We will have no generalizations. Mr. Bernard Shaw has put the view in a perfect epigram: 'The golden rule is that there is no golden rule.' We are more and more to discuss details in art, politics, literature. A man's opinion on tramcars matters; his opinion on Botticelli matters; his opinion on all things does not matter. He may turn over and explore a million objects, but he must not find that strange object, the universe; for if he does he will have a religion, and be lost. Everything matters - except everything.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- We focus on trivial details in art and politics to avoid confronting the whole universe which leads to religion. This approach values every object except the system that contains them.
- In plain terms
- People discuss small things to avoid thinking about the whole universe which might give them religion.
- What can you take from it?
- Avoid getting lost in details that prevent you from seeing the bigger picture.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Why do we focus on details instead of the whole?
- Does avoiding the universe prevent religion?
Another view
The idea that discussing the universe inevitably leads to religion is narrow.
More from Gilbert Keith Chesterton
It is foolish, generally speaking, for a philosopher to set fire to another philosopher in Smithfield Market because they do not agree in their theory of the u…
Permalink to quote #70 At any innocent tea-table we may easily hear a man say, 'Life is not worth living.' We regard it as we regard the statement that it is a fine day; nobody think…
Permalink to quote #72 The word 'heresy' not only means no longer being wrong; it practically means being clear-headed and courageous. The word 'orthodoxy' not only no longer means b…
Permalink to quote #69
Related quotes
In its solitariness the spirit asks, What, in the way of value, is the attainment of life? And it can find no such value till it has merged its individual clai…
Alfred North WhiteheadAlfred North Whitehead quote #1 I wonder whether, in the history of all the civilisations that have ever been, a more insanely optimistic notion has ever been entertained than that you and I,…
Malcolm MuggeridgeMalcolm Muggeridge quote #2 It doesn't seem to me that this fantastically marvelous universe, this tremendous range of time and space and different kinds of animals, and all the different…
Richard FeynmanRichard Feynman quote #3