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Robert Green Ingersoll

Robert Green Ingersoll Quotes

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Famous Robert Green Ingersoll Quotes

“There may or may not be a Supreme Ruler of the universe-but we are certain that man exists, and we believe that freedom is the condition of progress; that it is the sunshine of the mental and moral world, and that without it man will go back to the den of savagery, and wll become the fit associate of wild and ferocious beasts.”

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Book:Miscellany
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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.”

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Book:The Works of Robert G. 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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“Would God give a bird wings and make it a crime to fly? Would he give me brains and make it a crime to think? Any God that would damn one of his children for the expression of his honest thought wouldn't make a decent thief. When I read a book and don't believe it, I ought to say so. I will do so and take the consequences like a man.”

ThinkingMenGivingBelieveChildrenBookBrainHonestCrimeExpressionOughtBirdConsequenceGive MeWingsDon't BelieveDamnDecentThievesBirds Wings
Book:Lectures of Col. R.G. Ingersoll: Including His Letters on the Chinese God--Is Suicide a Sin?--The Right to One's Life--etc. Etc. Etc
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“At the bottom of religious persecution is the doctrine of self-defence; that is to say, the defence of the soul. If the founder of Christianity had plainly said: 'It is not necessary to believe in order to be saved; it is only necessary to do, and he who really loves his fellow-men, who is kind, honest, just and charitable, is to be forever blest' - if he had only said that, there would probably have been but little persecution.”

IfsMenBelieveKindLittlesHas BeensSaidSoulSelfOrderReligiousChristianityForeverHonestFellowsBottomSavedDoctrineFoundersPersecutionFellow ManDefenceCharitableSelf DefenceReligious Persecution
Author:Robert Green Ingersoll
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“The real searcher after truth will not receive the old because it is old, or reject the new because it is new. He will not believe men because they are dead, or contradict them because they are alive. With him an utterance is worth the truth, the reason it contains, without the slightest regard to the author. He may have been a king or serf - a philosopher or servant, - but the utterance neither gains nor loses in truth or reason. Its value is absolutely independent of the fame or station of the man who gave it to the world.”

MenWorldBelieveMayHas BeensRealReasonWisdomTruthValuesLosesAliveHe ManKingsFameGainsRegardIndependentPhilosopherServantRejectsStationsBelieve In MeUtteranceSearchersSerfs
Book:Superstition and Other Essays
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“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
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“Small people delight in what they call consistency-that is, it gives them immense pleasure to say that they believe now exactly as they did ten years ago. This simply amounts to a certificate that they have not grown-that they have not developed-and that they know just as little now as they ever did. The highest possible conception of consistency is to be true to the knowledge of today, without the slightest reference to what your opinion was years ago.”

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Book:Tributes and miscellany
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“I would not for my life destroy one star of human hope, but I want it so that when a poor woman rocks the cradle and sings a lullaby to the dimpled darling, she will not be compelled to believe that ninety-nine chances in a hundred she is raising kindling wood for hell.”

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Book:The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll
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“If a man really believes that God once upheld slavery; that he commanded soldiers to kill women and babes; that he believed in polygamy; that he persecuted for opinion's sake; that he will punish forever, and that he hates an unbeliever, the effect in my judgment will be bad. It always has been bad. This belief built the dungeons of the Inquisition. This belief made the Puritan murder the Quaker.”

IfsMenBelieveHas BeensMadeReligionHateBeliefOpinionForeverEffectsJudgmentBuiltMurderSlaverySakeSoldierPunishmentBabePersecutedPolygamyPuritanInquisitionDungeonsUnbelieversQuaker
Book:Interviews
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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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“I believe in the religion of reason -- the gospel of this world; in the development of the mind, in the accumulation of intellectual wealth, to the end that man may free himself from superstitious fear, to the end that he may take advantage of the forces of nature to feed and clothe the world.”

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Book:Lectures and Essays (a Selection)
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“For ages, a deadly conflict has been waged between a few brave men and women of thought and genius upon the one side, and the great ignorant religious mass on the other. This is the war between Science and Faith. The few have appealed to reason, to honor, to law, to freedom, to the known, and to happiness here in this world. The many have appealed to prejudice, to fear, to miracle, to slavery, to the unknown, and to misery hereafter. The few have said "Think" The many have said "Believe!"”

ThinkingMenWorldBelieveHas BeensSaidWarReasonAgeLawFaithBeliefSidesReligiousKnownThis WorldGeniusHonorConflictMassMen And WomenMiraclePrejudiceSlaveryBraveMiseryIgnorantHereafterBrave Man
Book:The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll
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“The Unitarian Church has done more than any other church to substitute character for creed, and to say that a man should be judged by his spirit; by the climate of his heart; by the autumn of his generosity; by the spring of his hope; that he should be judged by what he does; by the influence that he exerts, rather than by the mythology he may believe.”

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Book:The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll
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“Christianity has such a contemptible opinion of human nature that it does not believe a man can tell the truth unless frightened by a belief in god. No lower opinion of the human race has ever been expressed.”

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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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“Is there an intelligent man or woman now in the world who believes in the Garden of Eden story? If you find any man who believes it, strike his forehead and you will hear an echo. Something is for rent.”

IfsMenWorldBelieveStoriesGardenIntelligentPositive AtheismStrikesEchoesForeheadsEdenGarden Of EdenIntelligent Man
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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“When a man really believes that it is necessary to do a certain thing to be happy forever, or that a certain belief is necessary to ensure eternal joy, there is in that man no spirit of concession. He divides the whole world into saints and sinners, into believers and unbelievers, into God's sheep and Devil's goats, into people who will be glorified and people who are damned.”

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Book:The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll
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“It is a blessed thing that in every age some one has had individuality enough and courage enough to stand by his own convictions, -- some one who had the grandeur to say his say. I believe it was Magellan who said, The church says the earth is flat; but I have seen its shadow on the moon, and I have more confidence even in a shadow than in the church. On the prow of his ship were disobedience, defiance, scorn, and success.”

BelieveSaidEnoughAgeEarthFaithI BelieveChurchMoonShadowBlessedIndividualityConvictionShipsFlatsScornDisobedienceGrandeurDefianceMagellan
Book:The Gods, and Other Lectures
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