Bernadette Roberts: common sense

We must always keep a distance or some doubt regarding our belief systems, and even all our divine experiences. We do this by remaining absolutely true, scathingly true, to what we honestly know and experience ourselves. We have to walk totally alone and follow only the inner guide, which guide is akin to common sense. My own mother felt that common sense was man's most divine faculty.

The temptation is to see our experiences in the light of those who have gone before – those on top of the pile, of course – but in this way the same errors are just passed down from one generation to another.

Personal Letter, 1987