Tuesday, December 27, 2011

The Poison Cup of Certainty (of Ignorance) - Hitchens - Prestonwood Plano Texas




"...to me, the offer of certainty; the offer of complete security; the offer of an impermeable faith that can't give way is an offer of something not worth having. I want to live my life taking the risk, all the time, that I don't know anything like enough, yet; that I haven't done this good enough; that I can't know enough; that I'm always hungrily operating on the margins of a potentially great harvest of future knowlege and wisdom. I wouldn't have it any other way. And I'd urge you to look at those of you who tell you... That there's people who tell you—AT YOUR AGE!—that you're dead til you believe as they do! (What a terrible thing to be telling to children!) And that you can only live... by accepting an absolute authority. Don't think of that as a gift: Think of it as a poison chalice, push it aside, however tempting it is, take the risk of thinking for yourself. Much more happiness, truth, beauty, and wisdom will come to you that way. Thank you." 



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