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The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll

Book by Robert Green Ingersoll · 43 quotes · Men, Atheism, Ifs

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The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll Quotes

“It is incredible that only idiots are absolutely sure of salvation. It is incredible that the more brain you have the less your chance is. There can be no danger in honest thought, and if the world ever advances beyond what it is to-day, it must be led by men who express their real opinions.”

IfsMenWorldRealReasonReligionChanceBrainOpinionHonestHonestyDangerSalvationIncrediblesIdiotChances Are
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“The laboring people should unite and should protect themselves against all idlers. You can divide mankind into two classes: the laborers and the idlers, the supporters and the supported, the honest and the dishonest. Every man is dishonest who lives upon the unpaid labor of others, no matter if he occupies a throne. All laborers should be brothers.”

PeopleIfsMenShouldTwoMatterClassMankindHonestBrotherProtectLaborEvery ManDividesThronesSupporterLaborersIdlers
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“I am simply in favor of intellectual hospitality-that is all. You come to me with a new idea. I invite you into the house. Let us see what you have. Let us talk it over. If I do not like your thought, I will bid it a polite "good day." If I do like it, I will say: "Sit down; stay with me, and become a part of the intellectual wealth of my world."”

IfsWorldIdeasHouseWealthLike YouIntellectualFavorsOpennessInvitesNew IdeasPoliteHospitalityGood DayStay With Me
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“We are told in the Pentateuch, that god, the father of us all, gave thousands of maidens, after having killed their fathers, their mothers, and their brothers, to satisfy the brutal lusts of savage men. If there be a god, I pray him to write in his book, opposite my name, that I denied this lie for him.”

IfsMenWritingBookLyingMotherFatherNamesBrotherPrayingOppositesLustDeniedBrutalSavagesI PrayMaidensIf There Is A God
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“The Church demonstrated the falsity and folly of Darwin's theories by showing that they contradicted the Mosaic account of creation, and now that the theories of Darwin having been fairly established, the Church says that the Mosaic account is true because it is in harmony with Darwin. Now, if it should turn out that Darwin was mistaken, what then?”

IfsShouldTurnsChurchAtheismCreationTheoryAccountsHarmonyPositive AtheismFollyMistakenMosaicsFalsity
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“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
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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
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“Nothing discloses real character like the use of power. It is easy for the weak to be gentle. Most people can bear adversity. But if you wish to know what a man really is, give him power. This is the supreme test. It is the glory of Lincoln that, having almost absolute power, he never abused it, except upon the side of mercy.”

PeopleIfsKnowsMenGivingRealCharacterUseWishEasySidesBearsGloryWeakTestsMercyAbsolutesAdversitySupremeGentleAbsolute PowerReal CharacterUse Of Power
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“If upon this earth we ever have a glimpse of heaven,it is when we pass a home in winter, at night,and through the windows, the curtains drawn aside,we see the family about the pleasant hearth; the old lady knitting; the cat playing with the yarn;the children wishing they had as many dolls or dollars or knivesor somethings, as there are sparks going out to join the roaring blast;the father reading and smoking, and the clouds rising like incense from the altar of domestic joy.I never passed such a house without feeling thatI had received a benediction.”

IfsChildrenFeelingsHomeEarthJoyNightReadingFatherHouseHeavenWishCatWindowDollarsWinterCloudsPleasantRisingSmokingSparksGoing OutGlimpseCurtainsAltarsDollsBlastOld LadyRoaringKnittingIncenseYarnBenediction
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“Not one of the orthodox ministers dare preach what he thinks if he knows a majority of his congregation think otherwise. He knows that every member of his church stands guard over his brain with a creed, like a club, in his hand. He knows that he is not expected to search after the truth, but that he is employed to defend the creed. Every pulpit is a pillory, in which stands a hired culprit, defending the justice of his own imprisonment.”

IfsThinkingKnowsHandsChurchJusticeBrainMembersMajorityDareClubsExpectedMinistersOrthodoxCreedsEmployedImprisonmentCongregationPulpitCulprit
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“If the account given in Genesis is really true, ought we not, after all, to thank this serpent? He was the first schoolmaster, the first advocate of learning, the first enemy of ignorance, the first to whisper in human ears the sacred word liberty, the creator of ambition, the author of modesty, of inquiry, of doubt, of investigation, of progress and of civilization.”

IfsFirstsHumansGivenLibertyEnemyDoubtProgressIgnoranceOughtCivilizationAmbitionEarsAccountsSacredCreatorModestyInvestigationInquiryGenesisSerpentReally True
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“It is a splendid thing to think that the woman you really love will never grow old to you. Through the wrinkles of time, through the mask of years, if you really love her, you will always see the face you love and won. And a woman who really loves a man does not see that he grows old; he is not decrepit to her; she always sees the same gallant gentleman who won her hand and heart.”

IfsThinkingMenYearsHeartDoeHandsFacesGrowsGentlemanMaskSplendidWrinklesGallantDecrepit
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“I have made up my mind that if there is a God, he will be merciful to the merciful. Upon that rock I stand. That he will not torture the forgiving. Upon that rock I stand. That every man should be true to himself, and that there is no world, no star in which honesty is a crime. Upon that rock I stand.”

IfsMenWorldShouldMindMadeStarsRocksCrimeHonestyForgivingEvery ManBeing TrueTortureMercifulIf There Is A God
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“If God created the universe, there was a time when he commenced to create. Back of that commencement there must have been an eternity. In that eternity what was this God doing? He certainly did not think. There was nothing to think about. He did not remember. Nothing had ever happened. What did he do? Can you imagine anything more absurd than an infinite intelligence in infinite nothing wasting an eternity?”

IfsThinkingHas BeensRememberUniverseImagineHappenedEternityInfiniteAbsurdCommencementInfinite Intelligence
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