32 quotes
The unity of God is a doctrine on which the greatest stress is laid in the whole system of revelation.
An History of the Corruptions of Christianity (1782)
The History of Electricity is a field full of pleasing objects, according to all the genuine and universal principles of taste, deduced from a knowledge of human nature.
The History and Present State of Electricity (1767)
As the greatest things often take their rise from the smallest beginnings, so the worst things sometimes proceed from good intentions.
An History of the Corruptions of Christianity (1782)
The mind of man will never be able to contemplate the being, perfections, and providence of God without meeting with inexplicable difficulties.
Institutes of Natural and Revealed Religion (1772)
Governors will never be awed by the voice of the people, so long as it is a mere voice, without overt-acts.
Essay on the First Principles of Government, 2nd Edition (1771)
Most of the early Christian writers thought the text "I and my Father are one," was to be understood of an unity or harmony of disposition only.
An History of the Corruptions of Christianity (1782)
Great as Bacon was, he was far from being free from the mistakes and prejudices of those who went before him.
The History and Present State of Discoveries Relating to Vision, Light, and Colours (1772)
When we say there is a GOD, we mean that there is an intelligent designing cause of what we see in the world around us, and a being who was himself uncaused.
Institutes of Natural and Revealed Religion (1772)
The mind of man can never be wholly barren. Through our whole lives we are subject to successive impressions; for, either new ideas are continually flowing in, or traces of the old ones are marked deeper.
Institutes of Natural and Revealed Religion (1772)
We, who only learn from history that crucifixion was a kind of death to which slaves and the vilest of malefactors were exposed, can but very imperfectly enter into their prejudices, so as to feel what they must have done with respect to it.
An History of the Corruptions of Christianity (1782)
It may, perhaps, be true, though we cannot distinctly see it to be so, that as all finite things require a cause, infinites admit of none.
Institutes of Natural and Revealed Religion (1772)
Could that great man revisit the earth, and view the experiments of the present race of electricians, he would be no less amazed than Roger Bacon, or Sir Francis, would have been at his.
The History and Present State of Electricity (1767)
Respect a parliamentary king, and chearfully pay all parliamentary taxes; but have nothing to do with a parliamentary religion, or a parliamentary God.
Religious rights, and religious liberty, are things of inestimable value.
Institutes of Natural and Revealed Religion (1772)
We more easily give our assent to any proposition when the person who contends for it appears, by his manner of delivering himself, to have a perfect knowledge of the subject of it.
A Course of Lectures on Oratory and Criticism (1777)
In this case, an intimate knowledge of what has been done before us cannot but greatly facilitate our future progress, if it be not absolutely necessary to it.
The History and Present State of Electricity (1767)
It will be seen that my apparatus for experiments on air is in fact nothing more than that of Dr. Hales, Dr. Brownrigg, and Mr. Cavendish, diversified and made a little more simple.
Experiments and Observations on Different Kinds of Air Vol. 1 (1790)
Too many christians have been chargeable with... confounding the Logos of Plato with that of John, and making of it a second person in the trinity, than which no two things can be more different.
An History of the Corruptions of Christianity (1782)
The Jews were taught by their prophets to expect a Messiah…a person in whom themselves and all the nations of the earth should be blessed…
As all finite things require a cause, infinites admit of none … we are constrained, in pursuing the train of causes and effects, to stop at last at something uncaused.
From the fame opinion of a soul distinct from the body came the practice of praying, first for the dead, and then to them with a long train of other absurd opinions, and superstitious practices.
An History of the Corruptions of Christianity (1782)