Wealth, religion, military victory have more rhetorical than efficacious worth. – George Santayana
Each religion, by the help of more or less myth which it takes more or less seriously, proposes some method of fortifying the human soul and enabling it to make its peace with its destiny. – George Santayana
Happiness is the only sanction of life where happiness fails, existence remains a mad and lamentable experiment. – George Santayana
To me, it seems a dreadful indignity to have a soul controlled by geography. – George Santayana
In the traditional urban novel, there is only survival or not. The suburban idea, the conformist idea, that agony can be seen to and cured by doctors or psychoanalysis or self-knowledge is nowhere to be found in the city. Talking is a way of life, but it is not a cure. Same with religion. – Jane Smiley