The fact that a believer is happier than a skeptic is no more to the point than the fact that a drunken man is happier than a sober one.
-- George Bernard Shaw
It is a far, far better thing to have a firm anchor in nonsense than to put out on the troubled sea of thought.
-- John Kenneth Galbraith
I'm actually not sure if Galbraith was being sarcastic. But it's interesting to see it in counterpoint with the Shaw quote.
The funny thing is that many people in this world would in earnestness argue that being happier when drunk is actually the whole point, and that alcohol is a great thing. If one has markedly less intelligence and control while drunk, gets hangovers and ruins the liver, that's a minor price to pay.
Well, it's all just beliefs in a subjective world. Uhm, which actually is closer to the points of the two quotes...
I wonder, can you have a "firm anchor" in nonsense, if you are aware that it is nonsense?
