- Thomas Carlyle

"The greatest of all faults is to be conscious of none."

Believing in a leader/hero than people must recognize and worship, Thomas Carlyle was opposed to analytic reasoning. He supported a more emotional and intuitive approach. Scottish born, he led the life of a historian and an essayist. In his youth, he possessed the ultimate goal of being in the ministry. After 3 years, he abandoned that goal after having discovered a theological position that was contradictory to his teachings.  Thomas Carlyle experienced constant gastric pain that he had continued to live with all his life. This suffering most likely contributed to the perspectives he had carried out through his philosophies.  He had developed a concept called the "Everlasting No". It was a direct opposition to the Everlasting Yea, which was a complete faith in God. The Everlasting No expresses a "determination to mock and malign every aspect of the noblest sentiments of humanity" He had developed his own spiritual belief system based upon energy that is manifested within an individual. This was often described as "vitalism" "Adversity is sometimes hard upon a man; but for one man who can stand prosperity, there are a hundred that will stand adversity."