Nowitisthissimpletruthwhich，likemanyothers，istoosimpleforourscientiststosee。Thisiswheretheygowrong，notonlyabouttruereligion，butaboutfalsereligionstoo；sothattheiraccountofmythologyismoremythicalthanthemythitself。Idonotconfinemyselftosayingthattheyarequiteincorrectwhentheystateforinstance
thatChristwasalegendofdyingandrevivingvegetation，likeAdonisorPersephone。IsaythatevenifAdoniswasagodofvegetation，theyhavegotthewholenotionofhimwrong。Nobody，tobeginwith，issufficientlyinterestedindecayingvegetables，assuch，tomakeanyparticularmysteryordisguiseaboutthem；andcertainlynotenoughtodisguisethemundertheimageofaveryhandsomeyoungman，whichisavastlymoreinterestingthing。IfAdoniswasconnectedwiththefallofleavesinautumnandthereturnofflowersinspring，theprocessofthoughtwasquitedifferent。Itisaprocessofthoughtwhichspringsupspontaneouslyinallchildrenandyoungartists；itspringsupspontaneouslyinallhealthysocieties。Itisverydifficulttoexplaininadiseasedsociety。
Thebrainofmanissubjecttoshortandstrangesnatchesofsleep。A
cloudsealsthecityofreasonorrestsupontheseaofimagination；adreamthatdarkensasmuch，whetheritisanightmareofatheismoraday-
dreamofidolatry。Andjustaswehaveallsprungfromsleepwithastartandfoundourselvessayingsomesentencethathasnomeaning，saveinthemadtonguesofthemidnight；sothehumanmindstartsfromitstrancesofstupiditywithsomecompletephraseuponitslips；acompletephrasewhichisacompletefolly。Unfortunatelyitisnotlikethedreamsentence，generallyforgottenintheputtingonofbootsortheputtinginofbreakfast。Thissenselessaphorism，inventedwhenman\'smindwasasleep，stillhangsonhistongueandentanglesallhisrelationstorationalanddaylightthings。Allourcontroversiesareconfusedbycertainkindsofphraseswhicharenotmerelyuntrue，butwerealwaysunmeaning；whicharenotmerelyinapplicable，butwerealwaysintrinsicallyuseless。Werecognisethemwhereveramantalksof\"thesurvivalofthefittest，\"meaningonlythesurvivalofthesurvivors；orwhereveramansaysthattherich\"haveastakeinthecountry，\"asifthepoorcouldnotsufferfrommisgovernmentormilitarydefeat；orwhereamantalksabout\"goingontowardsProgress，\"whichonlymeansgoingontowardsgoingon；orwhenamantalksabout\"governmentbythewisefew，\"