Alain de Botton Quotes

Religion is excellent stuff for keeping common people quiet.

Religion can be both good and bad - it is spirituality that counts.

The Constitution is man-made, so it is not perfect. It's not the basis of my beliefs. My belief system is based on the Scriptures which come from God.

An important function of theology is to keep religion tied to reason and reason to religion. Both roles are of essential importance for humanity.

I think that all the powerful religions are pretty much the same. People like to pretend they are very different, but they are not. They are really about believing in something bigger than yourself, something that's unseen, and about having some faith.

Indeed, in view of its function, religion stands in greater need of a rational foundation of its ultimate principles than even the dogmas of science.

Americans know more about religion than almost any other topic.

I feel like that religions generally ask the biggest questions. They may not always have the best answers, but they're the zone of human activity that regularly asks the biggest questions.

Religion is part of the human make-up. It's also part of our cultural and intellectual history. Religion was our first attempt at literature, the texts, our first attempt at cosmology, making sense of where we are in the universe, our first attempt at health care, believing in faith healing, our first attempt at philosophy.

The 21st century - and the atheists - needs the presence of religion, just as religion must deal with the real challenges and the thinkers of the day in order to sharpen the conscience and the intelligence of those who study the timeless sacred texts in a spirit of responding to the questions of their time.

I am sensitive to the value of faith and religion and spirituality in people's lives because I'm a journalist.

I'm not involved in the politics of religion, but I love what the message is.

Such is the feebleness of humanity, such is its perversity, that doubtless it is better for it to be subject to all possible superstitions, as long as they are not murderous, than to live without religion.

When I was in college, I majored in comparative religion because I really wanted to figure out if there was God and how I should live my life.

I don't practise any religion but I am deeply interested in the answers that mankind has come up with to explain the human situation.

Well, religion has been passed down through the years by stories people tell around the campfire. Stories about God, stories about love. Stories about good spirits and evil spirits.

Religion is not going to come up with any new arguments.

Religion has nothing to do with spirituality.

Religion fails if it cannot speak to men as they are.

Religion has been terribly tarnished in the course of time, its pristine purity has long since vanished under the regime of creed, and it is no longer Catholic, that is to say, Universal.

Religion is one dimension of culture, a transcendent element of it.

I do not value religion chiefly for its morality.

Religion to me really means ethical systems.

Religion is a disease, but a noble disease.

The moral systems of religion, I think, are super important.