Grey Eminence: A Study in Religion and Politics

by Aldous Huxley

Their religion, in a word, is not mystical, but a k...

but he also attached great importance to siddhis and, indeed, to any unusual psychic phenomenon which might turn up in the course of his meditations.

(these are the very words of the Second Person of the Trinity)

The old indecision paralysed his efforts at hard work;

the old pathological boredom prevented him from taking an interest even in the war;

the old sense of guilt and personal inferiority darkened his world again and made it horr...

Urban VIII was not inclined to do what the King desired.

There were several reasons why he did not want to make Father Joseph a cardinal.

And finally, there was the fact, which no Counter-Reformation Pope could safely ignore, that Father Joseph enjoyed the worst possible reputation among the rank and file of the Catholic laity and clergy.