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Robert Green Ingersoll

Robert Green Ingersoll Quotes

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Famous Robert Green Ingersoll Quotes

“A few years ago the Deists denied the inspiration of the Bible on account of its cruelty. At the same time they worshiped what they were pleased to call the God of Nature. Now we are convinced that Nature is as cruel as the Bible; so that, if the God of Nature did not write the Bible, this God at least has caused earthquakes and pestilence and famine, and this God has allowed millions of his children to destroy one another. So that now we have arrived at the question - not as to whether the Bible is inspired and not as to whether Jehovah is the real God, but whether there is a God or not.”

IfsWritingYearsChildrenRealInspirationMillionsAtheismYears AgoAccountsInspiredPositive AtheismConvincedCrueltyDeniedEarthquakesFamineJehovahPestilenceDeist
Book:The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll
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“The ministers are in duty bound to denounce all intellectual pride, and show that we are never quite so dear to God as when we admit that we are poor, corrupt and idiotic worms; that we never should have been born; that we ought to be damned without the least delay.... The old creed is still taught. They still insist that God is infinitely wise, powerful and good, and that all men are totally depraved. They insist that the best man god ever made, deserved to be damned the moment he was finished.”

MenShouldHas BeensMadeStillsMomentsShowsBornPoorPowerfulWiseAtheismTaughtDutyPrideOughtIntellectualShould HaveBoundsDearPositive AtheismFinishedMinistersCreedsDelayWormsNever QuitShould Have BeenIdioticDepravedIntellectual Pride
Book:The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll
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“If, with all the time at my disposal, with all the wealth of the resources of this vast universe, to do with as I will, I could not produce a better scheme of life than now prevails, I would be ashamed of my efforts and consider my work a humiliating failure.”

IfsWould BeUniverseWealthEffortAtheismProduceResourcesPositive AtheismAshamedSchemesHumiliating
Book:Ingersoll the Magnificent: To which Has Been Added a Special Arrangement of Some Gems from Ingersoll for Inspiration, Wisdom, and Courage
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“You cannot show real respect to your parents by perpetuating their errors.... Do you consider that the inventor of a steel plow cast a slur upon his father who scratched the ground with a wooden one? I do not consider that an invention by the son is a slander upon the father; I regard each invention simply as an improvement; and every father should be exceedingly proud of an ingenious son. If Mr. Talmage has a son, it will be impossible for him to honor his father except by differing with him.”

IfsShouldRealShowsFatherParentImpossibleAtheismSonProudHonorRegardErrorsCastsPositive AtheismImprovementInventionSteelInventorSlanderIngeniousPerpetuatingSlurs
Book:Ingersoll the Magnificent: To which Has Been Added a Special Arrangement of Some Gems from Ingersoll for Inspiration, Wisdom, and Courage
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“In making up my mind as to what Mr. Lincoln really believed, I do not take into consideration the evidence of unnamed persons or the contents of anonymous letters; I take the testimony of those who knew and loved him, of those to whom he opened his heart and to whom he spoke in the freedom of perfect confidence.”

MindHeartPersonsPerfectAtheismEvidenceLettersPositive AtheismConsiderationSpokesTestimonyMaking UpAnonymous Letters
Book:Ingersoll: Fifty Great Selections, Lectures, Tributes, After Dinner Speeches and Essays, Carefully Selected from the Twelve Volume Dresden Edition of Colonel Ingersoll's Complete Works
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“Had he been willing to live a hypocrite, he would have been respectable, he at least could have died surrounded by other hypocrites, and at his death there would have been an imposing funeral, with miles of carriages, filled with hypocrites, and above his hypocritical dust there would have been a hypocritical monument covered with lies.”

Has BeensLyingAtheismWillingDiedFilledPositive AtheismMilesDustCoveredFuneralMonumentHypocriteRespectableImposingCarriagesHypocritical
Book:The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll
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“All that is necessary, as it seems to me, to convince any reasonable person that the Bible is simply and purely of human invention - of barbarian invention - is to read it. Read it as you would any other book; think of it as you would of any other; get the bandage of reverence from your eyes; drive from your heart the phantom of fear; push from the throne of your brain the cowled form of superstition - then read the Holy Bible, and you will be amazed that you ever, for one moment, supposed a being of infinite wisdom, goodness and purity, to be the author of such ignorance and of such atrocity.”

ThinkingHumansHeartPersonsBookMomentsSeemsEyeFormBrainIgnoranceHolyGoodnessInfiniteInventionPurityReasonableConvinceReverenceSuperstitionsThronesAmazedPhantomsAtrocitiesBarbariansHoly BibleBandagesHuman Inventions
Book:The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll
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“I do not believe that the tendency is to make men and women brave and glorious when you tell them that there are certain ideas upon certain subjects that they must never express; that they must go through life with a pretence as a shield; that their neighbors will think much more of them if they will only keep still; and that above all is a God who despises one who honestly expresses what he believes.”

IfsThinkingMenBelieveStillsIdeasCertainSubjectsMen And WomenBraveNeighborHonestlyTendenciesGloriousDespiseShieldsPretence
Book:The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll
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“Who can estimate the misery that has been caused by this infamous doctrine of eternal punishment? Think of the lives it has blighted-of the tears it has caused-of the agony it has produced. Think of the millions who have been driven to insanity by this most terrible of dogmas. This doctrine renters God the basest and most cruel being in the universe. ... There is nothing more degrading than to worship such a god.”

ThinkingHas BeensUniverseEvilReligiousMillionsTearsTerribleEternalWorshipMiseryDrivenPunishmentDoctrineInsanityDogmaAgonyDegradingInfamous
Author:Robert Green Ingersoll
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“If a man wishes to have God recognized in the constitution of our country, let him read the history of the Inquisition, and let him remember that hundreds of millions of men, women, and children have been sacrificed to placate the wrath, or win the approbation of this god.”

IfsMenChildrenHas BeensCountryRememberEvilWinningWishReligiousMillionsConstitutionOur CountryWrathMen WomenInquisition
Book:The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll: Miscellany
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“The church in all ages and among all peoples has been the consistent enemy of the human race. Everywhere and at all times, it has opposed the liberty of thought and expression. It has been the sworn enemy of investigation and intellectual development. It has denied the existence of facts, the tendency of which was to undermine its power. It has always been carrying fagots to the feet of Philosophy. It has erected the gallows for Genius. It has built the dungeon for Thinkers.”

HumansHas BeensPhilosophyFactsAgeEvilChurchReligiousRaceExistenceLibertyEnemyFeetExpressionDevelopmentGeniusIntellectualBuiltTendenciesAll TimeHuman RaceConsistentThinkerDeniedInvestigationDungeonsGallowsIntellectual DevelopmentFagots
Book:The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll
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“For the first time I understood the dogma of eternal pain... For the first time my imagination grasped the height and depth of the Christian horror. Then I said: "It is a lie, and I hate your religion. If it is true, I hate your God." From that day I have had no fear, no doubt. For me, on that day, the flames of hell were quenched. From that day I have passionately hated every orthodox creed. That Sermon did some good.”

IfsFirstsSaidChristianPainLyingHateEvilImaginationReligiousHellDoubtHorrorEternalUnderstoodFirst TimeI HateDepthHatedFlamesHeightNo DoubtOrthodoxCreedsDogmaHate YouNo FearSermonsMy ImaginationI Hate You
Author:Robert Green Ingersoll
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“Environment is a sculptor - a painter. If we had been born in Constantinople, then most of us would have said: 'There is no God but Allah, and Mohammed is his prophet.' If our parents had lived on the banks of the Ganges, we would have been worshipers of Siva, longing for the heaven of Nirvana. As a rule, children love their parents, believe what they teach, and take great pride in saying that the religion of mother is good enough for them.”

IfsBelieveChildrenHas BeensSaidEnoughMotherHeavenParentBornTeachEnvironmentAtheismPrideLongingPainterProphetGood EnoughThere Is No GodSculptorsChildren LoveConstantinople
Author:Robert Green Ingersoll
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“The hands that help are better far / Than lips that pray. / Love is the ever gleaming star / That leads the way, / That shines, not on vague worlds of bliss, / But on a paradise in this.”

WorldWayHelpingHandsStarsLove IsAtheismPrayingShiningLipsBlissParadiseVaguePray Love
Book:Lectures.- v.5-7. Discussions.- v.8. Interviews.- v.9. Political.- v.10. Legal.- v.11.-12. Miscellany
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“The few took advantage of the ignorant many. They pretended to have received messages from the Unknown. They stood between the helpless multitude and the gods. They were the carriers of flags of truce. At the court of heaven they presented the cause of man, and upon the labor of the deceived they lived.”

MenHeavenCausesMessagesAdvantageLaborCourtIgnorantFlagsHelplessMultitudesDeceivedCarrierTruce
Book:The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll
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“If cathedrals had been universities If dungeons of the Inquisition had been laboratories If Christians had believed in character instead of creed If they had taken from the bible only that which is GOOD and thrown away the wicked and absurd If temple domes had been observatories If priests had been philosophers If missionaries had taught useful arts instead of bible lore If astrology had been astronomy If the black arts had been chemistry If superstition had been science If religion had been humanity The world then would be a heaven filled with love, and liberty and joy”

IfsWorldArtCharacterWould BeChristianJoyHumanityHeavenBlackLibertyTakenTaughtFilledUniversityPhilosopherAstronomyAbsurdWickedThrownTemplesPriestsChemistrySuperstitionsCreedsAstrologyLaboratoryCathedralsInquisitionDungeonsDomesBlack Art
Author:Robert Green Ingersoll
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“I have no reverence for any book that teaches a doctrine contrary to my reason; no reverence for any book that teaches a doctrine contrary to my heart; and, no matter how old it is, no matter how many have believed it, no matter how many have died on account of it, no matter how many live for it, I have no reverence for that book, and I am glad of it.”

HeartBookMatterReasonTeachMy HeartAccountsDiedContraryGladDoctrineReverence
Book:The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll
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“...in every religion the priest insists on five things - First: There is a God. Second: He has made known his will. Third: He has selected me to explain this message. Fourth: We will now take up a collection; and Fifth: Those who fail to subscribe will certainly be damned.”

FirstsMadeKnownFiveFailingMessagesThirdsCollectionsPriestsFourthFifthSelected
Book:Ingersoll: Fifty Great Selections, Lectures, Tributes, After Dinner Speeches and Essays, Carefully Selected from the Twelve Volume Dresden Edition of Colonel Ingersoll's Complete Works
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“There are some truths, however, that we should never forget: Superstition has always been the relentless enemy of science; faith has been a hater of demonstration; hypocrisy has been sincere only in its dread of truth, and all religions are inconsistent with mental freedom.”

ShouldHas BeensForgetEnemyHypocrisySincereNever ForgetSuperstitionsDreadDemonstrationRelentlessInconsistent
Book:Lectures of Col. R.G. Ingersoll: Including His Answers to the Clergy, His Oration at His Brother's Grave, Etc., Etc. : Complete
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“Certainly the Old Testament does not teach us that there is another life, and upon that question even the New is obscure and vague. The hunger of the heart finds only a few small and scattered crumbs. There is nothing definite, solid, and satisfying. United with the idea of immortality we find the absurdity of the resurrection. A prophecy that depends for its fulfillment upon an impossibility, cannot satisfy the brain or heart.”

HeartDoeIdeasUnitedBrainTeachDependsHungerImmortalityFulfillmentSatisfyingResurrectionProphecyDefiniteVagueAbsurdityObscureTestamentImpossibilityOld TestamentAnother LifeCrumbs
Book:Miscellany
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