The Man Whose Whole Activity Is Diverted

What History Teaches Us Is That Man Does Not Change Arbitrarily; He Does Not Transform Himself At Will On Hearing The Voices Of Inspired Prophets. The Reason Is That All Change, In Colliding With The Inherited Institutions Of The Past, Is Inevitably Hard And Laborious; Consequently It Only Takes Place In Response To The Demands Of Necessity. For Change To Be Brought About It Is Not Enough That It Should Be Seen As Desirable; It Must Be The Product Of Changes Within The Whole Network Of Diverse Casual Relationships Which Then Determine The Situation Of Man.

Man's Characteristic Privilege Is That The Bond He Accepts Is Not Physical But Moral; That Is, Social. He Is Governed Not By A Material Environment Brutally Imposed On Him, But By A Conscience Superior To His Own, The Superiority Of Which He Feels. Because The Greater, Better Part Of His Existence Transcends The Body, He Escapes The Body's Yoke, But Is Subject To That Of Society.

Religious Representations Are Collective Representations Which Express Collective Realities.

The Man Whose Whole Activity Is Diverted To Inner Meditation Becomes Insensible To All His Surroundings.

It Is Science, And Not Religion, Which Has Taught Men That Things Are Complex And Difficult To Understand.