Arthur Keith Quotes

 

Whichever theory we adopt to give a rational explanation of human existence, that theory must take into account and explain the mental nature we see at work in all modern communities.

We shall never understand the ethical system taught by Jesus unless we realize that he was a Jew, not only by birth, but that he lived and taught as a Jew; the Sermon on the Mount was addressed to his distracted fellow nationals.

Universalism as an ideal is as old as nay, is probably much more ancient than the Christian ideal.

Under no stretch of imagination can war be regarded as an ethical process; yet war, force, terror, and propaganda were the evolutionary means employed to weld the German people into a tribal whole.

Tribal life comes automatically to an end when a primitive people begins to live in a town or a city, for sooner or later a tribal organization is found to be incompatible with life in a city.

Tolerance is held to be a condition of mind which is encouraged by, and is necessary for, civilization.

There are very few men and women in whom a Universalist feeling is altogether lacking; its prevalence suggests that it must be part of our inborn nature and have a place in Nature’s scheme of evolution.

There are the further difficulties of building a population out of a diversity of races, each at a different stage of cultural evolution, some in need of restraint, many in need of protection; everywhere a bewildering Babel of tongues.

The proper balance between individual liberty and central authority is a very ancient problem.

The main force used in the evolving world of humanity has hitherto been applied in the form of war.

The discovery of agriculture was the first big step toward a civilized life.

Reason has not tamed desire: it is as strong as ever.

Nowhere is Universalism welcomed and encouraged by a people; everywhere governments have forced and are forcing Universalism upon unwilling and resistant subjects.

No tribe unites with another of its own free will.

My personal conviction is that science is concerned wholly with truth, not with ethics.

Man is by nature competitive, combative, ambitious, jealous, envious, and vengeful.

It is just because civilization is ever evolving, changing, and becoming more complicated, that experts find it so difficult to define it in explicit terms.

In every man there is an instinctive and passionate reaction if his person or liberty is attacked.

In a tribal organization, even in time of peace, service to tribe or state predominates over all self seeking; in war, service for the tribe or state becomes supreme, and personal liberty is suspended.

I prize the conditions under which I have lived because they have permitted me to choose my opportunities, to inquire into such matters as interested me, and to publish what I believed to be true, uncontrolled by any central authority.