Pierre Charron Quotes

Pierre Charron was a French 16th-century Catholic theologian and philosopher, and a disciple and contemporary of Michel de Montaigne. Wikipedia  

✵ 1541 – 16. November 1603
Pierre Charron photo

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De la sagesse
De la sagesse
Pierre Charron
De la sagesse
De la sagesse
Pierre Charron
Pierre Charron: 3 quotes0 likes

Famous Pierre Charron Quotes

“All Religions have this in common, that they are an outrage to common sense for they are pieced together out of a variety of elements, some of which seem so unworthy, sordid and at odds with man’s reason, that any strong and vigorous intelligence laughs at them; but others are so noble, illustrious, miraculous, and mysterious that the intellect can make no sense of them and finds them unpalatable.”

Pierre Charron De la sagesse

Book II, Ch. 5, p. 345, as quoted in Atheism from the Reformation to the Enlightenment‎ (1992) edited by Michael Cyril William Hunter and David Wootton, p. 99
De la sagesse (1601)
Context: All Religions have this in common, that they are an outrage to common sense for they are pieced together out of a variety of elements, some of which seem so unworthy, sordid and at odds with man’s reason, that any strong and vigorous intelligence laughs at them; but others are so noble, illustrious, miraculous, and mysterious that the intellect can make no sense of them and finds them unpalatable. The human intellect is only capable of tackling mediocre subjects: it disdains petty subjects, and is startled by large ones. There is no reason to be surprised if it finds any religion hard to accept at first, for all are deficient in the mediocre and the commonplace, nor that it should require skill to induce belief. For the strong intellect laughs at religion, while the weak and superstitious mind marvels at it but is easily scandalized by it.

“Despair is like forward children, who, when you take away one of their playthings, throw the rest into the fire for madness. It grows angry with itself, turns its own executioner, and revenges its misfortunes on its own head.”

Pierre Charron

As quoted in Treasury of Thought : Forming an encyclopædia of quotation from ancient and modern authors (1894) edited by Maturin Murray Ballou, p. 123

“The true science and study of man is man.”

Pierre Charron De la sagesse

Book I, Preface, as quoted in The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations (1999) by Elizabeth M. Knowles
De la sagesse (1601)

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