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Quote by Victor J. Stenger

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Victor J. Stenger
Victor J. Stenger

Victor J. Stenger was a renowned physicist known for his research in the philosophy of science and criticism of religion. His work encompasses physics, mathematics, and logic, particularly in the fields of quantum mechanics and cosmology. Stenger's writings aim to popularize scientific knowledge and challenge the rationality of religious beliefs. more

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“The essence of any religion lies solely in the answer to the question: why do I exist, and what is my relationship to the infinite universe that surrounds me? It is impossible for there to be a person with no religion (i.e. without any kind of relationship to the world) as it is for there to be a person without a heart. He may not know that he has a religion, just as a person may not know that he has a heart, but it is no more possible for a person to exist without a religion than without a heart.”

KnowsWorldHeartKindMayPersonsLyingUniverseAnswersImpossibleAtheismEssenceInfiniteSurroundAgnosticismInfinite Universe
Author:Leo Tolstoy
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“When it was first said that the sun stood still and world turned round, the common sense of mankind declared the doctrine false; but the old saying of Vox populi, vox Dei [the voice of the people is the voice of God], as every philosopher knows, cannot be trusted in science.”

PeopleKnowsWorldFirstsSaidStillsEyeVoiceCommonSunAtheismMankindSpeciesRoundsPhilosopherPositive AtheismDoctrineCommon SenseTrustedNatural SelectionAgnosticismOld SayingVoice Of GodOrigin Of SpeciesVox Populi
Author:Charles Darwin
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“How so many absurd rules of conduct, as well as so many absurd religious beliefs, have originated, we do not know; nor how it is that they have become, in all quarters of the world, so deeply impressed on the minds of men; but it is worthy of remark that a belief constantly inculcated during the early years of life, while the brain is impressionable, appears to acquire almost the nature of an instinct; and the very essence of an instinct is that it is followed independently of reason.”

KnowsMenWorldYearsMindWellsReasonBeliefReligiousBrainAtheismEssenceInstinctWorthyPositive AtheismAbsurdAcquireQuartersImpressedRemarksAgnosticismReligious BeliefYears Of LifeImpressionable
Book:The Descent of Man
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“I am aware that the assumed instinctive belief in God has been used by many persons as an argument for his existence. The idea of a universal and beneficent Creator does not seem to arise in the mind of man, until he has been elevated by long-continued culture.”

MenMindPersonsLongDoeHas BeensIdeasSeemsUsedCultureBeliefExistenceAtheismArgumentUniversalCreatorPositive AtheismAriseAgnosticismBelief In God
Book:The Descent of Man: And Selection in Relation to Sex
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“But I own that I cannot see as plainly as others do, and I should wish to do, evidence of design and beneficence on all sides of us. There seems to me too much misery in the world. I cannot persuade myself that a beneficent and omnipotent God would have designedly created that a cat should play with mice.”

WorldShouldPlaySeemsWishSidesToo MuchAtheismDesignEvolutionEvidenceCatMiserySpeciesPositive AtheismMiceNatural SelectionAgnosticismOmnipotentBeneficence
Book:Darwin on Evolution: Words of Wisdom from the Father of Evolution
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“... The idea of God, as meaning an infinitely intelligent, wise and good Being, arises from reflecting on the operations of our own mind, and augmenting, without limit, those qualities of goodness and wisdom.”

MindIdeasQualityWiseAtheismLimitsGoodnessIntelligentAriseOperationsReflectingAgnosticism
Book:An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding ; [with] A Letter from a Gentleman to His Friend in Edinburgh ; [and] An Abstract of a Treatise of Human Nature
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