Ernest Renan Quotes
Joseph Ernest Renan was a French Semitic philologist, historian, and philosopher of religion and one of the most influential and controversial public intellectuals of nineteenth-century France. After abandoning seminary studies for academic philology, he produced his Life of Jesus in 1863, presenting Christ as a charismatic Galilean teacher stripped of supernatural elements, and provoking one of the great religious controversies of the century. The quotes below are attributed to Ernest Renan, organized by topic.
Ernest Renan on God
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Attributed to Ernest Renan:
“Religion is born of the soul before it is articulated as doctrine.”
Ernest Renan on Knowledge
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Attributed to Ernest Renan:
“Science gives ever-better questions, never final answers.”
Ernest Renan on Politics
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Attributed to Ernest Renan:
“A nation is a daily plebiscite.”
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Attributed to Ernest Renan:
“The shared past is the patrimony of nations more truly than territory or blood.”
Ernest Renan on Truth
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Attributed to Ernest Renan:
“The truth is sad, but it makes us free.”