No matter how far our spiritual culture may continue to progress, no matter how much the natural sciences may grow, becoming ever more profound and more inclusive, no matter how much the human spirit may will to expand, that human spirit will never escape from the majesty and ethical sublimity of Christianity, as it shimmers and shines in the Gospels.

A message to Eckermann on March 11, (1832), translated by Albert Schweizer in Goethe: Five Studies (1961), Beacon Press, p. 56