William Ralph Inge Quotes

The whole of nature, as has been said, is a conjugation of the verb to eat, in the active and in the passive.

Events in the past maybe roughly divided into those which and probably never happened and those which do not matter.

We should think of the church as an orchestra in which the different churches play on different instruments while a Divine Conductor calls the tune.

It is useless for the sheep to pass resolutions in favor of vegetarianism, while the wolf remains of a different opinion.

The vulgar mind always mistakes the exceptional for the important.

The greatest obstacle to progress is not man's inherited pugnacity, but his incorrigible tendency to parasitism.

The whole of creation, with all of its laws, is a revelation of God.

It is becoming impossible for those who mix at all with their fellow-men to believe that the grace of God is distributed denominationally.

Each generation takes a special pleasure in removing the household gods of its parents from their pedestals, and consigning them to the cupboard.

When our first parents were driven out of Paradise, Adam is believed to have remarked to Eve, "My dear, we live in an age of transition."

The whole of nature is a conjugation of the verb to eat, in the active and passive.

Therefore from the storehouse of His Passion I borrow the price of my debt,

Boredom is a certain sign that we are allowing our faculties to rust in idleness.

Theater is, of course, a reflection of life. Maybe we have to improve life before we can hope to improve theater.

The church that is married to the spirit of this age, becomes a widow in the next.

A man may build himself a throne of bayonets, but he can't sit on it.

Man will never be entirely willing to give up this world for the next nor the next world for this.

The statistics of suicide show that, for non-combatants at least, life is more interesting in war than in peace.

No healthy civilization can ever be reared on a foundation of devitalized work.

Joy is the triumph of life; it is the sign that we are living our true life as spiritual beings.

Even the paradise of fools is not an unpleasant abode while it is inhabitable.

Two chief pitfalls into which the mystic is liable to fall
dreamy inactivity and Antinomianism.

Civilization is a disease which is almost invariably fatal.

Beautiful thoughts hardly bring us to God until they are acted upon. No one can have a true idea of right until he does it.

Experience proves that none is so cruel as the disillusioned sentimentalist.

Admiration for ourselves and our institutions is too often measured by our contempt and dislike for foreigners.

There is no limit to the noble aspirations which the words "my country" may evoke.

Public opinion, a vulgar, impertinent, anonymous tyrant who deliberately makes life unpleasant for anyone who is not content to the average person.

Let us remember, when we are inclined to be disheartened, that the private soldier is a poor judge of the fortunes of a great battle.

Religion is caught, not taught.

Many people believe that they are attracted by God, or by Nature, when they are only repelled by man.

Don't break the silence unless you can improve on it.

The soul is dyed by the color of its leisure hours.

Hatred toward any human being cannot exist in the same heart as love to God.

Prayer gives a man the opportunity of getting to know a gentleman he hardly ever meets. I do not mean his maker, but himself.

Patriotism varies, from a noble devotion to a moral lunacy.

True faith is belief in the reality of absolute values.

Originality is undetected plagiarism.

No Christian can be a pessimist, for Christianity is a system of radical optimism.

It is astonishing with how little wisdom mankind can be governed, when that little wisdom is its own.

In dealing with Englishmen you can be sure of one thing only, that the logical solution will not be adopted.

Faith is an act of self-consecration, in which the will, the intellect, and the affections all have their place.

The modern world belongs to the half-educated, a rather difficult class, because they do not realize how little they know.

Whoever marries the spirit of this age will find himself a widower in the next.

To become a popular religion, it is only necessary for a superstition to enslave a philosophy.

I have never understood why it should be considered derogatory to the Creator to suppose that he has a sense of humour.

what is originality ? undetected plagiarism!

Originality, I fear, is too often only undetected and frequently unconscious plagiarism.

Lutheranism is essentially German ... It worships a God who is neither just nor merciful.

Literature flourishes best when it is half a trade and half an art.

The church is only a secular institution in which the half-educated speak to the half-converted.

The happiest people seem to be those who have no particular cause for being happy except that they are so.

The game of life is worth playing, but the struggle is the prize.

Every institution not only carries within it the seeds of its own dissolution, but prepares the way for its most hated rival.

The aim of education is the knowledge not of facts but of values.

The right use of leisure is no doubt a harder problem than the right use of our working hours. The soul is dyed the color of its leisure thoughts.

I think middle-age is the best time, if we can escape the fatty degeneration of the conscience which often sets in at about fifty.

Take away fear, and the battle of Freedom is half won.

We must cut our coat according to our cloth, and adapt ourselves to changing circumstances.

Worry is interest paid on trouble before it comes due.

There are no rewards or punishments - only consequences.

Experience is a good teacher, but her fees are very high.

The command, 'Be fruitful and multiply', was promulgated, according to our authorities, when the population of the world consisted of two persons.

The Devil deserves zero tolerance.

The proper time to influence the character of a child is about a hundred years before he is born.

A nation is a society united by a delusion about its ancestry and a common hatred of its neighbors.

The happy people are those who are producing something ...

The world belongs to those who think and act with it, who keep a finger on its pulse.

All human love is a holy thing, the holiest thing in our experience.

Our real self is not the captive of Space and Time

Civilization is being poisoned by its own waste products.

The enemies of freedom do not argue; they shout and they shoot.

This is old, therefore it is good"; the other says, "This is new, therefore it is better.

The average man is rich enough when he has a little more than he has got.

Christianity promises to make men free; it never promises to make them independent.