Excerpt from Discourses on the Jewish Religion, Vol. 7 That is to say, neither ourselves nor any other human beings - can be the authors of our happiness, and that, in consequence, we are necessarily dependent upon a higher Power for whatever we enjoy. So, then, the first inquiry which any thinking mind is led to make will bring him to the acknowledgment of a Being who is his superior; and as this Being needs must be powerful, because of the display of his superiority, man in his helplessness is induced to ask Him for aid on any occasion where he finds that his own strength does not suffice to obtain what he needs, - or, in other words, the worship of a superior Power is natural to man. But this does not say that his ideas must necessarily be based upon what we call a correct standard, or that he will assimilate with us in the acknowledgment of a uniform, all-pervading Being, who created, sustains, and governs all from 'the beginning of things unto the present moment; for this is a depth of discovery at which man can scarcely arrive by his own reflection. On the con. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.