General Sketch of the History of Pantheism, Volume 2

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Page 311 - Whither shall I go then from thy Spirit ? or whither shall I go then from thy presence ? If I climb up into heaven, thou art there ; if I go down to hell, thou art there also.
Page 86 - For can there be a nicer strain of abstraction than to distinguish the existence of sensible objects from their being perceived, so as to conceive them existing unperceived? Light and colours, heat and cold, extension and figures — in a word the things we see and feel — what are they but so many sensations, notions, ideas, or impressions on the sense ? and is it possible to separate, even in thought, any of these from perception? For my part, I might as easily divide a thing from itself.
Page 310 - Speak to Him thou for He hears, and Spirit with Spirit can meet — Closer is He than breathing, and nearer than hands and feet.
Page 311 - THE sun, the moon, the stars, the seas, the hills and the plains — Are not these, O Soul, the Vision of Him who reigns? Is not the Vision He ? tho" He be not that which He seems ? Dreams are true while they last, and do we not live in dreams ? Earth, these solid stars, this weight of body and limb, Are they not sign and symbol of thy division from Him...
Page 83 - Hence it is plain we do not see a man — if by man is meant that which lives, moves, perceives, and thinks as we do — but only such a certain collection of ideas as directs us to think there is a distinct principle of thought and motion, like to ourselves, accompanying and represented by it.
Page 84 - ... we do at all times and in all places perceive manifest tokens of the Divinity: everything we see, hear, feel, or anywise perceive by sense, being a sign or effect of the power of God; as is our perception of those very motions which are produced by men.
Page 318 - We call that fire of the black thunder-cloud "electricity," and lecture learnedly about it, and grind the like of it out of glass and silk: but what is it? What made it? Whence comes it ? Whither goes it ? Science has done much for us ; but it is a poor science that would hide from us the great deep sacred infinitude of Nescience, whither we can never penetrate, on which all science swims as a mere superficial film. This world, after all our science and sciences, is still a miracle ; wonderful, inscrutable,...
Page 83 - IT is evident to any one who takes a survey of the objects of human knowledge, that they are either ideas actually imprinted on the senses; or else such as are perceived by attending to the passions and operations of the mind; or lastly, ideas formed by help of memory and imagination — either compounding, dividing, or barely representing those originally perceived in the aforesaid ways.
Page 71 - Thus men, extending their inquiries beyond their capacities, and letting their thoughts wander into those depths, where they can find no sure footing, it is no wonder that they raise questions and multiply disputes, which, never coming to any clear resolution, are proper only to continue and increase their doubts, and to confirm them, at last, in perfect scepticism...

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