"[122] He went even
further; he criticised his own work and contradicted his own opinions.
His love of liberty made him form, at different periods, different
opinions of the same work. He thought that people had a right to change
their opinions, as sometimes they deceived themselves. It seemed to him
better boldly to admit an error than to be the slave of consistency. And
this same feeling showed itself in other matters besides art: in ethics,
as is shown by some verses which he addressed to a young friend, urging
him not to be bound by a too rigid austerity:
"Je sens qu'une triste chimere
A toujours assombri ton ame: la Vertu...."[123]
and in metaphysics also, where he judges religions, faith, and the
Gospels with a quiet freedom of thought, seeking in Nature alone the
basis of morals and society.
[Footnote 122: C. Saint-Saens, _Portraits et Souvenirs_, 1900.]
[Footnote 123:
I know that a vain dream of virtue
Has always cast a shadow on your soul (_Rimes familieres_).
]
Here are some of his opinions, taken at random from _Problemes et
Mysteres_:
"As science advances, God recedes."
"The soul is only a medium for the expression of thought.
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