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that the recent Parliament of Religions at Chicago proved, to that date, that universal religion was impossible. “Nature,” he said,
is wiser than we have thought her to be. It is competition of ideas, the
clash of thought, that keeps thought alive. Sects have always been
antithetical, and always will be splitting into little varieties of
themselves. And the way to get out of this fight of religions is to let
the sects go on subdividing.
There is no unity in the three elements of religion — philosophy
[theology?], mythology and ceremony. Each theologian wants unity, but
his idea of unity is the adjustment of all other creeds to his own. I
agree with the old prophets as long as they agree with me. But there is
an element of religion that towers above all; that is, philosophy. The
philosopher seeks truth, which is one and the same always. And it is
acceptable to the four sides of every religious nature — the emotional,
mystical, active and philosophical. And he who dares to seek the truth
for truth’s sake is greatest among men.