Agnosticism is a perfectly respectable and tenable philosophical position; it is not dogmatic and makes no pronouncements about th...e ultimate truths of the universe. It remains open to evidence and persuasion; lacking faith, it nevertheless does not deride faith. Atheism, on the other hand, is as unyielding and dogmatic about religious belief as true believers are about heathens. It tries to use reason to demolish a structure that is not built upon reason.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
As we grow older, we should learn that these are two quite different things. Character is something you forge for yourself; temper...ament is something you are born with and can only slightly modify. Some people have easy temperaments and weak characters; others have difficult temperaments and strong characters. We are all prone to confuse the two in assessing people we associate with. Those with easy temperaments and weak characters are more likable than admirable; those with difficult temperaments and strong characters are more admirable than likable.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
The principal difference between love and hate is that love is a irradiation, and hate is a concentration. Love makes everything l...ovely; hate concentrates itself on the object of its hatred.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
We have not passed that subtle line between childhood and adulthood until we move from the passive voice to the active voice--that... is, until we have stopped saying "It got lost," and say, "I lost it."LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
The difference between patriotism and nationalism is that the patriot is proud of his country for what it does, and the nationalis...t is proud of his country no matter what it does; the first attitude creates a feeling of responsibility, but the second a feeling of blind arrogance that leads to war.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
The difference between faith and superstition is that the first uses reason to go as far as it can, and then makes the jump; the s...econd shuns reason entirely--which is why superstition is not the ally, but the enemy, of true religion.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
Patriotism is proud of a country's virtues and eager to correct its deficiencies; it also acknowledges the legitimate patriotism o...f other countries, with their own specific virtues. The pride of nationalism, however, trumpets its country's virtues and denies its deficiencies, while it is contemptuous toward the virtues of other countries. It wants to be, and proclaims itself to be, "the greatest," but greatness is not required of a country; only goodness is.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »