“Say what you will about the sweet miracle of unquestioning faith, I consider a capacity for it terrifying and absolutely vile.”

— Kurt Vonnegut , book Mother Night

Mother Night (1961)

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Kurt Vonnegut 318

American writer 1922–2007

Antonio Porchia (1885–1968) Italian Argentinian poet

Voces (1943)

“Can you by humble faith look to Jesus and say: "My substitute, my refuge, ray shield; Thou art my rock, my trust; in Thee do I confide? "Then, beloved, to you I have nothing to say, except this: " Never be afraid when you see God's power; for now that you are forgiven and accepted, now that by faith you have fled to Christ for refuge, the power of God need no more terrify you than the shield and sword of the warrior need terrify his wife and child."”

Charles Spurgeon (1834–1892) British preacher, author, pastor and evangelist

Source: Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895), P. 591.

“Let's not play games. What I was suggesting — you're absolutely right that John McCain has not talked about my Muslim faith.”

Barack Obama (1961) 44th President of the United States of America

"Obama's verbal slip fuels his critics" http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/sep/07/obama-verbal-slip-fuels-his-critics/?page=all by Christina Bellantoni, The Washington Times (7 September 2008)
2008

“You say that workin is what a man's supposed to do.
But I say you ain't right if I can't give sweet love to you.”

Michael Jackson (1958–2009) American singer, songwriter and dancer

Off the Wall (1979)

“Well, yes, absolutely, to say that people of faith have no role in the public square? You bet that makes you throw up. What kind of country do we live that says only people of non-faith can come into the public square and make their case?”

Rick Santorum (1958) American politician

asked why he "almost threw up" at John F. Kennedy's speech to the Greater Houston Ministerial Association
2012-02-26
This Week with George Stephanopoulos
ABC
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/week-transcript-rick-santorum/story?id=15785514&page=5

“I remain terrified of the capacity of the media, the capacity of spin doctors, here and abroad, particularly the United States media, to perpetuate false lies, perpetuate lies.”

John le Carré (1931) British novelist and spy

John le Carré (1931-2020) on the Iraq War, Corporate Power, the Exploitation of Africa & More, Democracy Now! https://www.democracynow.org/2020/12/25/john_le_carre_1931_2020_on (25 December 2020)

“Faith is not about finding meaning in the world, there may be no such thing -- faith is the belief in our capacity to create meaningful lives.”

Terry Tempest Williams (1955) American writer

Source: Leap

“Pay attention to your students. Hear what they say, try to find out what their capacities are, what make sense to them. Adapt what you are doing and saying to those capacities, but make your students stretch upward.”

M. H. Abrams (1912–2015) American literary theorist

People's Education interview (2007)
Context: Pay attention to your students. Hear what they say, try to find out what their capacities are, what make sense to them. Adapt what you are doing and saying to those capacities, but make your students stretch upward. I think the trick is to adapt to the level of a student, but never rest on that level — always make them reach out. … If a student does not quite get it the first time, he or she will come back and get it later. If you don’t set your writing — and teaching — at a level that makes them stretch, they are never going to develop their intellectual muscle.

“What role does faith play in my life and when do I talk about it? I talk about it when I'm asked about it. That's pretty much my rule. I don't - I believe that faith is important to Americans, but I also believe very firmly in that constitutional amendment which says Congress shall make no law establishing religion or abridging the free exercise thereof. So it's important in American life, I feel that it is absolutely inappropriate to impose my faith on anyone. But when people want to discuss matters of faith, I find myself willing to do that.”

Keith Ellison (1963) American politician and lawyer

Interview with Michel Martin, Feb 2014. http://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=283904789

“I did not know what achievements, what mockery, even what tortures still awaited me. I knew nothing, and I persisted in the faith that the time of cruel miracles was not past.”

Stanisław Lem book Solaris

Source: Solaris (1961), Ch. 14: "The Old Mimoid", p. 204 (final lines)
Context: I hoped for nothing. And yet I lived in expectation. Since she had gone, that was all that remained. I did not know what achievements, what mockery, even what tortures still awaited me. I knew nothing, and I persisted in the faith that the time of cruel miracles was not past.

“Say what you will about the sweet miracle of unquestioning faith, I consider a capacity for it terrifying and absolutely vile.”

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