Great Throughts Treasury

This site is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Alan William Smolowe who gave birth to the creation of this database.

Related Quotes

Jeremy Taylor

A religion without mystery must be a religion without God. In dwelling on divine mysteries, keep thy heart humble, thy thoughts reverent, thy soul holy. Let not philosophy be ashamed to be confuted, nor logic to be confounded, nor reason to be surpassed. What thou canst not prove, approve; what thou canst not comprehend, believe; what thou canst believe, admire and love and obey. so shall thine ignorance be satisfied in thy faith, and thy doubt be swallowed up in thy reverence, and thy faith be as influential as sight. Put out thing own candle, and then shalt thou see clearly the sun of righteousness.

Doubt | Faith | God | Heart | Ignorance | Logic | Love | Mystery | Philosophy | Reason | Religion | Reverence | Righteousness | Soul | Wisdom |

Nachman Syrkin

Languages are spiritual organisms, vital works of art, each of them having its measure of creative power, splendor, depth, logic to explore and to construct the world of nature in life.

Art | Life | Life | Logic | Nature | Power | Wisdom | World |

William Makepeace Thackeray

Good humor is one of the best articles of dress one can wear in society.

Good | Humor | Society | Wisdom |

William E. Blatz, fully William Emet Blatz

Parenting: Affection without sentiment, authority without cruelty, discipline without aggression, humor without ridicule, sacrifice without obligation, companionship without possessiveness.

Aggression | Authority | Cruelty | Discipline | Humor | Obligation | Ridicule | Sacrifice | Sentiment | Companionship |

Gilbert Keith "G.K." Chesteron

You can only find truth with logic if you have already found truth without it.

Logic | Truth |

Robert Bridges, fully Robert Seymour Bridges

Music being the universal expression of the mysterious and supernatural, the best that man has ever attained to, is capable of uniting in common devotion minds that are only separated by creeds, and it comforts our hope with a brighter promise of unity than any logic offers.

Devotion | Hope | Logic | Man | Music | Promise | Unity |

Emmet Fox

You grow in grace and understanding by solving your daily problems as they arise, by the Practice of the Presence of God, by a tolerant attitude toward others, by plan horse sense (which is Divine Wisdom in you), by sincere and honest dealing at all times, and by cultivating a true sense of humor – which always brings us nearer to God. The great point is that life is to be met and mastered. Outer conditions and appearances are simply of no importance in themselves except as they supply material for growth.

God | Grace | Growth | Humor | Life | Life | Plan | Practice | Problems | Sense | Understanding | Wisdom |

Sam Ervin, fully Samuel James "Sam" Ervin, Jr.

Humor is one of God’s most marvelous gifts. Humor give us smiles, laughter, and gaiety. Humor reveals the roses and hides the thorns. Humor makes our heavy burden light and smooths the rough spots in our pathways. Humor endows us with the capacity to clarify the obscure, to simplify the complex, to deflate the pompous, to chastise the arrogant, to point a moral, and to adorn a tale.

Capacity | God | Humor | Laughter | Light |

Hugh I’Anson Fausset

Poetry transcends logic as the spiritual transcends the physical and intellectual. It reveals life eternally and the instruments of time are too mean to record its mystery.

Life | Life | Logic | Mystery | Poetry | Time |

Os Guiness

Are you open to the full interrogation of life? Or are you close to the search because you believe what you’ve always believed without question? Have you pondered the logic of your experiences and dared to follow the direction of their limits and promptings?

Life | Life | Logic | Question | Search |

Herman Hesse

All higher humor begins with ceasing to take oneself seriously.

Humor |

William James

Philosophy is only a matter of passionate vision rather than of logic - logic only finding reasons for the vision afterwards.

Logic | Philosophy | Vision |

Raisa Orlova, fully Raisa Davydovna Orlova-Kopeleva

Beliefs and convictions reach out from the past, and they cannot be altered by fervent desire alone. They possess their own logic and illogic, their own organic existence, their own rhythm of development.

Convictions | Desire | Existence | Logic | Organic | Past |

Roger Rosenblatt

I’m learning the difference between humor and comedy, between the laugh that lasts forever and the one that evaporates as soon as it hits the air. Humor is giving, and comedy is taking away. Humor is companionable, comedy cold. Humor is character, comedy personality.

Character | Comedy | Giving | Humor | Learning | Personality |

Moshe Waldoks

A sense of humor can help you overlook the unattractive, tolerate the unpleasant, cope with the unexpected, and smile through the unbearable.

Humor | Sense | Smile |

Anne Wilson Schaef

I realize that humor is not for everyone. It's only for people who want to have fun, enjoy life, and feel alive.

Fun | Humor | Life | Life | People |