"By the middle of the [Eighteenth] century what Nietzsche was later to call a transvaluation of all values was in full blast. Nothing sacred was spared—not even the classical spirit that had been the chief attainment of the Renaissance—and of the ideas and attitudes that were attacked not many survived. It was no longer necessary to give even lip service to the old preposterous certainties, whether theological or political, aesthetic or philosophical. In France, Voltaire, Rousseau and Diderot were making a bonfire of all the ancient Christian superstitions; in England Gibbon was preparing to revive the long dormant art of history and Adam Smith was laying the foundations of the new science of economics; in Germany Kant was pondering an ethical scheme that that would give the Great Commandment a rational basis..."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Imported from EN Wikiquote
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Treatise_on_the_Gods
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Treatise on the Gods
113 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Treatise on the Gods →
Related Quotes
"Its [religion's] single function is to give man access to the powers which seem to control his destiny, and its singl…"
"In its pure and simple form religion is not often encountered today. It is almost as rare, indeed, as pure democracy …"
"Within all great religions there arise, from time to time, cults, which seek to rid worship of formalization and arti…"
"The essence of mysticism is that it breaks down all barriers between the devotee and his god, and thereby makes the a…"
"Open any treatise upon pastoral theology and you will find the author warning his sacerdotal readers against old wome…"
"If all the faithful inclined to mysticism, and had a talent for it, there would be empty pews in the churches and the…"
"...there is really no need for the gentlemen of the cloth to be alarmed, for not too many human beings... are fit for…"
"Protestantism itself, in its early phases, was plainly a movement toward mysticism: its purpose, at least in theory, …"
"It is highly probable that the first priest appeared to the world simultaneously with the first religion; nay, that h…"
"The ancient and curious thing called religion, as it shows itself in the modern world, is often so overladen with exc…"