Quotessence
Home / Authors / William Winwood Reade
William Winwood Reade

William Winwood Reade Quotes

Historian

Filter quotes by topic

AllMenIfsAtheismMankindPositive AtheismBelieveWorldDutyFactsForceIndustryMayReligiousShouldAncestryAngelApesArmsArtArtistic

Famous William Winwood Reade Quotes

“There is a certain class of people who prefer to say that their fathers came down in the world through their own follies than to boast that they rose in the world through their own industry and talents. It is the same shabby-genteel sentiment, the same vanity of birth which makes men prefer to believe that they are degenerated angels rather than elevated apes.”

PeopleMenWorldBelieveCertainFatherClassTalentIndustryBirthAngelRoseVanityFollySentimentsBoastApesAncestryShabby
Book:The Martyrdom of Man
Create image

“All doctrines relating to the creation of the world, the government of man by superior beings, and his destiny after death, are conjectures which have been given out as facts, handed down with many adornments by tradition, and accepted by posterity as "revealed religion". They are theories more or less rational which uncivilised men have devised in order to explain the facts of life, and which civilised men believe that they believe.”

MenWorldBelieveHas BeensFactsGovernmentOrderGivenDestinyCreationTheoryTraditionAcceptedDoctrineSuperiorsRationalPosterityAfter DeathFacts Of LifeCivilisedConjectureAdornmentCreation Of The World
Book:The Martyrdom of Man
Create image

“If Christianity were true religious persecution would become a pious and charitable duty: if God designs to punish men for their opinions it would be an act of mercy to mankind to extinguish such opinions. By burning the bodies of those who diffuse them many souls would be saved that would otherwise be lost, and so there would be an economy of torment in the long run. It is therefore not surprising that enthusiasts should be intolerant.”

IfsMenShouldLongSoulBodyWould BeRunningLostReligiousChristianityOpinionEconomyMankindDesignDutyMercySavedBurningSurprisingLong RunsPersecutionTormentPiousCharitableReligious Persecution
Book:The Martyrdom of Man
Create image

“Christians believe themselves to be the aristocracy of heaven upon earth, they are admitted to the spiritual court, while millions of men in foreign lands have never been presented. They bow their knees and say they are 'miserable sinners,' and their hearts rankle with abominable pride. Poor infatuated fools! Their servility is real and their insolence is real but their king is a phantom and their palace is a dream.”

MenBelieveHeartRealDreamEarthChristianSpiritualHeavenPoorMillionsAtheismLandPrideFoolKingsCourtPositive AtheismMiserableKneesSinnerBowsPalacesAristocracyPhantomsInsolenceInfatuatedServilityForeign Lands
Book:The Martyrdom of Man
Create image

“And then, the Earth being small, mankind will migrate into space, and will cross the airless Saharas which separate planet from planet and sun from sun. The Earth will become a Holy Land which will be visited by pilgrims from all the quarters of the Universe. Finally, men will master the forces of Nature; they will become themselves architects of systems, manufacturers of worlds.”

MenWorldEarthUniverseForceSpaceSunLandMankindPlanetsMastersHolyFutureCrossesExplorationQuartersArchitectPredictionsSpace ExplorationPilgrimForces Of NatureHoly LandMigrateSahara
Book:The Martyrdom of Man
Create image