Authors:

Robert Green Ingersoll Quotes - Page 12

All Quotes Abuse Acceptance Affection Ambition Arrogance Art Atheism Atheist Belief Bible Character Children Christ Christianity Church Civility College Common Sense Country Courage Crime Death Destiny Devil Dogma Doubt Earth Education Effort Energy Eternity Evil Faith Fate Fear Feelings Genius Giving Giving Up God Grief Growth Happiness Hate Heart Heaven Hell Home Honesty Honor House Humanity Hypocrisy Ignorance Independence Individuality Insanity Inspiration Inspirational Integrity Jesus Joy Judging Justice Kindness Language Liars Liberty Life Logic Love Lying Mask Memories Money Morality Motivational Nature Pain Passion Past Philosophy Politics Prayer Prejudice Pride Progress Reading Religion Revenge Running School Science Slavery Sleep Son Soul Spirituality Spring Suffering Sunshine Teaching Theology Truth Virtue War Winter Wisdom Work Worship Writing
The Old Testament filled this world with tyranny and injustice, and the New gives us a future filled with pain for nearly all of the sons of men. The Old Testament describes the hell of the past, and the New the hell of

The Old Testament filled this world with tyranny and injustice, and the New gives us a future filled with pain for nearly all of the sons of men. The Old Testament describes the hell of the past, and the New the hell of the future.

Robert Green Ingersoll
Pain, Son, Past
Robert Green Ingersoll (1907). “The works of Robert G. Ingersoll”, p.474, Library of Alexandria

I believe that labor is a blessing. It never was and never will be a curse. It is a blessed thing to labor for . . . the ones you love. It is a blessed thing to have an object in life - something to do - something to call into play your best thoughts, to develop your faculties and to make you a man.

Robert Green Ingersoll
Work, Believe, Blessed
Robert Green Ingersoll (1907). “The works of Robert G. Ingersoll”, p.2712, Library of Alexandria

An infinite personality is an infinite impossibility.

Robert Green Ingersoll
Personality, Infinite, Impossibility
Robert Green Ingersoll (1907). “The works of Robert G. Ingersoll”, p.445, Library of Alexandria

A man is not moral because he is obedient through fear or ignorance. Morality lives in the realm of perceived obligation.

Robert Green Ingersoll
Ignorance, Men, Morality
Robert Green Ingersoll (1907). “The works of Robert G. Ingersoll”, p.1987, Library of Alexandria

Either god should have written a book to fit my brain, or he should have made my brain to fit his book.

Robert Green Ingersoll
Bible, Religious, Fear
Robert Green Ingersoll (1907). “The works of Robert G. Ingersoll”, p.449, Library of Alexandria

Hope is the only universal liar who never loses his reputation for veracity.

Robert Green Ingersoll
Hope, Liars, Lying
Speech, 1892.

All religious systems enslave the mind. Certain things are demanded-certain things must be believed-certain things must be done-and the man who becomes the subject or servant of this superstition must give up all idea of indivuality or hope of intellectual growth or progress.

Robert Green Ingersoll
Religious, Giving Up, Men
Robert Green Ingersoll (1907). “The works of Robert G. Ingersoll”, p.4281, Library of Alexandria

The rights of men and women should be equal and sacred-marriage should be a perfect partnership.

Robert Green Ingersoll
Men, Rights, Perfect
Robert Green Ingersoll (1907). “The works of Robert G. Ingersoll”, p.145, Library of Alexandria

In the presence of eternity, the mountains are as transient as the clouds.

Robert Green Ingersoll
Death, Acceptance, Clouds
Robert Green Ingersoll (1907). “The works of Robert G. Ingersoll”, p.1594, Library of Alexandria

If there is one subject in this world worthy of being discussed, worthy of being understood, it is the question of intellectual liberty. Without that, we are simply painted clay.

Robert Green Ingersoll
Intellectual, Liberty, Clay
Robert Green Ingersoll (1929). “The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll...”

The churches have no confidence in each other. Why? Because they are acquainted with each other.

Robert Green Ingersoll
Atheism, Church, Positive Atheism
Robert Green Ingersoll (1907). “The works of Robert G. Ingersoll”, p.1410, Library of Alexandria

The only reason why we wish to exchange thoughts is that we are different. If we were all the same, we would die dumb. No thought would be expressed after we found that our thoughts were precisely alike. We differ-our thoughts are different. Therefore the commerse that we call conversation.

Robert Green Ingersoll
Dumb, Wish, Different
Robert Green Ingersoll (1907). “The works of Robert G. Ingersoll”, p.2190, Library of Alexandria

Darwin has done more to change human thought than all the priests who have existed.

Robert Green Ingersoll
Done, Priests, Humans
Robert Green Ingersoll (1907). “The works of Robert G. Ingersoll”, p.2161, Library of Alexandria

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.

Robert Green Ingersoll
Mean, Men, Done
Robert Green Ingersoll (1898). “Lectures of Col. R.G. Ingersoll: Including His Letters on the Chinese God--Is Suicide a Sin?--The Right to One's Life--etc. Etc. Etc”

Every cradle asks us, Whence? and every coffin, Whither? The poor barbarian, weeping above his dead, can answer these questions as intelligently as the robed priest of the most authentic creed.

Robert Green Ingersoll
Coffins, Answers, Barbarians
Robert Green Ingersoll (1883). “Popular edition of col. Ingersoll's lectures. (Freethought publ. co.'s ed.).”

He was a worshiper of liberty, a friend of the oppressed. A thousand times I have heard him quote these words: 'For Justice all place a temple, and all season, summer.' He believed that happiness is the only good, reason the only torch, justice the only worship, humanity the only religion, and love the only priest. He added to the sum of human joy; and were every one to whom he did some loving service to bring a blossom to his grave, he would sleep tonight beneath a wilderness of flowers. . . .

Robert Green Ingersoll
Love, Summer, Flower
Cameron Rogers, Robert Green Ingersoll (1927). “Colonel Bob Ingersoll: a biographical narrative of the great American orator and agnostic”

I want it so that every minister will be not a parrot, not an owl sitting upon a dead limb of the tree of knowledge and hooting the hoots that have been hooted for eighteen hundred years. But I want it so that each one can be an investigator, a thinker; and I want to make his congregation grand enough so that they will not only allow him to think, but will demand that he shall think, and give to them the honest truth of his thought.

Robert Green Ingersoll
Thinking, Years, Giving

In all ages the people have honored those who dishonored them. They have worshiped their destroyers; they have canonized the most gigantic liars, and buried the great thieves in marble and gold. Under the loftiest monuments sleeps the dust of murder.

Robert Green Ingersoll
Liars, Sleep, Dust
Robert Green Ingersoll (1907). “The works of Robert G. Ingersoll”, p.68, Library of Alexandria

God cannot send to eternal pain a man who has done something toward improving the condition of his fellow-man. If he can, I had rather go to hell than to heaven and keep company with such a god.

Robert Green Ingersoll
Pain, Men, Heaven
Robert Green Ingersoll (1907). “Lectures: Including His Letters on The Chinese God. Is Suicide a Sin? The Right to One's Life. Etc., Etc., Etc”

Like an armed warrior, like a plumed knight, James G. Blaine marched down the halls of the American Congress and threw his shining lance full and fair against the brazen foreheads of the defamers of his country, and the maligners of his honor.

Robert Green Ingersoll
Country, Warrior, Knights
Speech nominating James G. Blaine for president, Republican National Convention, Cincinnati, Ohio, 15 June 1876

Memory is the miser of the mind; forgetfulness the spendthrift.

Robert Green Ingersoll
Life, Memories, Mind
Robert Green Ingersoll (1907). “The works of Robert G. Ingersoll”, p.4655, Library of Alexandria

If I had my way I'd make health catching instead of disease.

Robert Green Ingersoll
Get Well Soon, Health, Disease

Do not tell me that you have got to be rich! We have a false standard of greatness in the United States. We think here that a man must be great, that he must be notorious; that he must be extremely wealthy, or that his name must be upon the putrid lips of rumor. It is all a mistake. It is not necessary to be rich or to be great, or to be powerful, to be happy. The happy man is the successful man. Happiness is the legal tender of the soul.Joy is wealth.

Robert Green Ingersoll
Powerful, Mistake, Successful
Robert Green Ingersoll (1907). “The works of Robert G. Ingersoll”, p.207, Library of Alexandria

Every child should be taught that useful work is worship and that intelligent labor is the highest form of prayer.

Robert Green Ingersoll
Prayer, Children, Intelligent
Robert Green Ingersoll (1907). “The works of Robert G. Ingersoll”, p.976, Library of Alexandria

And what is the great thing that the stage does? It cultivates the imagination. And . . . the imagination constitutes the great difference between human beings. . . . The imagination is the mother of pity, the mother of generosity, the mother of every possible virtue. It is by the imagination that you are enabled to put yourself in the place of another.

Robert Green Ingersoll
Life, Mother, Differences
Robert Green Ingersoll (1907). “The works of Robert G. Ingersoll”, p.4535, Library of Alexandria

You May Also Like: