Atheism Quotes - Page 41

Opinion in good men is but knowledge in the making.

I esteem it above all things necessary to distinguish exactly the business of civil government from that of religion and to settle the just bounds that lie between the one and the other.

Religion was nearly dead because there was no longer real belief in future life; but something was struggling to take its place - service - social service - the ants creed, the bees creed.

In fact, words are well adapted for description and the arousing of emotion, but for many kinds of precise thought other symbols are much better.

People who commit crimes should be responsible for those crimes. It doesn't matter whether they're priests or ministers or atheists.

In theology we must consider the predominance of authority; in philosophy the predominance of reason.

The spirit of dogmatic theology poisons anything it touches.

If it were true that Christianity and science were incompatible, there would be no Christians who were respected scientists. If fact, about forty percent of professional natural scientists are practicing Christians, and many others are theists of other kinds. Fewer than thirty percent are atheists.

What makes our opponents useful is that they allow us to believe that without them we would be able to realize our goals.

There is joy in the search for knowledge about the universe in all its manifestations.

A zeal for different opinions concerning religion...[has] divided mankind into parties, inflamed them with mutual animosity, and rendered them much more disposed to vex and oppress each other than to co-operate for their common good.

He comes into the world God knows how, walks on the water, gets out of his grave and goes up off the Hill of Howth. What drivel is this?

The biggest advantage to believing in God is you don't have to understand anything, no physics, no biology. I wanted to understand.

One of the greatest gifts science has brought to the world is continuing elimination of the supernatural.

The separation of Church and State in everything relating to taxation should be absolute.

Selfishness is the only real atheism; aspiration, unselfishness, the only real religion.

Selfishness is the only real atheism.

If the ancient churches, in debating and deciding the greatest mysteries of religion, knew nothing of these two texts, I understand not why we should be so fond of them now the debate is over.

Naturally, since [the Sumerians] didn't know what caused the flood anymore than we do, they blamed the gods. (That's the advantage of religion. You're never short an explanation for anything.)

When he said we were trying to make a fool of him, I could only murmur that the Creator had beat us to it.

A society of atheists would immediately invent a religion.

The more specific idea of Evolution now reached is - a change from an indefinite, incoherent homogeneity to a definite, coherent heterogeneity, accompanying the dissipation of motion and integration of matter.

Of all escape mechanisms, death is the most efficient.

I did not know that we had ever quarreled.

Wherever a man goes, men will pursue him and paw him with their dirty institutions, and, if they can, constrain him to belong to their desperate odd-fellow society.