"In proportion as we lean to our own understanding, we are driven to do so for want of a better guide. Our first true guide, the light of innocence, is gradually withdrawn from us; and nothing is left for us but to 'grope and stumble in the desolate places,' by the dim, uncertain light of reason."

This sermon appears among a collection of sermons originally written and preached by St. John Henry Newman between 1825 and 1843, before his conversion to Catholicism. In it, Newman warns against the dangers of intellectual pride and underscores that the path to true wisdom lies in humble submission to God's commandments, not in self-reliant reasoning.

Links

The Self-wise Inquirer full text: https://www.newmanreader.org/works/parochial/volume1/sermon17.html

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