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Quote by Philip Roth

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Philip Roth
Philip Roth

Philip Roth (1933-2018) was one of America's most influential contemporary novelists, renowned for his profound explorations of Jewish-American identity, sexuality, politics, and the human condition. His breakthrough work, "Portnoy's Complaint" (1969), became a landmark in American literature. Roth received two National Book Awards and was a multiple-time Pulitzer Prize finalist. Over his six-decade career, he published more than 30 books that significantly shaped American fiction. He passed away in New York City on May 22, 2018, at age 85. more

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“Are you never afraid of God's judgement in denying him? Most certainly not. I also deny Zeus and Jupiter and Odin and Brahma, but this causes me no qualms. I observe that a very large portion of the human race does not believe in God and suffers no visible punishment in consequence. And if there were a God, I think it very unlikely that He would have such an uneasy vanity as to be offended by those who doubt His existence.”

IfsThinkingBelieveHumansDoeReligionSufferingCausesRaceExistenceDoubtConsequenceDenyPunishmentVanityHuman RaceJudgementVisibleBelieve In GodPortionsOffendedUnlikelyUneasyZeusJupiterBrahmaOdinQualms
Author:Bertrand Russell
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“I mean by intellectual integrity the habit of deciding vexed questions in accordance with the evidence, or of leaving them undecided where the evidence is inconclusive. This virtue, though it is underestimated by almost all adherents of any system of dogma, is to my mind of the very greatest social importance and far more likely to benefit the world than Christianity or any other system of organized beliefs.”

WorldMindMeanReligionBeliefSocialChristianityVirtueHabitIntegrityBenefitsIntellectualEvidenceImportanceLeavingOrganizedDogmaUnderestimatedUndecided
Book:The basic writings of Bertrand Russell, 1903-1959
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“My own view on religion is that of Lucretius. I regard it as a disease born of fear and as a source of untold misery to the human race. I cannot, however, deny that it has made some contributions to civilisation. It helped in early days to fix the calendar, and it caused Egyptian priests to chronicle eclipses with such care that in time they became able to predict them. These two services I am prepared to acknowledge, but I do not know of any others.”

KnowsHumansMadeTwoCareAbleReligionBornMy OwnViewsRaceSourceDiseaseRegardMiseryPreparedDenyAcknowledgeHuman RaceContributionPriestsCivilisationCalendarsEclipseEgyptianChronicles
Book:A Fresh Look at Empiricism: 1927-42
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“Modern American politicians have the same cowardice about denying an equally bloodthirsty even sillier god, Jehovah. None of us would seriously consider the possibility that all the gods of Homer really exist... I think that all of us would say in regard to those gods that we were atheists. In regard to the Christian God, I should, I think, take exactly the same line.”

ThinkingShouldChristianReligionLinesModernPossibilityPoliticianRegardAtheistCowardiceShould IJehovahChristian God
Author:Bertrand Russell
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