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Jean Meslier

Jean Meslier Biography

Philosopher

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“How I suffered when I had to preach to you those pious lies that I detest in my heart. What remorse your credulity caused me! A thousand times I was on the point of breaking out publicly and opening your eyes, but a fear stronger than myself held me back, and forced me to keep silence until my death.”

DeathFearAtheismLiesAtheistSuperstitionCredulityPious LiesFirst Atheist
Book:Testament: Memoir of the Thoughts and Sentiments of Jean Meslier
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“To discover the true principles of morality, men have no need of theology, of revelation, or of gods. They need but common sense. They have only to look within themselves, to reflect upon their own nature, to consult their obvious interests, to consider the object of society and of each of the members who compose it, and they will easily understand that virtue is an advantage, and that vice is an injury to beings of the species.”

MenNeedsLooksInterestCommonPrinciplesVirtueAtheismObjectsMoralityMembersAdvantageSpeciesVicesObviousTheologyCommon SenseRevelationsInjury
Author:Jean Meslier
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“Think hard about the reasons for believing and not believing, what your religion teaches you and demands so inexorably that you believe. I am convinced that if you follow closely the natural light of your spirit, you will see ... that all the religions in the world are only human inventions and that everything your religion teaches you and forces you to believe as supernatural and divine is at heart only error, lie, illusion and trickery.”

IfsThinkingWorldBelieveHumansHeartHardReasonLightSpiritLyingForceNaturalTeachDivineDemandIllusionErrorsAtheistConvincedInventionTrickeryHuman InventionsNatural Light
Author:Jean Meslier
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“To claim that the souls of men will be happy or unhappy after the death of the body, is to pretend that man will be able to see without eyes, to hear without ears, to taste without a palate, to smell without a nose, and to feel without hands and without skin. Nations who believe themselves very rational, adopt, nevertheless, such ideas.”

MenFeelsBelieveIdeasSoulBodyHandsEyeAbleNationsTasteSkinsEarsClaimsSmellUnhappyRationalNosesNeverthelessPalate
Book:Superstition in All Ages
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