doubt

LITTLE LOST PUP He was lost!-not a shade of doubt of that; For he never barked at a slinking cat, But stood in the square where the wind blew raw With a drooping ear and a trembling paw And a mournful look in his pleading eye And a plaintive sniff at the passer-by That begged as plain as a tongue could sue, "O Mister! please may I follow you?" A lorn wee waif of a tawny brown Adrift in the roar of a heedless town. Oh, the saddest of sights in a world of sin Is a little lost pup with his tail tucked in! Now he shares my board and he owns my bed, And he fairly shouts when he hears my tread; Then, if things go wrong, as they sometimes do, He asserts his right to assuage my woes With a warm, red tongue and a nice, cold nose And a silky head on my arm or knee And a paw as soft as a paw can be. When we rove the woods for a league about He's as full of pranks as a school let out; For he romps and frisks like a three months' colt, And he runs me down like a thunderbolt. Oh, the blithest of sights in the world so fair Is a gay little pup with his tail in the air!

The evolution of species was the subject of conjecture long before Darwin's day. Here Aristotle attributes to Empedocles an evolutionary doctrine strikingly reminiscent of natural selection: "Empedocles says that the greater part of the members of animals were generated by chance . . . What, then, hinders but that the parts in Nature may also thus arise [from necessity]? For instance, that the teeth should arise from necessity, the front teeth sharp and adapted to divide the food, the molars broad and adapted to breaking the food into pieces. It may be said that they were not made for this purpose, but that this purposive arrangement came about by chance; and the same reasoning is applied to other parts of the body in which subsistence for some purpose is apparent. And it is argued that where all things happened as if they were made for some purpose, being aptly united by chance, these were preserved, but such as were not aptly made, these were lost and still perish, according to what Empedocles says concerning the bull species with human heads. This, therefore, and similar reasoning, may lead some to doubt on this subject."

Believe those who are seeking the truth; doubt those who find it.

REVIEW, v.t. To set your wisdom (holding not a doubt of it./ Although in truth there's neither bone nor skin to it)/ At work upon a book, and so read out of it/ The qualities that you have first read into it.

Doubt cries, "It is impossible! You can't, you can't go on!" Faith softly whispers, "Yes, you can. Just trust in God. Be Calm." Doubt cries, "Look down! Your path is steep And rough with stones and briar!" Faith gently says, "I'll take your hand. It's beautiful up higher." Doubt has not one thing to give But "going back" alone; Faith has God, eternal life, And heirship to a throne! And so, on unseen eagle's wings, These feet of clay are borne. While faith within me sings and sings, We rise above the storm!

The essence of Christianity is the appeal to the life of Christ as a revelation of the nature of God and of God's agency in the world. The record is fragmentary, inconsistent, and uncertain. . . . But there can be no doubt as to what elements in the record have evoked a response from all that is best in human nature. The Mother, the Child, and the bare manger: the lowly man, homeless and self-forgetful, with his message of peace, love, and sympathy: the suffering, the agony, the tender words as life ebbed, the final despair: and the whole with the authority of supreme victory.

There are two ways to slide easily through life: namely, to believe everything, or to doubt everything; both ways save us from thinking.

Be silent always when you doubt your sense.

I had as many doubts as anyone else. Standing on the starting line, we're all cowards.

I was about to tell him he was wrong to dwell on it, because it really didn't matter. But he cut me off and urged me one last time, drawing himself up to his full height and asking me if I believed in God. I said no. He sat down indignantly. He said it was impossible; all men believed in God, even those who turn their backs on him. That was his belief, and if he were ever to doubt it, his life would become meaningless. 'Do you want my life to be meaningless?' he shouted. As far as I could see, it didn't have anything to do with me, and I told him so. But from across the table he had already thrust the crucifix in my face and was screaming irrationally, 'I am a Christian. I ask Him to forgive you for sins. How can you not believe that He suffered for you?' I was struck by how sincere he seemed, but I had had enough. It was getting hotter and hotter. As always, whenever I want to get rid of someone I'm not really listening to, I made it appear as if I agreed. To my surprise, he acted triumphant. 'You see, you see!' he said. 'You do believe, don't you, and you're going to place your trust in Him, aren't you?' Obviously, I again said no. He fell back in his chair.