A collection of several philosophical writings

...but to mere mishap, if I am pelted behind my back by any volleys of obloquy original: "Obloquie"; slander or verbal abuse from any unknown servant of the sanctuary A fellow member of the clergy. I presume that if I receive any hurt, the pain will be greatest for those who caused it, when they realize they have wounded a true and faithful friend—and even then, at a time when he was so busily and watchfully employed in facing the common enemy atheism and irreligion.

Certain instructions for the more profitable reading of his books.

5. If any expect or desire any general instruction or preparation for the more profitable reading of these my writings, I must declare that I can give none that is unique to them, but only what would fit all writings written with freedom and reason. And this one Royal Rule I would recommend for all: Not to judge the truth of any proposition until we have a settled and clear understanding of its terms. Though this law is so necessary and indispensable, there is none so frequently broken. The effect of this neglect is the many heaps of voluminous writings and foolish original: "inept" oppositions and controversies that fill the world. These would be impossible if men had not developed a habit of fluttering mere words against one another without taking notice of any fixed sense. In this way, they fight as if with Hercules' clubs made of pasteboard, which make a great sound but do nothing toward ending disputes. For just as no man would ever be so eccentric as to affirm that a triangle is a quadrangle, or a square a circle, once he has the distinct ideas of those shapes in his mind, so it would be impossible for him to speak of anything else falsely and absurdly if he had as perfect and settled a notion of the things he discusses. But this first and main principle of wisdom being neglected, it is no wonder that men clash as ridiculously and needlessly as those two country clowns who, in their cups, nearly came to blows because one called himself a Lutheran and the other a Martinist Martin Luther was the same person as "Martin"; the joke is that the men are fighting over two names for the same thing because they do not understand the words they are using..

I might also add another instruction (which will contribute much toward a greater conciseness in controversies) which I think I have hinted at on other occasions: namely, that an argument that could prove anything actually proves nothing. If this were thoroughly understood, it would not only enable a person to defeat the apparent force of countless irrelevant assaults, but also keep him—if he has any honesty original: "ingenuity" in him—from attacking, or rather disturbing and interrupting, the composure and silence of another man's mind with the empty noise of such weak and groundless arguments. I mean those arguments that could support falsehood just as well as truth. All such arguments ought to be rejected original: "exploded", especially in philosophy. I think if this kind of weapon were once out of fashion, conflict would soon end, and such a victory would follow that everyone would benefit from it.

Divine Sagacity: a principle that comes before successful reason in contemplations of the highest importance.

6. But in the third and last place—which, though it has considerable influence everywhere, is more particularly required when reading writings on subjects such as these I treat—I would recommend to those who wish to philosophize successfully that they believe in and strive after a certain principle more noble and inward than reason itself. Without this, reason will falter, or at least reach only toward mean and frivolous things. I feel a sense of something in me as I speak which I must confess is of so hidden original: "retruse" a nature that I lack a name for it, unless I should venture to term it Divine Sagacity A form of spiritual intuition or intellectual discernment that the author believes is granted by God to help the mind grasp truth., which is the first source of successful reason, especi—