Small Minds Cannot Grasp Great

This Doctrine Of Transmigration Or Reincarnation Of The Soul Is Found Among Many Tribes Of Savages

In Point Of Fact Magicians Appear To Have Often Developed Into Chiefs And Kings.

For When A Nation Becomes Civilized, If It Does Not Drop Human Sacrifices Altogether, It At Least Selects As Victims Only Such Wretches As Would Be Put To Death At Any Rate. Thus The Killing Of A God May Sometimes Come To Be Confounded With The Execution Of A Criminal.

By Religion, Then, I Understand A Propitiation Or Conciliation Of Powers Superior To Man Which Are Believed To Direct And Control The Course Of Nature And Of Human Life.

For Extending Its Sway, Partly By Force Of Arms, Partly By The Voluntary Submission Of Weaker Tribes, The Community Soon Acquires Wealth And Slaves, Both Of Which, By Relieving Some Classes From The Perpetual Struggle For A Bare Subsistence, Afford Them An Opportunity Of Devoting Themselves To That Disinterested Pursuit Of Knowledge Which Is The Noblest And Most Powerful Instrument To Ameliorate The Lot Of Man.