“ Man ought to be better informed than he is about himself before he spends his strength in measuring God. ”
Honoré de Balzac, Séraphîta (1834). copy citation
| Author | Honoré de Balzac |
|---|---|
| Source | Séraphîta |
| Topic | strength God |
| Date | 1834 |
| Language | English |
| Reference | |
| Note | Translated by Katharine Prescott Wormeley |
| Weblink | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1432/1432-h/1432-h.htm |
Context
“Now, if Matter terminates in man by intelligence, why are you not satisfied to believe that the end of human intelligence is the Light of the higher spheres, where alone an intuition of that God who seems so insoluble a problem is obtained? The species which are beneath you have no conception of the universe, and you have; why should there not be other species above you more intelligent than your own? Man ought to be better informed than he is about himself before he spends his strength in measuring God. Before attacking the stars that light us, and the higher certainties, ought he not to understand the certainties which are actually about him?’
“But no! to the negations of doubt I ought rather to reply by negations.”
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