Quotessence
Home / Topics / Positive Atheism Quotes

Positive Atheism Quotes

Browse 1875 quotes about Positive Atheism.

Related topics

MenIfsReligiousPeopleBelieveHumansWorldAtheistThinkingKnowsChristianChurchHas BeensMindMayShouldBeliefReasonFactsDoeStatesWayIdeasMadeReligionChristianityGovernmentLawLibertyGivingFirstsNeedsSeemsExistenceLongWantMatterMoralMeanChildrenCountryOpinionChristPersonsSoulWould BeYearsKindRealUniverseOrderPrayerWholeTwoWellsIndividualLastsAgeFormGodHeavenForceHeartSuperstitionsTryingViewsDiesJusticeLittlesSaidAuthorityCertainEndsEvidenceFeelsJesusNaturalOughtNationsPrinciplesPurposeRaceSchoolSectsTheologyUseClaimsDangerousEffectsFatherHandsMankindSelfSubjectsTurnsAgnosticCausesDoctrineDutyEnoughmore

Positive Atheism Quotes

“You cannot show real respect to your parents by perpetuating their errors.... Do you consider that the inventor of a steel plow cast a slur upon his father who scratched the ground with a wooden one? I do not consider that an invention by the son is a slander upon the father; I regard each invention simply as an improvement; and every father should be exceedingly proud of an ingenious son. If Mr. Talmage has a son, it will be impossible for him to honor his father except by differing with him.”

IfsShouldRealShowsFatherParentImpossibleAtheismSonProudHonorRegardErrorsCastsPositive AtheismImprovementInventionSteelInventorSlanderIngeniousPerpetuatingSlurs
Book:Ingersoll the Magnificent: To which Has Been Added a Special Arrangement of Some Gems from Ingersoll for Inspiration, Wisdom, and Courage
Create image

“Spirituality authors, who are generally forgiving of most human foibles ... take a hard line on intellectualism.... Skepticism they view with contempt, as the refuge of the unenlightened.”

HumansHardSpiritualityLinesViewsAtheismForgivingPositive AtheismContemptSkepticismRefugeIntellectualismFoibles
Book:Sleeping with Extra-terrestrials: The Rise of Irrationalism and Perils of Piety
Create image

“There are, however, exceptions to this reliance on feelings as evidence of truth: if, for instance, your feelings lead to disbelief instead of belief, they're apt to be dismissed as some form of denial. This is not a common problem. Usually intellectualism, not feeling reality, is blamed for disbelief. But, some angel experts suggest, there may be emotional as well as intellectual barriers to belief: unwillingness to believe in angels can reflect low self-esteem.”

IfsBelieveWellsMaySelfFeelingsProblemRealityFormBeliefCommonAtheismSelf EsteemEmotionalIntellectualLowsEvidenceAngelPositive AtheismEsteemInstanceDenialExpertsExceptionBarriersRelianceDisbeliefLow Self EsteemIntellectualism
Author:Wendy Kaminer
Create image

“My colleague Sen. Rick Santorum, Pennsylvania Republican, erroneously suggested that I support the teaching of intelligent design as an alternative to biological evolution. That simply is not true. ... Unlike biological evolution, intelligent design is not a genuine scientific theory and, therefore, has no place in the curriculum of our nation's public school science classes.”

SchoolNationsClassSupportAtheismTeachingDesignTheoryEvolutionRepublicanIntelligentPositive AtheismGenuineAlternativesColleaguesPublic SchoolCurriculumPennsylvaniaIntelligent DesignScientific TheoryBiological EvolutionScience Class
Author:Edward Kennedy
Create image

“Poor humanity, to saddle the gods with such a responsibility and throw in a vindictive temper. What griefs they hatch for themselves, what festering sores for us, what tears for our prosperity! This is not piety, this oft-repeated show of bowing a veiled head before a graven image; this bustling to every altar; this kow-towing and prostration on the ground with palms outspread before the shrines of the gods; this deluging of vow on vow. True piety lies rather in the power to contemplate the universe with a quiet mind.”

MindShowsLyingHumanityUniversePoorGriefResponsibilityAtheismTearsQuietProsperityPositive AtheismTemperContemplatingPalmsVowAltarsPietyShrinesSaddlesVindictiveFesteringProstration
Author:Lucretius
Create image

“Certainly it was no design of the atoms to place themselves in a particular order, nor did they decide what motions each should have. But atoms were struck with blows in many ways and carried along by their own weight from infinite times up to the present. They have been accustomed to move and to meet in all manner of ways. For this reason, it came to pass that being spread abroad through a vast time and trying every sort of combination and motion, at length those come together that produce great things, like earth and sea and sky and the generation of living creatures.”

WayShouldTryingHas BeensReasonEarthTogetherMovingOrderGenerationsSeaSkyAtheismDesignProduceParticularCreaturesShould HaveWeightInfiniteBlowSpreadPositive AtheismGreat ThingsCombinationLengthAtomsAccustomedLiving CreaturesSea And SkyInfinite Time
Author:Lucretius
Create image

“The new advocates of ID [Intelligent Design] ask that their ideas be judged by scientific, not religious, criteria. OK, let's see how well ID stacks up as a scientific alternative to Darwinism. To gauge how well ID is doing as a platform for scientific research, I logged into the best database of the biological literature. A search for keyword ''evolution'' yielded 24,000 hits in the last decade. A search for ''intelligent design'' yielded not a single piece of research. Evolution by natural selection remains the basis of every successful biological research program.”

WellsIdeasLastsAsksLiteratureNaturalReligiousSuccessfulPiecesAtheismDesignEvolutionResearchProgramBasesIntelligentRemainsPositive AtheismDecadesAlternativesJudgedPlatformsSelectionCriteriaNatural SelectionDarwinismScientific ResearchGaugesIntelligent DesignDatabasesKeywords
Author:Chet Raymo
Create image

“But amid much elegance and precision, the details of life and the Universe also exhibit haphazard, jury-rigged arrangements and much poor planning. What shall we make of this: an edifice abandoned early in construction by the architect?”

UniversePoorAtheismDetailsPositive AtheismPlanningAbandonedConstructionArchitectArrangementsEleganceJuryExhibitsPrecisionEdificeRiggedHaphazardPoor PlanningDetails Of Life
Book:Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space
Create image

“I believe in absolute freedom of conscience for all men and equality of all churches, all sects and all beliefs before the law as a matter of right and not as a matter of favor. I believe in the absolute separation of church and state and in the strict enforcement of the Constitution that Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof I believe that no tribunal of any church has any power to make any decree of any force in the law of the land, other than to establish the status of its own communicants within its own church.”

MenBelieveMatterStatesLawBeliefForceI BelieveChurchAtheismLandExerciseConscienceConstitutionAbsolutesCongressI Believe InPositive AtheismFavorsSeparationEstablishmentStrictEnforcementChurch And StateSeparation Of Church And StateSectsDecreeAbsolute FreedomTribunals
Author:Al Smith
Create image

“The argument from design is ultimately an appeal to miraculous causes, i.e., causes that do not, and cannot, occur in the natural course of events. This is why an explanation via design is not a legitimate alternative to scientific and other naturalistic modes of explanation. To refer to a miraculous cause is to refer to something that is inherently unknowable, and this sanctuary of ignorance explains nothing at all. However much it may soothe the imagination of the ignorant, it does nothing to satisfy the understanding of a rational person.”

MayPersonsDoeCoursesCausesUnderstandingImaginationNaturalAtheismEventsDesignIgnoranceArgumentPositive AtheismIgnorantRationalAlternativesAppealsExplanationMiraculousSanctuary
Book:Why Atheism?
Create image

“I often saw weary little women coming to the table after most exhausting labors, and large, bumptious husbands spreading out their hands and thanking the Lord for the meals that the dear women had prepared, as if the whole came down like manna from heaven. So I preached a sermon in the blessing I gave. You will notice that it has three heresies in it: Heavenly Father and Mother, make us thankful for all the blessings of this life, and make us ever mindful of the patient hands that oft in weariness spread our tables and prepare our daily food. For humanity's sake, Amen.”

IfsLittlesWholeHandsMotherHumanityThreeFatherHeavenLordSawsAtheismBlessingHusbandLaborTablesPreparedPatientSakeDearSpreadPositive AtheismThis LifeMealsHeavenlyWearySermonsHeresyHeavenly FatherExhaustingAmenWearinessLittle Women
Author:Elizabeth Cady Stanton
Create image

“Women are afraid. It is unpopular to question the bible. They are creatures of tradition. They fear to question their position in the testament, as they feared to advocate suffrage fifty years ago. Now they are quarreling as to which were among the first to advocate it. You see they are not used to abuse as I am. In Albany, fifty years ago, when I went before the legislature to plead for a married woman's right to her own property, the women whom I met in society crossed the street rather than speak to me.”

YearsFirstsUsedSpeakAtheismStreetsPositionMetsCreaturesMarriedYears AgoTraditionAbusePropertyPositive AtheismFiftyTestamentLegislatureSuffrageMarried WomenAlbany
Author:Elizabeth Cady Stanton
Create image

“These teachings in regard to woman so faithfully reflect the provisions of the canon law that it is fair to infer that their inspiration came from the same source, written by men, translated by men, revised by men. If the Bible is to be placed in the hands of our children, read in our schools, taught in our theological seminaries, proclaimed as God's law in our temples of worship, let us by all means call a council of women in New York, and give it one more revision from the woman's standpoint.”

IfsMenGivingMeanChildrenHandsInspirationSchoolLawWrittenAtheismTeachingNew YorkTaughtSourceWorshipFairsRegardOur ChildrenPositive AtheismTemplesCouncilProvisionStandpointTheologicalRevisionCanon
Author:Elizabeth Cady Stanton
Create image

“It is through the perversion of the religious element in woman, playing upon her hopes and fears of the future, holding this life with all its high duties in abeyance to that which is to come, that she and the children she has trained have been so completely subjugated by priestcraft and superstition.”

ChildrenHas BeensReligiousAtheismDutyElementsPositive AtheismThis LifeSuperstitionsPerversionHopes And FearsFear Of The Future
Book:The Woman's Bible
Create image

“As women are taking an active part in pressing on the consideration of Congress many narrow sectarian measures, such as more rigid Sunday laws, the stopping of travel, the distribution of the mail on that day, and the introduction of the name of God into the Constitution; and as this action on the part of some women is used as an argument for the disfranchisement of all, I hope this convention will declare that the Woman Suffrage Association is opposed to all union of Church and State, and pledges itself as far as possible to maintain the secular nature of our Government.”

StatesGovernmentActionLawUsedNamesChurchAtheismArgumentConstitutionUnionsCongressPositive AtheismActiveConsiderationSundayAssociationConventionsMailSecularStoppingDistributionIntroductionChurch And StatePledgeSuffrageWoman SuffragePressing On
Author:Elizabeth Cady Stanton
Create image

“I can say that the happiest period of my life has been since I emerged from the shadows and superstitions of the old theologies, relieved from all gloomy apprehensions of the future, satisfied that as my labors and capacities were limited to this sphere of action, I was responsible for nothing beyond my horizon, as I could neither understand nor change the condition of the unknown world. Giving ourselves, then, no trouble about the future, let us make the most of the present, and fill up our lives with earnest work here.”

WorldGivingHas BeensI CanActionOur LivesTroubleAtheismConditionsPeriodsShadowCapacityLaborResponsiblePositive AtheismSatisfiedTheologyHorizonSpheresSuperstitionsEarnestApprehensionGloomyRelievedUnknown Worlds
Author:Elizabeth Cady Stanton
Create image

“A very wise father once remarked, that in the government of his children, he forbid as few things as possible; a wise legislature would do the same. It is folly to make laws on subjects beyond human prerogative, knowing that in the very nature of things they must be set aside. To make laws that man cannot and will not obey, serves to bring all law into contempt. It is very important in a republic, that the people should respect the laws, for if we throw them to the winds, what becomes of civil government?”

PeopleIfsMenShouldHumansChildrenImportantGovernmentLawFatherKnowingWiseAtheismSubjectsWindPositive AtheismFollyRepublicContemptLegislaturePrerogativeVery Wise
Author:Elizabeth Cady Stanton
Create image

“It is often asserted that woman owes all the advantages of the position she occupies to-day to Christianity, but the facts of history show that the Christian Church has done nothing specifically for woman's elevation. In the general march of civilization, she has necessarily reaped the advantage of man's higher development, but we must not claim for Christianity all that has been achieved by science, discovery and invention.”

MenHas BeensDoneFactsShowsChristianChurchChristianityAtheismPositionDevelopmentHigherCivilizationDiscoveryAdvantageClaimsPositive AtheismInventionMarchElevationChristian ChurchDiscovery And Invention
Author:Elizabeth Cady Stanton
Create image

“We should always keep an open mind about any new phenomenon in nature. To merely say that's impossible, therefore it doesn't exist, is to commit a serious error. A much better approach would be to say That's quite unlikely, but show me the evidence you have that says that it may be so. It would be the height of arrogance to think that man knows everything possible about the Universe or the Earth. There are many things yet to be discovered, and that is why we have scientific research (or any kind of research). That should be the rationalist's approach to parapsychology and the occult.”

ThinkingKnowsMenShouldMindKindMayShowsWould BeEarthUniverseImpossibleAtheismSeriousApproachResearchEvidenceErrorsPositive AtheismCommitHeightArrogancePhenomenonShow MeUnlikelyOpen MindOccultScientific ResearchKeep An Open MindParapsychology
Author:Gordon Stein
Create image

“While science continually uncovers new mysteries, it has removed much of what was once regarded as deeply mysterious. Although we certainly do not know the exact nature of every component of the universe, the basic principles of physics seem to apply out to the farthest horizon visible to us today.”

KnowsSeemsTodayUniversePrinciplesMysteryAtheismPositive AtheismPhysicsMysteriousVisibleHorizonComponentsBasic Principles
Book:Has Science Found God?: The Latest Results in the Search for Purpose in the Universe
Create image

“Define self-awareness and tell me what it is about it that requires something more than a material explanation. I do not accept the burden of explaining all phenomena, real or imagined. If you think more than matter is required for this thing you call self-awareness, which you have not defined, then you have the burden of showing why.”

IfsThinkingRealSelfMatterAcceptingAtheismAwarenessMaterialsSelf AwarenessBurdenPositive AtheismDefinedExplanationExplaining
Author:Victor J. Stenger
Create image

“The designation of the locality in one excludes the appearances narrated by the rest; the determination of time in another leaves no space for the narratives of his fellow-evangelists; the enumeration of a third is given without any regard to the events reported by his predecessors; lastly, among several appearances recounted by various narrators, each claims to be the last, and yet has nothing in common with the others. Hence nothing but wilful blindness can prevent the perception that no one of the narrators knew and presupposed what another records.”

LastsGivenSpaceCommonRecordsAtheismEventsPerceptionDeterminationThirdsClaimsRegardFellowsVariousAppearancePositive AtheismNarrativeBlindnessPredecessorsNarratorsEvangelistsLocalityDesignation
Author:David Friedrich Strauss
Create image

“The truth is that family values, as used by the American Family Association, Dan Quayle, and the southern Baptists, has nothing to do with either family or values, nor does it really have anything to do with homosexuals, abortionists, or pornographers. Those groups actually only serve as windmills to tilt at. The true agenda is power - power over the intellectually weak, emotionally immature, and ethically deficient Americans who are incapable of critical thinking and independent decision-making, and who are easily manipulated by the basest of human emotions - fear and the desire for revenge.”

ThinkingHumansDoeUsedDesireValuesDecisionEmotionGroupsAtheismTruth IsWeakIndependentCriticalPositive AtheismRevengeAgendasDecision MakingSouthernAssociationIncapableHomosexualCritical ThinkingBaptistsImmatureFamily ValuesHuman EmotionsAmerican FamilyTiltWindmillsSouthern Baptist
Author:Morris Sullivan
Create image

“It is often lamented by the churchmen that Washington and Lincoln possessed little religion except that found in the word 'God.' All that can here be affirmed is that what the religion of those two men lacked in theological details it made up in greatness. Their minds were born with a love of great principles... There are few instances in which a mind great enough to reach great principles in politics has been satisfied with a fanatical religion... It must not be asked for Washington and Lincoln that, having reached greatness in political principles, they should have loved littleness in piety.”

MenShouldMindLittlesHas BeensMadeTwoEnoughPoliticalFoundBornPrinciplesAtheismGreatnessShould HaveDetailsPositive AtheismSatisfiedInstancePossessedPietyTheological
Author:David Swing
Create image

“Mine was a trained Presbyterian conscience and knew but the one duty - to hunt and harry its slave upon all pretexts and on all occasions, particularly when there was no sense nor reason in it.”

ReasonAtheismMinesDutyConscienceSlavePositive AtheismOccasionsHuntsPretextPresbyteriansAll Occasions
Book:Autobiography of Mark Twain, Volume 1: The Complete and Authoritative Edition
Create image

“This is a Christian country. Why, so is hell. Inasmuch as Strait is the way and narrow is the gate, and few - few - are they that enter in thereat has had the natural effect of making hell the only really prominent Christian community in any of the worlds; but we don't brag of this and certainly it is not proper to brag and boast that America is a Christian country when we all know that certainly five-sixths of our population could not enter in at the narrow gate.”

KnowsWorldWayCountryChristianAmericaCommunityNaturalHellFiveAtheismEffectsPopulationPositive AtheismGatesBoastProminentBragChristian Community
Book:Autobiography of Mark Twain, Volume 3: The Complete and Authoritative Edition
Create image

“For England must not fall: it would mean an inundation of Russian & German political degradations which would envelop the globe & steep it in a sort of Middle-Age night & slaverly which would last till Christ comes again - which I hope he will not do; he made trouble enough before.”

MeanMadeEnoughAgeLastsPoliticalNightFallChristTroubleAtheismMiddleEnglandPositive AtheismGlobesMiddle AgesDegradationSteep
Book:Mark Twain-Howells Letters: The Correspondence of Samuel L. Clemens and William D. Howells, 1872-1910
Create image