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Quote by Thomas Paine

“All this [Paul's writing] is nothing better than the jargon of a conjurer who picks up phrases he does not understand to confound the credulous people who come to have their fortune told. Age of Reason”

Author

Thomas Paine

Thomas Paine, born on February 9, 1737, and died on June 8, 1809, was a prominent American writer, political figure, and philosopher during the American Revolutionary War. He is renowned for his radical democratic ideas and his contributions to the American independence movement. more

“...there ... remains a huge following [of Ayn Rand's philosophy] of those who ignore the indiscretions, infidelities, and moral inconsistencies of the founder and focus instead on the positive aspects of her philosophy. There is much in it to admire, if you do not have to accept the whole package... Criticism of the founder or followers of a philosophy does not, by itself, constitute a negation of any part of the philosophy... Criticism of part of a philosophy does not gainsay the whole.”

Ifs Thinking Doe Philosophy Whole Accepting Moral Focus Huge Aspect Criticism Remains Following Admire Followers Founders Infidelity Packages Inconsistency Negation

Author:Michael Shermer

“The first-cause and prime-mover argument, brilliantly proffered by St. Thomas Aquinas in the fourteenth century (and brilliantly refuted by David Hume in the eighteenth century), is easily turned aside with just one more question: Who or what caused and moved God?”

Thinking Firsts Causes Century Argument Moved Just One Prime Hume St Thomas

Book:Why People Believe Weird Things: Pseudoscience, Superstition, and Other Confusions of Our Time

Source: Why People Believe Weird Things: Pseudoscience, Superstition, and Other Confusions of Our Time

“Ultimately all hominids came from Africa, and therefore everyone in America should simply check the box next to 'African-American.' My maternal grandmother was German and my maternal grandfather was Greek. The next time I fill out one of those forms I am going to check 'Other' and write in the truth about my racial and cultural heritage: 'African-Greek-German-American.' And proud of it.”

Thinking Should Writing America Form Next Proud Boxes Checks African American Greek Grandmother Heritage Grandfather Next Time Cultural Heritage Hominids

Book:Why People Believe Weird Things: Pseudoscience, Superstition, and Other Confusions of Our Time

Source: Why People Believe Weird Things: Pseudoscience, Superstition, and Other Confusions of Our Time

“Science has never sought to ally herself with civil power. She has never subjected anyone to mental torment, physical torment, least of all death, for the purpose of promoting her ideas.”

Thinking Ideas Purpose Allies Torment Promoting

Author:John William Draper

“'tis his honesty that brought upon him the character of a heretic.”

Thinking Character Honesty Heretic

Book:The Private Correspondence of Benjamin Franklin .. Comprising a Series of Letters on Miscellaneous, Litarary, and Political Subjects: Written Between the Years 1753 and 1790; Illustrating the Memoirs of His Public and Private Life, and Developing the Secret History of His Political Transactions and Negociations. Now First Published from the Originals

Source: The Private Correspondence of Benjamin Franklin .. Comprising a Series of Letters on Miscellaneous, Litarary, and Political Subjects: Written Between the Years 1753 and 1790; Illustrating the Memoirs of His Public and Private Life, and Developing the Secret History of His Political Transactions and Negociations. Now First Published from the Originals

“...Let us discard all this quibbling about this man and the other man-this race and that race and the other race being inferior, and therefore they must be placed in and inferior position...Let us discard all these things, and unite as one people throughout this land, until we shall once more stand up declaring that all men are created equal.”

People Thinking Men Race Land Position Equal Inferiors Declaring

Book:The Life and Writings of Abraham Lincoln

Source: The Life and Writings of Abraham Lincoln

“People complain of the unequal distribution of wealth [but it is a far greater] injustice that any one man should have the power to write so many brilliant essays... There is no one who writes like [Thomas Huxley].”