Robert G. Ingersoll

Quotes

• “The doctrine that future happiness depends upon belief is monstrous. It is the infamy of infamies. The notion that faith...”
• “The theologians dead, knew no more than the theologians now living. More than this cannot be said. About this world litt...”
• “The mechanic, when a wheel refuses to turn, never thinks of dropping on his knees and asking the assistance of some divi...”
• “The sciences are not sectarian. People do not persecute each other on account of disagreements in mathematics. Families ...”
• “Is it necessary that Heaven should borrow its light from the glare of Hell? Infinite punishment is infinite cruelty, end...”
• “But those who are incapable ofpitying animals are, as a matter of fact, incapable of pitying men.A physician who would c...”
• “When I think of how much this world has suffered; when I think of how long our fathers were slaves, of how they cringed ...”
• “Let us account for all we see by the facts we know. If there are things for which we cannot account, let us wait for lig...”
• “The telescope destroyed the firmament, did away with the heaven of the New Testament, rendered the ascension of our Lord...”
• “As man develops, he places a greater value upon his own rights. Liberty becomes a grander and diviner thing. As he value...”
• “The doctrine of eternal punishment is in perfect harmony with the savagery of the men who made the orthodox creeds. It i...”
• “You have no idea how many men are spoiled by what is called education. For the most part, colleges are places where pebb...”
• “Call me infidel, call me atheist, call me what you will, I intend so to treat my children, that they can come to my grav...”
• “In all ages the people have honored those who dishonored them. They have worshiped their destroyers; they have canonized...”
• “Nearly all people stand in great horror of annihilation, and yet to give up your individuality is to annihilate yourself...”
• “Nothing could add to the horror of hell, except the presence of its creator, God. While I have life, as long as I draw b...”
• “This is my doctrine: Give every other human being every right you claim for yourself. Keep your mind open to the influen...”
• “I am the inferior of any man whose rights I trample under foot. Men are not superior by reason of the accidents of race ...”
• “Not one of the learned gentlemen who pretend that the Mosaic laws are filled with justice and intelligence, would live, ...”
• “No one can control his own opinion or his own belief. My belief was forced upon me by my surroundings. I am the product ...”
• “Take from the church the miraculous, the supernatural, the incomprehensible, the unreasonable, the impossible, the unkno...”
• “By physical liberty I mean the right to do anything which does not interfere with the happiness of another. By intellect...”
• “It has always seemed absurd to suppose that a god would choose for his companions, during all eternity, the dear souls w...”
• “When you go home you ought to go like a ray of light—so that it will, even in the night, burst out of the doors and wind...”
• “My creed is that: Happiness is the only good. The place to be happy is here. The time to be happy is now. The way to be ...”
• “Who can over estimate the progress of the world if all the money wasted in superstition could be used to enlighten, elev...”
• “Happiness is the only good, reason the only torch, justice the only worship, humanity the only religion, and love the on...”
• “The more a man knows, the more willing he is to learn. The less a man knows, the more positive he is that he knows every...”
• “With every drop of my blood I hate and execrate every form of tyranny, every form of slavery. I hate dictation. I love l...”
• “Arguments cannot be answered by personal abuse; there is no logic in slander, and falsehood, in the long run, defeats it...”
• “Music expresses feeling and thought, without language; it was below and before speech, and it is above and beyond all wo...”
• “So, ministers say that they teach charity. This is natural. They live on alms. All beggars teach that others should give...”
• “There are treasures in books that all the money in the world cannot buy, but the poorest laborer can have for nothing.”
• “I suppose it can be truthfully said that hope is the only universal liar who never loses his reputation for veracity.”
• “I swear that while I live I will do what little I can to preserve and to augment the liberties of man, woman, and”
• “What light is to the eyes – what air is to the lungs – what love is to the heart, liberty is to the soul of man.”
• “Every man should stand under the blue and stars, under the infinite flag of nature, the peer of every other man.”
• “The destroyer of weeds, thistles, and thorns is a benefactor whether he soweth grain or not.”
• “The present is the necessary product of all the past the necessary cause of all the future.”
• “As more people become more intelligent they care less for preachers and more for teachers.”
• “In the night of death hope sees a star and listening love can hear the rustle of a wing.”
• “This is my doctrine: Give every other human being every right you claim for yourself.”
• “There are in nature neither rewards nor punishments — there are consequences.”
• “He [Alexander von Humboldt] was to science what Shakespeare was to the drama.”
• “The greatest test of courage on earth is to bear defeat without losing heart.”
• “In nature there are neither rewards nor punishments - there are consequences.”
• “In nature there are neither rewards or punishments-there are consequences.”
• “There is no slavery but ignorance. Liberty is the child of intelligence.”
• “Liberty sustains the same relation to mind that space does to matter.”
• “Is it necessary that Heaven should borrow its light from the glare of”