William Ralph Inge

Events in the past may be roughly divided into those which probably never happened and those which do not matter. This is what makes the trade of historian so attractive.

When our first parents were driven out of Paradise, Adam is believed to have remarked to Eve: "My dear, we live in an age of transition."

On the whole, the happiest people seem to be those who have no particular cause for being happy except the fact that they are so.

Looking back, I think I can separate the years when I was happy and those when I was unhappy. But perhaps at the time I should have judged differently.

We are always sowing our future; we are always reaping our past

So the pendulum swings, now violently, now slowly; and every institution not only carries within it the seeds of its own dissolution, but prepares the way for its most hated rival.

I have never understood why it should be considered derogatory to the Creator to suppose that he has a sense of humour.

I believe that the accumulated experience of mankind, and his wonderful discoveries, are of great value. I only point out that they do not constitute real-progress in human nature itself,...

We have enslaved the rest of the animal creation, and have treated our distant cousins in fur and feathers so badly that beyond doubt, if they were able to formulate a religion, they would depict the Devil in human form.

Civilization is a disease which is almost invariably fatal.

The fruit of the tree of knowledge, always drives man from some paradise or other.

It is useless for the sheep to pass resolutions in favour of vegetarianism while the wolf remains of a different opinion.

It is becoming impossible for those who mix at all with their fellow-men to believe that the grace of God is distributed denominationally.

Patriotism varies, from a noble devotion to a moral lunacy.

The old civilisation, with all the brilliant qualities which make many moderns regret its destruction, rested on too narrow a base. The woman and the slave were left out, the woman especially by the Greeks, and the slave by the Romans.

True contemplation considers Reality (or Being) in its manifestations as well as in its origin. If this is remembered, there need be no conflict between social morality and the inner life.

The phase of thought or feeling which we call Mysticism has its origin in that which is the raw material of all religion, and perhaps of all philosophy and art as well, namely, that dim consciousness of the beyond, which is part of our …

No word in our language — not even "Socialism"— has been employed more loosely than "Mysticism." … The history of the word begins in close connexion with the Greek mysteries. A mystic is one who has been, or is being, initiated into some …