Quotessence
Home / Books / The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll

The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll

Book by Robert Green Ingersoll · 50 quotes · Men, Atheism, Ifs

Filter quotes by topic

AllMenAtheismIfsReligionWorldPositive AtheismShouldKnowsLibertyThinkingChurchGivingBelieveCreedsChildrenDoeHonestHumansLaborPeople

The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll Quotes

“The Emperor Constantine, who lifted Christianity into power, murdered his wife Fausta, and his eldest son Crispus, the same year that he convened the Council of Nice to decide whether Jesus Christ was a man or the Son of God. The council decided that Christ was consubstantial with the father. This was in the year 325. We are thus indebted to a wife-murderer for settling the vexed question of the divinity of the Savior.”

MenYearsReligionFatherJesusChristChristianityNiceWifeSonJesus ChristDecidedCorruptionSettlingDivinitySaviorMurdererCouncilEmperorIndebtedEldestConstantineEldest SonEmperor Constantine
Book:The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll
Create image

“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
Book:The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll
Create image

“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
Book:The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll
Create image

“Do not tell me that you have got to be rich! We have a false standard of greatness in the United States. We think here that a man must be great, that he must be notorious; that he must be extremely wealthy, or that his name must be upon the putrid lips of rumor. It is all a mistake. It is not necessary to be rich or to be great, or to be powerful, to be happy. The happy man is the successful man. Happiness is the legal tender of the soul.Joy is wealth.”

ThinkingMenSoulStatesJoyNamesWealthUnitedPowerfulMistakeUnited StatesSuccessfulRichGreatnessStandardsLipsContentmentWealthyRumorNotoriousHappy ManSuccessful Man
Book:The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll
Create image

“I hate above all things a cross man. What right has he to murder the sunshine of a day? What right has he to assassinate the Joy of life? 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 windows and illuminate the darkness.”

MenHomeLightJoyNightHateDarknessDoorsOughtAll ThingsCrossesWindowI HateMurderSunshineRaysCheerfulnessJoy Of LifeRays Of Light
Book:The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll
Create image

“Abraham Lincoln was, in my judgment, in many respects, the grandest man ever President of the United States. Upon his monument these words should be written: "Here sleeps the only man in the history of the world who, having been clothed with almost absolute power, never abused it, except upon the side of mercy."”

MenWorldShouldStatesSidesPresidentSleepUnitedUnited StatesWrittenJudgmentMercyAbsolutesWorld HistoryMonumentAbrahamAbsolute Power
Book:The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll
Create image

“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
Book:The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll
Create image

“Orthodox Christians have the habit of claiming all great men, all men who have held important positions, men of reputation, men of wealth. As soon as the funeral is over clergymen begin to relate imaginary conversations with the deceased, and in a very little while the great man is changed to a Christian - possibly to a saint.”

MenLittlesImportantChristianWealthAtheismPositionChangedHabitConversationSaintPositive AtheismReputationRelateGreat MenOrthodoxFuneralImaginaryOrthodox ChristianClergymenDeceased
Book:The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll
Create image

“Our civilization is not Christian. It does not come from the skies. It is not a result of inspiration. It is the child of invention, of discovery, of applied knowledge - that is to say, of science. When man becomes great and grand enough to admit that all have equal rights; when thought is untrammeled; when worship shall consist in doing useful things; when religion means the discharge of obligations to our fellow-men, then, and not until then, will the world be civilized.”

MenWorldMeanChildrenDoeEnoughInspirationChristianResultsRightsSkyAtheismCivilizationEqualWorshipDiscoveryFellowsPositive AtheismInventionObligationCivilizedFellow ManEqual RightsDischargeUseful Things
Book:The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll
Create image

“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
Create image

“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
Create image

“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
Create image

“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
Book:The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll
Create image

“Suppose, however, that God did give this law to the Jews, and did tell them that whenever a man preached a heresy, or proposed to worship any other God that they should kill him; and suppose that afterward this same God took upon himself flesh, and came to this very chosen people and taught a different religion, and that thereupon the Jews crucified him; I ask you, did he not reap exactly what he had sown? What right would this god have to complain of a crucifixion suffered in accordance with his own command?”

PeopleMenGivingShouldDifferentLawAsksTaughtWorshipJewComplainingFleshChosenCommandHeresyReapCrucifixionDifferent Religions
Book:The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll
Create image

“All religious systems enslave the mind. Certain things are demanded-certain things must be believed-certain things must be done-and the man who becomes the subject or servant of this superstition must give up all idea of indivuality or hope of intellectual growth or progress.”

MenGivingMindIdeasDoneCertainGrowthReligiousProgressSubjectsHe ManGiving UpIntellectualServantSuperstitionsIntellectual Growth
Book:The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll
Create image

“All laws for the purpose of making man worship God, are born of the same spirit that kindled the fires of the auto da fe, and lovingly built the dungeons of the Inquisition. All laws defining and punishing blasphemy - making it a crime to give your honest ideas about the Bible, or to laugh at the ignorance of the ancient Jews, or to enjoy yourself on the Sabbath, or to give your opinion of Jehovah, were passed by impudent bigots, and should be at once repealed by honest men. An infinite God ought to be able to protect himself, without going in partnership with State Legislatures.”

MenGivingShouldIdeasStatesAbleLawSpiritPurposeEnjoyBornOpinionLaughingFireHonestCrimeIgnoranceOughtProtectWorshipBuiltInfiniteAncientJewPartnershipDefiningLegislatureHonest ManSabbathBlasphemyJehovahWorship GodBigotsInquisitionDungeonsEnjoy YourselfState Legislatures
Book:The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll
Create image

“No one, in the world's whole history, ever attempted to substantiate a truth by a miracle. Truth scorns the assistance of miracle. Nothing but falsehood ever attested itself by signs and wonders. No miracle ever was performed, and no sane man ever thought he had performed one, and until one is performed, there can be no evidence of the existence of any power superior to, and independent of nature.”

MenWorldWholeExistenceWonderEvidenceMiracleIndependentSuperiorsSaneFalsehoodAssistanceScornSigns And Wonders
Book:The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll
Create image

“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
Book:The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll
Create image

“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
Book:The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll
Create image

“When one of your children tells a lie, be honest with him; tell him that you have told hundreds of them yourself. Tell him it is not the best way; that you have tried it. Tell him as the man did in Maine when his boy left home: "John, honesty is the best policy; I have tried both."”

MenWayChildrenHomeLyingLeftBoysHonestHonestyPolicyHe ManOur ChildrenBest WayBeing HonestYour ChildrenMaineHonesty Is The Best Policy
Book:The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll
Create image

“Whenever a man believes that he has the exact truth from God, there is in that man no spirit of compromise. He has not the modesty born of the imperfections of human nature; he has the arrogance of theological certainty and the tyranny born of ignorant assurance. Believing himself to be the slave of God, he imitates his master, and of all tyrants the worst is a slave in power.”

MenBelieveHumansSpiritReligionBornAtheismWorstHuman NatureMastersSlaveTyrannyIgnorantCompromiseCertaintyArroganceImperfectionTyrantsModestyAssuranceTheological
Book:The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll
Create image