43 quotes
Above all things, one should maintain his self-respect, and there is but one way to do that, and that is to live in accordance with your highest ideal.
The trial of Charles B. Reynolds for blasphemy (1887)
The defendant in this case has attacked certain beliefs, thought by the Christian world to be sacred. Yet, after all, nothing is sacred but the truth, and by truth I mean what a man sincerely and honestly believes.
The trial of Charles B. Reynolds for blasphemy (1887)
We have now a science called astronomy. That science has done more to enlarge the horizon of human thought than all things else.
The trial of Charles B. Reynolds for blasphemy (1887)
Every one is liable to be mistaken. The horizon of each individual is very narrow, and in his poor sky the stars are few and very small.
The trial of Charles B. Reynolds for blasphemy (1887)
I would defend the freedom of speech. And why? Because no attack can be answered by force, no argument can be refuted by a blow, or by imprisonment, or by fine. You may imprison the man, but the argument is free; you may fell the man to the earth, but the statement stands.
The trial of Charles B. Reynolds for blasphemy (1887)
No orthodox church ever had power that it did not endeavor to make people think its way by force and flame.
The trial of Charles B. Reynolds for blasphemy (1887)
What is blasphemy in one country would be a religious exhortation in another. It is owing to where you are and who is in authority.
The trial of Charles B. Reynolds for blasphemy (1887)
Every man who has thought, knows not only how little he knows, but how little every other human being knows, and how ignorant, after all, the world must be.
The trial of Charles B. Reynolds for blasphemy (1887)
Who is a worshiper? What is prayer? What is real religion? Let me answer these questions.
Good, honest, faithful work, is worship.
The trial of Charles B. Reynolds for blasphemy (1887)
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; without that, we are poor, miserable serfs and slaves.
The trial of Charles B. Reynolds for blasphemy (1887)
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.
The trial of Charles B. Reynolds for blasphemy (1887)
If we wish to be true to ourselves, — if we wish to benefit our fellow-men — if we wish to live honorable lives — we will give to every other human being every right that we claim for ourselves.
The trial of Charles B. Reynolds for blasphemy (1887)
If you send men to the penitentiary for speaking their thoughts, for endeavoring to enlighten their fellows, then the penitentiary will become a place of honor, and the victim will step from it — not stained, not disgraced, but clad in robes of glory.
The trial of Charles B. Reynolds for blasphemy (1887)
Why, gentlemen, humor is one of the most valuable things in the human brain. It is the torch of the mind -- it sheds light. Humor is the readiest test of truth -- of the natural, of the sensible -- and when you take from a man all sense of humor, there will only be enough left to make a bigot.
The trial of Charles B. Reynolds for blasphemy (1887)
And the brain thinks in spite of you. Should you express that thought? Certainly you should, if others express theirs. You have exactly the same right. He who takes it from you is a robber.
The trial of Charles B. Reynolds for blasphemy (1887)
A man has a right to work with his hands, to plow the earth, to sow the seed, and that man has a right to reap the harvest. If we have not that right, then all are slaves except those who take these rights from their fellow-men.
The trial of Charles B. Reynolds for blasphemy (1887)
Any law Made for the preserve of a human right, made to guard a human being, cannot sleep long enough to die; but any law that deprives a human being of a natural right -- if that law goes to sleep, it never wakes, it sleeps the sleep of death.
The trial of Charles B. Reynolds for blasphemy (1887)
After all, sympathy is genius. A man who really sympathizes with another understands him. A man who sympathizes with a religion, instantly sees the good that is in it, and the man who sympathizes with the right, sees the evil that a creed contains.
The trial of Charles B. Reynolds for blasphemy (1887)
It is very easy to sail along with the majority -- easy to sail the way the boats are going -- easy to float with the stream; but when you come to swim against the tide, with the men on the shore throwing rocks at you, you will get a good deal of exercise in this world.
The trial of Charles B. Reynolds for blasphemy (1887)
No man can blaspheme a book. No man can commit blasphemy by telling his honest thought. No man can blaspheme a God, or a Holy Ghost, or a Son of God. The Infinite cannot be blasphemed.
The trial of Charles B. Reynolds for blasphemy (1887)