The Horrors and Absurdities of Religion Quotes

“Men are the devils of the earth, and the animals are the tormented souls.

- On Religion”
― Arthur Schopenhauer, The Horrors and Absurdities of Religion

“No one reveals himself as he is; we all wear a mask and play a role.

- On Psychology”
― Arthur Schopenhauer, The Horrors and Absurdities of Religion

“A man cannot serve two masters: so it is either reason or the scriptures.

- On Religion”
― Arthur Schopenhauer, The Horrors and Absurdities of Religion

“He who is without hope is also without fear.

- On Psychology”
― Arthur Schopenhauer, The Horrors and Absurdities of Religion

“Demopheles: Every man's faith is sacred to him, therefore it should be sacred to you too.

Philalethes: I deny your conclusion! I can't see why, because other people are simple-minded, I should respect a pack of lies.”
― Arthur Schopenhauer, The Horrors and Absurdities of Religion

“What a bad conscience religion must have is to be judged by the fact that it is forbidden under pain of such severe punishment to mock it.

- On Religion”
― Arthur Schopenhauer, The Horrors and Absurdities of Religion

“Religions are like glow-worms: they need darkness in order to shine. A certain degree of general ignorance is the condition for the existence of any religion.”
― Arthur Schopenhauer, The Horrors and Absurdities of Religion

“The eternal being which, as it lives in us, also lives in every animal ... the animal is in essence absolutely the same thing that we are.

- On Religion”
― Arthur Schopenhauer, The Horrors and Absurdities of Religion

“Where there is much pride or much vanity, there will also be much revengefulness.

- On Psychology”
― Arthur Schopenhauer, The Horrors and Absurdities of Religion

“Mankind is growing out of religion as out of its childhood clothes.

- On Religion”
― Arthur Schopenhauer, The Horrors and Absurdities of Religion

“Immediate reality is conditional upon individual consciousness. Thus the individual real existence of man also lies first and foremost in his consciousness. But this is as such necessarily ideational, and thus conditioned by the intellect and by the sphere and substance of the intellect's activity. The degree of clarity of consciousness, and consequently of thought, can therefore be regarded as the degree of reality of existence. But this degree of thought, or of clear consciousness of ones own existence and that of others, varies very greatly within the human race itself according to the measure of natural intellectual power, the extent to which this is developed, and the amount of leisure available for reflection.

- On Psychology”
― Arthur Schopenhauer, The Horrors and Absurdities of Religion

“Lack of the power to discriminate is no less evident in the sciences, namely in the tenacious life of false and refuted theories. Once come into general credit, they continue to defy truth for centuries.

- On Various Subjects”
― Arthur Schopenhauer, The Horrors and Absurdities of Religion

“Religions are the children of ignorance, and they do not long survive their mother.

- On Religion”
― Arthur Schopenhauer, The Horrors and Absurdities of Religion

“You can never read bad literature too little, nor good literature too much.”
― Arthur Schopenhauer, The Essays of Arthur Schopenhauer; Religion, a Dialogue, Etc.

“As a result of this, the main point of likeness and of contrast between nations is rather religion than government, or even language; and so the fabric of society, the State, will stand firm only when founded on a system of metaphysics which is acknowledged by all. This, of course, can only be a popular system,—that is, a religion: it becomes part and parcel of the constitution of the State, of all the public manifestations of the national life, and also of all solemn acts of individuals.”
― Arthur Schopenhauer, Religion: A Dialogue

“Las religiones son como las luciérnagas, para brillar tienen necesidad de oscuridad”
― Arthur Schopenhauer, The Horrors and Absurdities of Religion

“For, as you know, religions are like glow-worms; they shine only when it is dark. A certain amount of general ignorance is the condition of all religions, the element in which alone they can exist.”
― Arthur Schopenhauer, Religion: A Dialogue