There is in all artists a little of the vagabond. Robert Green Ingersoll More Quotes by Robert Green Ingersoll More Quotes From Robert Green Ingersoll If a man wishes to have God recognized in the constitution of our country, let him read the history of the Inquisition, and let him remember that hundreds of millions of men, women, and children have been sacrificed to placate the wrath, or win the approbation of this god. Robert Green Ingersoll religious country children It has always seemed absurd to suppose that a god would choose for his companions, during all eternity, the dear souls whose highest and only ambition is to obey. Robert Green Ingersoll eternity ambition soul There is no harmony between religion and science. When science was a child, religion sought to strangle it in the cradle. Now that science has attained its youth, and superstition is in its dotage, the trembling, palsied wreck says to the athlete: "Let us be friends." Robert Green Ingersoll wrecks athlete children The intelligent and good man holds in his affections the good and true of every land -- the boundaries of countries are not the limitations of his sympathies. Caring nothing for race, or color, he loves those who speak other languages and worship other gods. Between him and those who suffer, there is no impassable gulf. He salutes the world, and extends the hand of friendship to the human race. He does not bow before a provincial and patriotic god -- one who protects his tribe or nation, and abhors the rest of mankind. Robert Green Ingersoll patriotic love country Life is a narrow vale between the cold and barren peaks of two eternities. We strive in vain to look beyond the heights. We cry aloud Robert Green Ingersoll life two looks If cathedrals had been universities If dungeons of the Inquisition had been laboratories If Christians had believed in character instead of creed If they had taken from the bible only that which is GOOD and thrown away the wicked and absurd If temple domes had been observatories If priests had been philosophers If missionaries had taught useful arts instead of bible lore If astrology had been astronomy If the black arts had been chemistry If superstition had been science If religion had been humanity The world then would be a heaven filled with love, and liberty and joy Robert Green Ingersoll taken christian art Theology is not what we know about God, but what we do not know about Nature. Robert Green Ingersoll theology knows Infidels in all ages have battled for the rights of man, and have at all times been the fearless advocates of liberty and justice. Robert Green Ingersoll rights justice men An infinite God ought to be able to protect Himself, without going in partnership with State Legislatures. Robert Green Ingersoll infinite able religion Good nature is the cheapest commodity in the world, and love is the only thing that will pay ten percent to both borrower and lender. Robert Green Ingersoll pay love world Truth is the mother of joy. Truth civilizes, ennobles and purifies. The grandest ambition that can enter the soul is to know the truth. Robert Green Ingersoll ambition truth mother To be like other people is to be unlike ourselves. Robert Green Ingersoll people Only those who live on the labor of the ignorant are the enemies of science. Real love and real religion are in no danger from science. The more we know the safer all good things are. Robert Green Ingersoll ignorant real enemy If a man really believes that God once upheld slavery; that he commanded soldiers to kill women and babes; that he believed in polygamy; that he persecuted for opinion's sake; that he will punish forever, and that he hates an unbeliever, the effect in my judgment will be bad. It always has been bad. This belief built the dungeons of the Inquisition. This belief made the Puritan murder the Quaker. Robert Green Ingersoll hate men believe Prayer is of no avail. The lightning falls on the just and the unjust in accordance with natural laws. Robert Green Ingersoll prayer law fall I do not see how it is possible for an intelligent human being to conclude that the Song of Solomon is the work of God, and that the tragedy of Lear was the work of an uninspired man. Robert Green Ingersoll intelligent song men I do not believe in loving enemies; I have pretty hard work to love my friends. Robert Green Ingersoll hard-work believe enemy A crime against god is a demonstrated impossibility. Robert Green Ingersoll impossibility crime prison It seems to me impossible for a civilized man to love or worship, or respect the God of the Old Testament. A really civilized man, a really civilized woman, must hold such a God in abhorrence and contempt. Robert Green Ingersoll religious god men The careful reader of the New Testament will find three Christs described: - One who wished to preserve Judaism - one who wished to reform it, and one who built a system of his own Robert Green Ingersoll reform three reading
