Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
It is impossible for me to conceive of a character more utterly detestable than that of the Hebrew god.
Either god should have written a book to fit my brain, or he should have made my brain to fit his book.
Heresy is what the minority believe; it is the name given by the powerful to the doctrines of the weak.
I hope there is another life, for I would like to see how things come out in this world when I am dead.
Our hope of immortality does not come from any religions, but nearly all religions come from that hope.
The man who does not do his own thinking is a slave, and is a traitor to himself and to his fellow-men.
The greatest superstition now entertained by public men is that hypocrisy is the royal road to success.
The truth is that all great men have had great mothers. Great women have had, as a rule, great fathers.
A great man is a torch in the darkness, a beacon in superstition's night, an inspiration and a prophecy.
I would rather be a beggar and spend my money like a king, than be a king and spend money like a beggar.
There is the same difference between talent and genius that there is between a stone mason and a sculptor
If there be an infinite Being, he does not need our help - we need not waste our energies in his defense.
When a fact can be demonstrated, force is unnecessary; when it cannot be demonstrated, force is infamous.
If the world ever advances beyond what it is today, it must be led by men who express their real opinions.
The man who accepts opinions because they have been entertained by distinguished people, is a mental snob.
An infinite God ought to be able to protect Himself, without going in partnership with State Legislatures.
I admit that books were voted in and out, and that the Bible was finally formed in accordance with a vote.
Every pulpit is a pillory, in which stands a hired culprit, defending the justice of his own imprisonment.
Nothing could be more dangerous to the existence of this Republic than to introduce religion into politics
The object of all education should be to increase the usefulness of man - usefulness to himself and others.
Many Americans do not understand that the officers of the government are simply the servants of the people.
Wait until the world is free before you write a creed. In this creed there will be but one word -- Liberty.
I do not believe anything comes by chance. I regard the present as the necessary child of a necessary past.
The American people do not like neutrality. They would rather a man were on the wrong side than on neither.
It seems to me that if there is some infinite being who wants us to think alike he would have made us alike.
The good part of Christmas is not always Christian -- it is generally Pagan; that is to say, human, natural.
The intellectual advancement of man depends on how often he can exchange an old superstition for a new truth.
The man who invented the telescope found out more about heaven than the closed eyes of prayer ever discovered.
I have always noticed that the people who have the smallest souls make the most fuss about getting them saved.
Most people are Democrats because they hate something; most people are Republicans because they love something.
There may be another life, and if there is, the best way to prepare for it is by making somebody happy in this.
If all the historic books of the Bible were blotted from the memory of mankind, nothing of value would be lost.
There will never be a generation of great men until there has been a generation of free women - of free mothers.
What light is to the eyes - what air is to the lungs - what love is to the heart, liberty is to the soul of man.
Whoever increases the sum of human joy, is a worshiper. He who adds to the sum of human misery, is a blasphemer.
Freedom has invented every useful machine, from the lowest to the highest, from the simplest to the most complex.
All the professors in all the religious colleges in this country rolled into one, would not equal Charles Darwin.
Religion is not theory - it is life. It is not intellectual conviction - it is divine humanity, and nothing else.
I would rather live with the woman I love in a world full of trouble, than to live in heaven with nobody but men.
It is a thousand times better to have common sense without education than to have education without common sense.
The combined wisdom and genius of all mankind cannot possibly conceive of an argument against liberty of thought.
There is no common sense in going to the field to fight and leaving a man at home to undo all that you accomplish.
Every child should be taught that useful work is worship and that intelligent labor is the highest form of prayer.
The history of the world shows that when a mean thing was done, man did it; when a good thing was done, man did it.
Justice should remove the bandage from her eyes long enough to distinguish between the vicious and the unfortunate.
If we are immortal, it is a fact of nature, and that fact does not depend on bibles, on Christs, priest, or creeds.
They knew no better, but I do not propose to follow the example of a barbarian because he was honestly a barbarian.
The emblem of equal rights. It means free hands, free lips, self- government, and the sovereignty of the individual.
Our fathers worshiped the golden calf. The worst you can say of an American now is, he worships the gold of the calf.
Labor is the only prayer that Nature answers: It is the only prayer that deserves an answer—good, honest, noble work.