Mysticism keeps men sane. As long as you have mystery you have health; when you destroy mystery you create morbidity. The ordinary man has always been sane because the ordinary man has always been a mystic .... If he saw two truths that seemed to contradict each other, he would take the two truths and the contradiction along with them. His spiritual sight is stereoscopic, like his physical sight: he sees two different pictures at once and yet sees all the better for that.—G.K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy (1908)
Thursday, May 24, 2012
Mysticism Keeps Men Sane
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Interesting quote to mull over, Rick, especially: "As long as you have mystery you have health; when you destroy mystery you create morbidity."
ReplyDeleteI meant to post a response a while ago, but left my book at work. Was reading about mystery at the same time, in Tim O’Brien’s novel “In the Lake of the Woods” (1994). Late in the book, the narrator says: [Posted as standalone quote].
Great passage, Matt. Thanks for posting it. As I have said, I love the library of interconnected quotes that has been expanding over the years.
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