#anthologyofdoubt

“Socrates could not prove the immortality of the soul; he simply said: this matter occupies me so much that I will order my life as though immortality were a fact – should there be none, oh well, I still do not regret my choice, for this is the only matter that concerns me. What a great help it would already be in Christendom if there were someone who spoke and acted like that: I do not know whether Christianity is true, but I will order my whole life as though it were, stake my life on it – then if it proves not to be true, oh well, I still do not regret my choice, for it is the only matter that concerns me.” 

“So my advice is this: don’t look for proofs. Don’t bother with them at all. They are never sufficient to the question, and they’re always a little impertinent, I think, because they claim for God a place within our conceptual grasp. And they will likely sound wrong to you even if you convince someone else with them…I’m not saying never doubt or question. The Lord gave you a mind so that you would make honest use of it. I’m saying you must be sure that the doubts and questions are your own, not, so to speak, the mustache and walking stick that happen to be the fashion of any particular moment.” 

Down-hearted doubters, dull and excluded, Frivolous sullen moping angry affected disheartened      atheistical, I know every one of you, and know the unspoken       interrogatories, By experience I know them.