APHORISMS AND REFLECTIONS 



There is no alleviation for the sufferings of man- 

 kind except veracity of thought and of action, and 

 the resolute facing of the world as it is when the 

 garment of make-believe by which pious hands 

 have hidden its uglier features is stripped off. 



11 



Natural knowledge, seeking to satisfy natural 

 wants, has found the ideas which can alone still 

 spiritual cravings. I say that natural knowledge, in 

 desiring to ascertain the laws of comfort, has been 

 driven to discover those of conduct, and to lay the 

 foundations of a new morality. 



in 



The improver of natural knowledge absolutely 

 refuses to acknowledge authority, as such. For 

 him, scepticism is the highest of duties ; blind faith 

 the one unpardonable sin. 



IV 



The man of science has learned to believe in 

 justification, not by faith, but by verification. 



32 B 



