“There is no exercise of the intellect which is not, in the final analysis, useless. A philosophical doctrine begins as a plausible description of the universe; with the passage of the years it becomes a mere chapter if not a paragraph or a name in the history of philosophy.” IfsYearsPhilosophyUniverseNamesExercisePhilosophicalMereFinalsIntellectDoctrineUselessAnalysisDescriptionPassagesChaptersParagraphPlausible Book:Labyrinths: Selected Stories & Other Writings Source: Labyrinths: Selected Stories & Other Writings
“Our idealists must own that their velleity to abolish all suffering is most fully expressed in the Fifth Wisdom of Lamaism, the doctrine that teaches that "no durable happiness, nor yet security, for any sentient being can exist while others are a prey to suffering." That truth cannot be questioned and you may take it to heart: in practical terms it means we got ourselves born on the wrong planet - in the wrong universe.” HeartMayMeanSufferingUniverseTermBornTeachSecurityPlanetsPracticalsDoctrineFifthPreyAbolishIdealistSentient Beings Author:Revilo P. Oliver
“The doctrine that the earth is neither the center of the universe nor immovable, but moves even with a daily rotation, is absurd, and both philosophically and theologically false, and at the least an error of faith.” EarthMovingReligionUniverseErrorsDoctrineAbsurdCenter Of The UniverseRotation Author:Galileo Galilei
“I hope the doctrine that Christians ought to be gloomy will soon be driven out of the universe. There are no people in the world who have such a right to be happy, nor have such cause to be joyful as the saints of the living God.” PeopleWorldChristianUniverseCausesOughtSaintDrivenDoctrineJoyfulGloomy Book:Collected Works Vol. 2 Source: Collected Works Vol. 2
“Who can estimate the misery that has been caused by this infamous doctrine of eternal punishment? Think of the lives it has blighted-of the tears it has caused-of the agony it has produced. Think of the millions who have been driven to insanity by this most terrible of dogmas. This doctrine renters God the basest and most cruel being in the universe. ... There is nothing more degrading than to worship such a god.” ThinkingHas BeensUniverseEvilReligiousMillionsTearsTerribleEternalWorshipMiseryDrivenPunishmentDoctrineInsanityDogmaAgonyDegradingInfamous Author:Robert Green Ingersoll
“The Hebrews have done more to civilize men than any other nation: The doctrine of a supreme, intelligent sovereign of the universe, I believe to be the great essential principle of all morality, and consequently of all civilization.” MenBelieveDoneUniverseI BelieveNationsPrinciplesMoralityCivilizationEssentialsIntelligentJewSupremeDoctrineSovereignHebrew Book:The John Adams papers Source: The John Adams papers