most apparent landmark of the revisionist school. Cobban's main points were that the French bourgeoisie of the eighteenth century — he did not question its existence — was neither (a) capitalist or industrial, (even in intent), nor (b) revolutionary. Rather than being a class of "industrial entrepreneurs and financiers of big business," the bourgeoisie was composed of "land-owners, rentiers, and officials." Itself a class deeply involved in privileges, it abhorred the thought of revolution. Moreover, this bourgeoisie was, he thought, not rising but declining. Cobban recognized the confusions in the situation and called for new, freshly directed research. He was sure that historians had imposed on the Old Regime a "sociological theory" drawn from a later age, one that did not fit that earlier epoch. They had looked into the mirror of their own age rather than into the past, and they had seen Rockefeller and Lenin rather than the real Necker and Voltaire, thus misreading the whole code. Cobban further noted the obvious fact that so far as France was concerned, the Revolution did not usher in a triumphant capitalism but in fact had impeded modernization, industrialization, technological innovation for a century or more. He added that when historians construed the Parisian sans culottes of the Revolution as an incipient proletariat they also mistook reality by importing later ideas, a point others had already made."

"A puzzle remained. Why had Dilmun used the standard weights of the Indus Valley? The Babylonians and Sumerians used a completely different system... Either the first commercial impulses to have reached Dilmun must have come not from Mesopotamia but from India, or else India was a far more important commercial connection with Dilmun than was Mesopotamia."

"The emphasis on the social grounding of politics was, moreover, something which Cobban himself shared, as he showed by developing a "social interpretation of the French Revolution" which highlighted the role of disenchanted venal office-holders (rather than a supposedly triumphant capitalistic grouping) as the true Revolutionary bourgeoisie. He and other Anglo-American scholars who followed in his wake invariably saw the eighteenth-century economy as traditionalist and uncapitalistic – a view which fitted in nicely with the "immobile history" preached by third-generation Annaliste Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie."