Now this terror and darkness of mind must surely be scattered,
Not by rays of the sun, nor by gleaming arrows of daylight,
But by the outward display and unseen workings of Nature.
And her first rule for us from this premise shall take its beginning;
"Never did will of gods bring anything forth out of nothing."
For, in good sooth, it is thus that fear restraineth all mortals,
Since both in earth and sky they see that many things happen
Whereof they cannot by any known law determine the causes;
So their occurrence they ascribe to supernatural power.
Therefore when we have seen that naught can be made out of nothing,
Afterwards we shall more rightly discern the thing which we search for:-
Both out of what it is that everything can be created,
And in what way all came, without help of gods, into being.
-Lucretius, On The Nature Of Things, 1st Century B.C.
The geniuses of human history astonish me.
Not by rays of the sun, nor by gleaming arrows of daylight,
But by the outward display and unseen workings of Nature.
And her first rule for us from this premise shall take its beginning;
"Never did will of gods bring anything forth out of nothing."
For, in good sooth, it is thus that fear restraineth all mortals,
Since both in earth and sky they see that many things happen
Whereof they cannot by any known law determine the causes;
So their occurrence they ascribe to supernatural power.
Therefore when we have seen that naught can be made out of nothing,
Afterwards we shall more rightly discern the thing which we search for:-
Both out of what it is that everything can be created,
And in what way all came, without help of gods, into being.
-Lucretius, On The Nature Of Things, 1st Century B.C.
The geniuses of human history astonish me.
captaingeech:
Nice! I like reading things like that from older sources. That's the kind of thing most people wouldn't feel safe saying today. Most people play the whole god game. But I don't mind Descartes' proof of God because it's basically, "Blah blah, that's why God exists there fore blah blah, and that's why you should give me money." I'd like to know what he would have said to someone he wasn't trying to milk.