"I agree with you, that he was a Man of Erudition, and a very polite Writer; he has display'd a copious Imagination, and a fine Turn of thinking, in courtly Language and nervous Expressions: But as, on the one hand, it must be confess'd, that his Sentiments on Liberty and Humanity are noble and sublime, and that there is nothing trite or vulgar in the Characteristicks; so, on the other, it cannot be denied, that the Ideas he had form'd of the Goodness and Excellency of our Nature, were as romantick and chimerical as they are beautiful and amiable; that he labour'd hard to unite two Contraries that can never be reconcil'd together, Innocence of Manners and worldly Greatness; that to compass this End he favour'd Deism, and, under Pretence of lashing Priestcraft and Superstition, attack'd the Bible it self; and lastly, that by ridiculing many Passages of Holy Writ, he seems to have endeavour'd to sap the Foundation of all reveal'd Religion, with Design of establishing Heathen Virtue on the Ruins of Christianity."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Politicians from EnglandPhilosophers from EnglandNon-fiction authors from EnglandDeistsAmerican colonial governors
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Bernard Mandeville, The Fable of the Bees: Or, Private Vices, Publick Benefits. The Second Volume, ed. F. B. Kaye (1924), pp. 356-357
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Anthony_Ashley-Cooper%2C_3rd_Earl_of_Shaftesbury
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury
Anthony Ashley Cooper, 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury (February 26 1671 – February 4 1713) was an English philosopher and politician.
17 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury →
Related Quotes
"Through certain humors or passions, and from temper merely, a man may be completely miserable, let his outward circum…"
"'Twas the saying of [Georgias Leontinus apud Arist. Rhetor. lib. 3. cap. 18… which the Translator renders, Seria Risu…"
"Truth is the most powerful thing in the world, since even fiction itself must be governed by it, and can only please …"
"How comes it to pass then, that we appear such Cowards in reasoning, and are so afraid to stand the Test of Ridicule?"
"Gravity is of the very Essence of Imposture. It does not only make us mistake other Things, but is apt perpetually al…"
"We may have an excellent Ear in Musick, without being able to perform in any kind. We may judg well of Poetry, withou…"
"Truth, 'tis suppos'd, may bear all Lights: and one of those principal Lights or natural Mediums, by which Things are …"
"All Politeness is owing to Liberty. We polish one another, and rub off our Corners and rough Sides by a sort of amica…"
"True courage…has so little to do with Anger, that there lies always the strongest Suspicion against it, where this Pa…"
"The most natural Beauty in the World is Honesty, and Moral Truth. For all Beauty is Truth. True Features make the Bea…"