A collection of essays by Mark Twain

This collection of essays at http://users.telerama.com/~joseph/wman.html is full of questions and answers about the varying concepts of truth and the formation of belief. Here is an example "I told you that there are none but temporary Truth-Seekers; that a permanent one is a human impossibility; that as soon as the seeker finds what he is thoroughly convinced is the Truth, he seeks no further, but gives the rest of his days to hunting junk to patch it and caulk it and prop it with, and make it weather proof and keep it from caving in on him. Hence the Presbyterian remains a Presbyterian, the Mohammedan a Mohammedan, the Spiritualist a Spiritualist, the Democrat a Democrat, the Republican a Republican, the Monarchist a Monarchist; and if the humble, earnest, and sincere Seeker after Truth should find it in the proposition that the moon is made of green cheese nothing could ever budge him from that position; for he is nothing but an automatic machine, and must obey the laws of his construction." This comment by Mark Twain can be applied to particular characters in Hey Nostradamus! For example, the Youth Alive members collectively held truths overshadowed and negated certain elements of the faith that they so staunchly espoused such as forgiveness, charity, and judgement. The same can be said for Reg whose strict adherence to the truth as he saw it was diametrically opposed to the very tenets he was upholding and in the process when adhering to a belief system or truth one can alienate oneself just as Reg did. Ascribing to an absolute truth has the effect of negating all other possibilities, leads to dogmatic thinking, and conflict. The majority of familial, personal relationship, academic, and global conflict is a derivative of this idea that Twain posits. I think?