In God, I move and breathe and have my being.
All genuine learning is active, not passive. It involves the use of the mind, not just the memory. It is a process of discovery, in which the student is the main agent, not the teacher.
More consequences for thought and action follow the affirmation or denial of God than from answering any other basic question.
Not to engage in the pursuit of ideas is to live like ants instead of like men.
To agree without understanding is inane. To disagree without understanding is impudent.
I suspect that most of the individuals who have religious faith are content with blind faith. They feel no obligation to understand what they believe. They may even wish not to have their beliefs disturbed by thought. But if God in whom they believe created them with intellectual and rational powers, that imposes upon them the duty to try to understand the creed of their religion. Not to do so is to verge on superstition.
. . . . a good book can teach you about the world and about yourself. You learn more than how to read better; you also learn more about life. You become wiser. Not just more knowledgeable - books that provide nothing but information can produce that result. But wiser, in the sense that you are more deeply aware of the great and enduring truths of human life.
I hadn't read the Dr. Strange comics growing up.
The very best of all Merwin: I have been reading William since 1952, and always with joy.
Truth that peeps Over the glass's edge when dinner's done.
Just understand, don`t choose - don`t choose even choicelessness. Simply understand the whole situation: that whatsoever you choose, whatsoever you do, will come out of the calculating mind. It cannot be the real thing. Your mind can only produce dreams, it cannot produce the truth. Truth cannot be produced, nobody can produce it. It is there; it has to be seen. Nothing has to be done, just a look is needed - a look without any prejudice, a look without any choice, a look without any distinctions.