The Perennial Philosophy - Style of The Book

Style of The Book

Huxley deliberately chose less well-known quotations, because "familiarity with traditionally hallowed writings tends to breed, not indeed contempt, but ... a kind of reverential insensibility, ... an inward deafness to the meaning of the sacred words." So, for example, Chapter 5 on 'Charity' takes just one quotation from the Bible, combining it with less familiar sources:

"He that loveth not knoweth not God, for God is love. 1 John iv"
"By love may He be gotten and holden, but by thought never.The Cloud of Unknowing"
"The astrolabe of the mysteries of God is love.Jalal-uddin Rumi"

Huxley then explains: "We can only love what we know, and we can never know completely what we do not love. Love is a mode of knowledge..."

Huxley is quite vague with his references: "No specific sources are given."

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