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Robert Green Ingersoll

Robert Green Ingersoll Quotes

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Famous Robert Green Ingersoll Quotes

“Why should we desire the destruction of human passions? Take passions from human beings and what is left? The great object should be not to destroy passions, but to make them obedient to the intellect. To indulge passion to the utmost is one form of intemperance - to destroy passion is another. The reasonable gratification of passion under the domination of the intellect is true wisdom and perfect virtue.”

ShouldHumansFormDesirePassionLeftHuman BeingsPerfectEmotionVirtueObjectsDestructionIntellectReasonableDominationIndulgeGratificationObedientTrue WisdomIntemperance
Book:Reason, Tolerance, and Christianity: The Ingersoll Debates
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“All should be taught that the highest ambition is to be happy, and to add to the well-being of others; that place and power are not necessary to success; that the desire to acquire great wealth is a kind of insanity. They should be taught that it is a waste of energy, a waste of thought, a waste of life, to acquire what you do not need and what you do not really use for the benefit of yourself or others.”

NeedsShouldWellsKindUseDesireEnergyWealthMoneyTaughtWasteBenefitsAmbitionHighestAddWell BeingInsanityAcquireWaste Of Life
Book:The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll
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“Millions of men give all their energies, as well as their very souls, for the acquisition of gold. And this will continue as long as society is ignorant enough and hypocritical enough to hold in high esteem the man of wealth without the slightest regard to the character of the man.”

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Author:Robert Green Ingersoll
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“We all know that men in moderate circumstances can have just as comfortable houses as the richest, just as comfortable clothing, just as good food. They can see just as fine paintings, just as marvelous statues, and they can hear just as good music. They can attend the same theaters and the same operas. They can enjoy the same sunshine, and above all, can love and be loved just as well as kings and millionaires.”

KnowsMenWellsHouseEnjoyMoneyPaintingFineKingsCircumstancesComfortableTheaterSunshineClothingsOperaMarvelousModeratesStatuesMillionaireGood Food
Book:The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll: Miscellany
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“Every human being should be taught that his first duty is to take care of himself, and that to be self-respecting he must be self-supporting. To live on the labor of others, either by force which enslaves, or by cunning which robs, or by borrowing or begging, is wholly dishonorable. Every man should be taught some useful art.”

MenShouldFirstsHumansArtSelfCareForceWorkHuman BeingsTaughtDutyLaborTake CareEvery ManCunningBeggingBorrowingDishonorable
Book:The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll
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“Everyone should be taught the nobility of labor, the heroism and splendor of honest effort. As long as it is considered disgraceful to labor, or aristocratic not to labor, the world will be filled with idleness and crime, and with every possible moral deformity.”

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Book:The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll
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“It cannot be said too often that actions are good or bad in the light of consequences, and that a clear perception of consequences would control actions. That which increases the sum of human happiness is moral; and that which diminishes the sum of human happiness is immoral. . . . Blind, unreasoning obedience is the enemy of morality.”

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Book:The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll
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“Music was born of love. Had there never been any human affection, there never could have been uttered a strain of music.”

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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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“And what is the great thing that the stage does? It cultivates the imagination. And . . . the imagination constitutes the great difference between human beings. . . . The imagination is the mother of pity, the mother of generosity, the mother of every possible virtue. It is by the imagination that you are enabled to put yourself in the place of another.”

LifeHumansDoeMotherImaginationDifferencesHuman BeingsVirtueStageGreat ThingsPityGenerosity
Book:The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll
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“I believe that there is something far nobler than loyalty to any particular man. Loyalty to the truth as we perceive it - loyalty to our duty as we know it - loyalty to the ideals of our brain and heart - is, to my mind, far greater and far nobler than loyalty to the life of any particular man or God. . . .”

KnowsMenLifeMindBelieveHeartI BelieveBrainGreaterParticularDutyIdealsLoyaltyPerceiveGod LifeHeart And Brain
Book:The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll
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“An honest god is the noblest work of man. ... God has always resembled his creators. He hated and loved what they hated and loved and he was invariably found on the side of those in power. ... Most of the gods were pleased with sacrifice, and the smell of innocent blood has ever been considered a divine perfume.”

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Book:The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll
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