RELIGION QUOTES II
quotations about religion
A man that turns to God in his old age is like a child that eats a peach and generously offers its mother the stone.
AUSTIN O'MALLEY
Keystones of Thought
Religion, n. A daughter of Hope and Fear, explaining to Ignorance the nature of the Unknowable.
AMBROSE BIERCE
The Devil's Dictionary
All religions, with their gods, their demi-gods, and their prophets, their messiahs and their saints, were created by the prejudiced fancy of men who had not attained the full development and full possession of their faculties.
MIKHAIL BAKUNIN
God and the State
Religion ought not to be a speculative, metaphysical system of belief; but a compendium of moral and practical duties, embracing every function of man, supporting the right use of these functions, and prohibiting the abuse of them as the will of the Deity.
JAMES PLATT
Platt's Essays
A little philosophy inclineth man's mind to atheism, but depth in philosophy bringeth men's minds about to religion.
FRANCIS BACON
Essays
What a man wants with religion in these breadless times, surpasses my comprehension.
MARK TWAIN
letter to Orion Clemens, March 1860
I count religion but a childish toy,
And hold there is no sin but ignorance.
CHRISTOPHER MARLOWE
The Jew of Malta
A man's ethical behavior should be based effectually on sympathy, education, and social ties and needs; no religious basis is necessary. Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after death.
ALBERT EINSTEIN
New York Times Magazine, November 9, 1930
It is possible that mankind is on the threshold of a golden age; but, if so, it will be necessary first to slay the dragon that guards the door, and this dragon is religion.
BERTRAND RUSSELL
"The Idea of Righteousness", Has Religion Made Useful Contributions to Civilization?
I say people who feel they must have a faith or religion in order to face life are showing a kind of cowardice, which in any other sphere would be considered contemptible. But when it is in the religious sphere it is thought admirable, and I cannot admire cowardice whatever sphere it is in.
BERTRAND RUSSELL
Bertrand Russell Speaks His Mind
Everyone who is seriously involved in the pursuit of science becomes convinced that some spirit is manifest in the laws of the universe, one that is vastly superior to that of man. In this way the pursuit of science leads to a religious feeling of a special sort, which is surely quite different from the religiosity of someone more naive.
ALBERT EINSTEIN
letter to Phyllis (a child), January 24, 1936
That's me in the spot light, losing my religion.
R.E.M.
"Losing My Religion"
Don't try to tear down other people's religion about their ears. Build up your own perfect structure of truth, and invite your listeners to enter in and enjoy it's glories.
BRIGHAM YOUNG
attributed, The Life Story of Brigham Young
If the truth of religious doctrines is dependent on an inner experience that bears witness to the truth, what is one to make of the many people who do not have that experience?
SIGMUND FREUD
The Future of an Illusion
Religious beliefs prepare a kind of landscape of images, an illusory milieu favorable to every hallucination and every delirium.
MICHEL FOUCAULT
Madness & Civilization
There are a whole lot of religious people in America, including the majority of Democrats. When we abandon the field of religious discourse--when we ignore the debate about what it means to be a good Christian or Muslim or Jew; when we discuss religion only in the negative sense of where or how it should not be practiced, rather than in the positive sense of what it tells us about our obligations toward one another; when we shy away from religious venues and religious broadcasts because we assume that we will be unwelcome--others will fill the vacuum. And those who do are likely to be those with the most insular views of faith, or who cynically use religion to justify partisan ends.
BARACK OBAMA
Audacity of Hope
For to laugh is as religious as to weep; and smiles may bring us into the companionship of the Father no less than tears.
LYMAN ABBOTT
Seeking After God
Religious ideas have the fate of melodies, which, once set afloat in the world, are taken up by all sorts of instruments, some of them woefully coarse, feeble, or out of tune, until people are in danger of crying out that the melody itself is detestable.
GEORGE ELIOT
Janet's Repentance
This dull river has a deep religion of its own; so, let us trust, has the dullest human soul, though, perhaps, unconsciously.
NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE
American Note-Books, August 7, 1842
The primary aim of all religions and philosophical systems is to furnish an antidote to the certainty of death.
GEORGE BERKELEY
A Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge