The good part of Christmas is not always Christian -- it is generally Pagan; that is to say, human, natural. Robert Green Ingersoll More Quotes by Robert Green Ingersoll More Quotes From Robert Green Ingersoll I have no confidence in any religion that can be demonstrated only to children. Robert Green Ingersoll no-confidence children Liberty is the breath of progress. Robert Green Ingersoll progress liberty politics Fear is religion, courage is science. Robert Green Ingersoll Do not trust those in whom the compulsion to punish is strong. Robert Green Ingersoll compulsion strong The ministers, who preached at these revivals, were in earnest. They were zealous and sincere. They were not philosophers. To them science was the name of a vague dread - a dangerous enemy. They did not know much, but they believed a great deal. Robert Green Ingersoll atheism names enemy I have no reverence for any book that teaches a doctrine contrary to my reason; no reverence for any book that teaches a doctrine contrary to my heart; and, no matter how old it is, no matter how many have believed it, no matter how many have died on account of it, no matter how many live for it, I have no reverence for that book, and I am glad of it. Robert Green Ingersoll doctrine heart book It is hard for many people to give up the religion in which they were born; to admit that their fathers were utterly mistaken, and that the sacred records of their country are but collections of myths and fables. Robert Green Ingersoll giving-up country father 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. Robert Green Ingersoll punishment religious thinking Burns had his faults, his frailties. He was intensely human. Still, I would rather appear at the "Judgment Seat" drunk, and be able to say that I was the author of "A man's a man for 'a that," than to be perfectly sober and admit that I had lived and died a Scotch Presbyterian. Robert Green Ingersoll drunk scotch men It is incredible that only idiots are absolutely sure of salvation. It is incredible that the more brain you have the less your chance is. There can be no danger in honest thought, and if the world ever advances beyond what it is to-day, it must be led by men who express their real opinions. Robert Green Ingersoll honesty real men If this religion is true, then there is only one Savior, only one narrow path to life. Christianity cannot live in peace with any other religion. Robert Green Ingersoll christian-life christianity path Nothing could be more dangerous to the existence of this Republic than to introduce religion into politics Robert Green Ingersoll introducing republic existence When a man really believes that it is necessary to do a certain thing to be happy forever, or that a certain belief is necessary to ensure eternal joy, there is in that man no spirit of concession. He divides the whole world into saints and sinners, into believers and unbelievers, into God's sheep and Devil's goats, into people who will be glorified and people who are damned. Robert Green Ingersoll sheep men believe Millions of men give all their energies, as well as their very souls, for the acquisition of gold. And this will continue as long as society is ignorant enough and hypocritical enough to hold in high esteem the man of wealth without the slightest regard to the character of the man. Robert Green Ingersoll money character men I am the inferior of any man whose rights I trample under foot. Men are not superior by reason of accidents of race or color. They are superior who have the best heart-the best brain. Robert Green Ingersoll heart motivational inspirational It is an old habit with theologians to beat the living with the bones of the dead. Robert Green Ingersoll old-habits bones beats For myself, I have but little confidence in any business, or enterprise, or investment, that promises dividends only after the death of the stockholders. Robert Green Ingersoll atheist littles promise Ignorance worships mystery; reason explains it; the one grovels, the other soars. Robert Green Ingersoll atheism ignorance religion All prayers die in the air which they uselessly agitate. Robert Green Ingersoll prayer air religion There are some truths, however, that we should never forget: Superstition has always been the relentless enemy of science; faith has been a hater of demonstration; hypocrisy has been sincere only in its dread of truth, and all religions are inconsistent with mental freedom. Robert Green Ingersoll superstitions hypocrisy enemy
