"Black as the devil, hot as hell, pure as an angel, sweet as love."

Religion

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This quotation examines the core nature of Religion as articulated by Charles Maurice de Talleyrand. Within historical and literary traditions, reflections on Religion provide actionable mental models, challenging individuals to evaluate personal ethics, self-discipline, and daily actions.

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About Charles Maurice de Talleyrand

Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, 1st Prince of Benevento, then Prince of Talleyrand, was a French secularized clergyman, statesman, and leading diplomat. After studying theology, he became Agent-General of the Clergy in 1780. In 1789, just before the French Revolution, he became Bishop of Autun. He worked at the highest levels of successive French governments, most commonly as foreign minister or in some other diplomatic capacity. He served as the French representative to the Congress of Vienna. His career spanned the regimes of Louis XVI, the years of the French Revolution, Napoleon, Louis XVIII, Charles X, and Louis Philippe I. Those Talleyrand served often distrusted him but found him extremely useful. The name "Talleyrand" has become a byword for crafty and cynical diplomacy.

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More by Charles Maurice de Talleyrand

"Without freedom of the press, there can be no representative government."

— Charles Maurice de Talleyrand
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"Man is an exception, whatever else he is. If he is not the image of God, then he is a disease of the dust. If it is not true that a divine being fell, then we can only say that one of the animals went entirely off its head."

— Gilbert K. Chesterton
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"Religious people often prefer to be right rather than compassionate. Often, they don't want to give up their egotism. They want their religion to endorse their ego, their identity."

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"If God treats you well by teaching you a disastrous lesson, you never forget it."

— Ray Bradbury
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— Keanu Reeves
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