Ceremony

“All men promiscuously do homage to God, but very few truly reverence him. On all hands there is abundance of ostentatious ceremonies, but sincerity of heart is rare.”

““The multitude of your sacrifices—”

“What infinite heart's easeSave ceremony, save general ceremony?”

“What art thou, thou idol ceremony?Of mortal griefs than do thy worshippers?”

“O ceremony, show me but thy worth!Creating awe and fear in other men?”

“When love begins to sicken and decay,There are no tricks in plain and simple faith.”

“To feed were best at home;Meeting were bare without it.”

“Ceremony was but devised at firstBut where there is true friendship, there needs none.”

“I discover that hardly a week passes that some one does not start a new cult, or revive an old one; if I had a hundred life-times I could not know all the creeds and ceremonies, the services and rituals, the litanies and liturgies, the hymns, anthems and offertories of Bootstrap-lifting.”