69 Quotes by Ernest Renan

None of the miracles with which ancient histories are filled, occurred under scientific conditions. Observation never once contradicted, teaches us that miracles occur only in periods and countries in which they are believed in and before persons disposed to believe in them.

To be able to think freely, a man must be certain that no consequence will follow whatever he writes.

The prayer of the agnostic: "O God, if there is a God, save my soul if I have a soul."

The talent of historians lies in their creating a true ensemble out of facts which are but half true.

Getting its history wrong is part of being a nation.

To have common glories in the past, a common will in the present; to have done great things together; to wish to do greater; these are the essential conditions which make up a people

Morality has been conceived up to the present in a very narrow spirit, as obedience to a law, as inner struggle between opposite laws. As for me, I declare that when I do good I obey no one, I fight no battle and win no victory. The cultivated person has only to follow the delicious incline of his or her inner impulses. Be beautiful and then do at each moment whatever your heart may inspire you to do. This is the whole of morality.

True Christianity, which will last forever, comes from the gospel words of Christ not from the epistles of Paul. The writings of Paul have been a danger and a hidden rock, the causes of the principal defects of Christian theology.

It is through Christianity that Judaism has really conquered the world. Christianity is the masterpiece of Judaism...