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Robert Green Ingersoll Quotes - Page 13

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Insolence is not logic; epithets are the arguments of malice.

Insolence is not logic; epithets are the arguments of malice.

Robert Green Ingersoll
Logic, Argument, Epithet
Robert Green Ingersoll (1907). “The works of Robert G. Ingersoll”, p.1647, Library of Alexandria

Small people delight in what they call consistency-that is, it gives them immense pleasure to say that they believe now exactly as they did ten years ago. This simply amounts to a certificate that they have not grown-that they have not developed-and that they know just as little now as they ever did. The highest possible conception of consistency is to be true to the knowledge of today, without the slightest reference to what your opinion was years ago.

Robert Green Ingersoll
Integrity, Believe, Years
Robert Green Ingersoll (1900). “Tributes and miscellany”

By nature all people are alike, but by education become different

Robert Green Ingersoll
School, People, Different

Kindness is the sunshine in which virtue grows.

Robert Green Ingersoll
Kindness, Sunshine, Virtue
Robert Green Ingersoll (1907). “The works of Robert G. Ingersoll”, p.1026, Library of Alexandria

Nothing could add to the horror of hell, except the presence of its creator, God.

Robert Green Ingersoll
Creator God, Atheism, Add
Robert Green Ingersoll (1907). “The works of Robert G. Ingersoll”, p.903, Library of Alexandria

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
Real, Enemy, Ignorant
Robert Green Ingersoll (1907). “The works of Robert G. Ingersoll”, p.4337, Library of Alexandria

Nothing discloses real character like the use of power. It is easy for the weak to be gentle. Most people can bear adversity. But if you wish to know what a man really is, give him power. This is the supreme test. It is the glory of Lincoln that, having almost absolute power, he never abused it, except upon the side of mercy.

Robert Green Ingersoll
Real, Character, Adversity
Robert Green Ingersoll (1907). “The works of Robert G. Ingersoll”, p.680, Library of Alexandria

I know of no crime that has not been defended by the church, in one form or other. The church is not a pioneer; it accepts a new truth, last of all, and only when denial has become useless.

Robert Green Ingersoll
Religion, Church, Pioneers
Robert Green Ingersoll (1907). “The works of Robert G. Ingersoll”, p.2699, Library of Alexandria

The triumph of justice is the only peace.

Robert Green Ingersoll
Justice, Triumph
Robert Green Ingersoll (1907). “The works of Robert G. Ingersoll”, p.3247, Library of Alexandria

No man of sense in the whole world believes in devils any more than he does in mermaids, vampires, gorgons, hydras, naiads, dryads, nymphs, fairies, the Fountain of Youth, [or] the Philosopher's Stone. . . .

Robert Green Ingersoll
Believe, Men, Nymphs
Robert Green Ingersoll (1907). “The works of Robert G. Ingersoll”, p.1125, Library of Alexandria

A crime against god is a demonstrated impossibility.

Robert Green Ingersoll
Prison, Crime, Impossibility
Robert Green Ingersoll (1907). “The works of Robert G. Ingersoll”, p.1218, Library of Alexandria

There is the same difference between talent and genius that there is between a stone mason and a sculptor

Robert Green Ingersoll
Differences, Genius, Stones
Robert Green Ingersoll (2013). “Shakespeare: A Lecture”, p.31, Library of Alexandria

We need men with moral courage to speak and write their real thoughts, and to stand by their convictions, even to the very death.

Robert Green Ingersoll
Courage, Real, Writing
Robert Green Ingersoll (1907). “The works of Robert G. Ingersoll”, p.95, Library of Alexandria

Liberty is the breath of progress.

Robert Green Ingersoll
Progress, Liberty, Politics
Robert Green Ingersoll (1907). “The works of Robert G. Ingersoll”, p.978, Library of Alexandria

Injustice upon earth renders the justice of of heaven impossible.

Robert Green Ingersoll
Justice, Heaven, Earth
Robert Green Ingersoll (1907). “The works of Robert G. Ingersoll”, p.2154, Library of Alexandria

Nothing discloses real character like the use of power.

Robert Green Ingersoll
Character, Use Of Power, Use
"Great Speeches of Col. R.G. Ingersoll: Complete".

Shakespeare has done far more for the world than the Bible.

Robert Green Ingersoll
Done, World
Robert Green Ingersoll (1907). “The works of Robert G. Ingersoll”, p.2165, Library of Alexandria

Logic is not satisfied with assertion. It cares nothing for the opinions of the great; nothing for the prejudices of the many, and least of all for the superstitions of the dead.

Robert Green Ingersoll
Prejudice, Care, Superstitions
Robert Green Ingersoll (1907). “The works of Robert G. Ingersoll”, p.1649, Library of Alexandria

All laws for the purpose of making man worship God, are born of the same spirit that kindled the fires of the auto da fe, and lovingly built the dungeons of the Inquisition. All laws defining and punishing blasphemy - making it a crime to give your honest ideas about the Bible, or to laugh at the ignorance of the ancient Jews, or to enjoy yourself on the Sabbath, or to give your opinion of Jehovah, were passed by impudent bigots, and should be at once repealed by honest men. An infinite God ought to be able to protect himself, without going in partnership with State Legislatures.

Robert Green Ingersoll
Ignorance, Men, Law
Robert Green Ingersoll (1907). “The works of Robert G. Ingersoll”, p.312, Library of Alexandria

If there be gods we cannot help them, but we can assist our fellow men. We cannot love the inconceivable, but we can love wife and child and friend.

Robert Green Ingersoll
Children, Men, If There Is A God
Robert Green Ingersoll (2004). “Superstition and Other Essays”

It is impossible for me to conceive of a character more utterly detestable than that of the Hebrew god.

Robert Green Ingersoll
Character, Impossible, Hebrew
Robert Green Ingersoll (1907). “The works of Robert G. Ingersoll”, p.427, Library of Alexandria

The Catholic Church is a thousand times better than your Protestant Church upon that question [of damnation]. The Catholic Church believes in purgatory - that is, a place where a fellow can get a chance to make a motion for a new trial.

Robert Green Ingersoll
Believe, Catholic, Religion

For thousands of years people have been trying to force other people to think their way. Did they succeed? No. Will they succeed? No. Why? Because brute force is not an argument.

Robert Green Ingersoll
Thinking, Years, People
Robert Green Ingersoll (1907). “The works of Robert G. Ingersoll”, p.3988, Library of Alexandria

For the most part we inherit our opinions. We are the heirs of habits and mental customs. Our beliefs, like the fashion of our garments, depend on where we were born. We are molded and fashioned by our surroundings.

Robert Green Ingersoll
Fashion, Heirs, Belief
Robert Green Ingersoll (2004). “Superstition and Other Essays”

Liberty is the condition of progress. Without Liberty, there remains only barbarism. Without Liberty, there can be no civilization.

Robert Green Ingersoll
Civilization, Progress, Liberty
Robert Green Ingersoll, Isaac Newton Baker (1899). “Trial of C.B. Reynolds for Blasphemy, at Morristown, N.J., May 19th and 20th, 1887”

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