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Quote by Robert Green Ingersoll

“Nothing discloses real character like the use of power.”

Quote by Robert Green Ingersoll

Author

Robert Green Ingersoll

Robert Green Ingersoll was a prominent lawyer, orator, and freethinker. Born on August 11, 1833, and died on July 21, 1899, he was one of the most celebrated orators in 19th-century America. Known for his criticism of religion and government, Ingersoll was a leading advocate for individual freedom. more

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“It is our choice of good or evil that determines our character, not our opinion about good or evil.”

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“If the reason I give is a good one, you will act upon it. If it is a bad one I cannot make it better by piling epithet upon epithet. There is no logic in abuse; there is no argument in an epithet.”

Ifs Giving Reason Argument Logic Abuse Civility Epithet

Book:The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll

Source: The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll

“Arguments cannot be answered with insults. . . . Kindness is strength. . . . Anger blows out the lamp of the mind. In the examination of a great and important question, every one should be serene, slow-pulsed, and calm.”

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Book:The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll

Source: The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll

“If you and I want to stir up a resentment tomorrow that may rankle across the decades and endure until death, just let us indulge in a little stinging criticism - no matter how certain we are that it is justified.”

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Book:How to win friends & influence people

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“Bitter criticism caused the sensitive Thomas Hardy, one of the finest novelists ever to enrich English literature, to give up forever the writing of fiction. Criticism drove Thomas Chatterton, the English poet, to suicide. . . . Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain - and most fools do. But it takes character and self-control to be understanding and forgiving.”

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“Cruelty hardens and degrades, kindness reforms and ennobles.”

Kindness Cruelty Reform Civility Degrade

Book:The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll

Source: The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll

“One thing I have seen over and over again in life is that there is virtually no correlation between intelligence and common sense. IQ doesn't seem to translate that way.”

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“But courage in fighting is by no means the only form, nor perhaps even the most important. There is courage in facing poverty, courage in facing derision, courage in facing the hostility of one's own herd. In these, the bravest soldiers are often lamentably deficient. And above all there is the courage to think calmly and rationally in the face of danger, and to control the impulse of panic fear or panic rage.”

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Book:The Basic Writings of Bertrand Russell

Source: The Basic Writings of Bertrand Russell

“Courageous men never lose the zest for living even though their life situation is zestless; cowardly men, overwhelmed by the uncertainties of life, lose the will to live. We must constantly build dykes of courage to hold back the flood of fear.”

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Source: A Gift of Love: Sermons from Strength to Love and Other Preachings