So religions are cultures of repetition. They circle the great truths again and again and again.
4 《ted》
3.Now religions have a much saner attitude to art. They have no trouble telling us what art is about. Art is about two things in all the major faiths. Firstly, it's trying to remind you of what there is to love. And secondly, it's trying to remind you of what there is to fear and to hate.
So religions are cultures of repetition. They circle the great truths again and again and again.
And that's what religions do. They are multinational, as I say, they are branded, they have a clear identity, so they don't get lost in a busy world.
In the early 19th century, church attendance in Western Europe started sliding down very, very sharply, and people panicked. They asked themselves the following question. They said, where are people going to find the morality, where are they going to find guidance, and where are they going to find sources of consolation? An
阿兰·德波顿（Alain de Botton），作家，生于1969年，毕业于剑桥大学，现住伦敦。着有小说《爱情笔记》、《爱上浪漫》及散文作品《拥抱逝水年华》、《哲学的慰藉》等。他通晓英、法、德、西班牙数种语言，深得欧洲人文传统之精髓他喜欢普鲁斯特、蒙田、苏格拉底，同样喜欢旅游、购物和谈情说爱。他左手小说，右手散文，在文学、艺术、哲学、评论中自由进退、恣意穿插他的小说思想丰瞻、才情纵横；他的散文和评论又意象丰沛、妙笔生花。
