 Bertrand Russell Quotes 366 |
Devils would settle on the food that monks were about to eat, and would take possession of the bodies of incautious feeders who omitted to make the sign of the Cross before each mouthful. Old-fashioned people still say "bless you" when one sneezes, but they have forgotten the reason for the custom. The reason was that people were thought to sneeze out their souls, and before their souls could get back lurking demons were apt to enter the unsouled body.
Source: Outline of Intellectual Rubbish (1943)
Reprinted in: Unpopular Essays, 1950
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