250 quotes
Whenever an orthodox editor attacks an unbeliever, look out for kindness, charity and love.
A Christmas Sermon (1890)
There are two things that cannot exist in the same universe—an infinite God and a martyr.
Rome, or Reason? A Reply to Cardinal Manning. Part I. The North American Review (1888)
Anything that can be laughed out of this world ought not to stay in it.
The trial of Charles B. Reynolds for blasphemy (1887)
Any church that imprisons a man because he has used an argument against its creed, will simply convince the world that it cannot answer the argument.
The trial of Charles B. Reynolds for blasphemy (1887)
We are in a world where vice, deformity, weakness, and disease are hereditary. In the presence of this immense and solemn truth rises the religion of the body.
To the Indianapolis Clergy." The Iconoclast (Indianapolis, IN) (1883)
And yet, here you have a work upholding slavery, and you say that it was written by an infinitely good God!
Orthodoxy (1884)
Who would fill the contribution boxes and plates, and who (most serious of all questions) would pay the salaries?
If you say six periods, instead of six days, what becomes of your Sabbath?
My Reviewers Reviewed (1877)
They were all, according to my belief, devised by men, and all have for a foundation ignorance of this world and fear of the next.
Rome, or Reason? A Reply to Cardinal Manning. Part I. The North American Review (1888)
At last it occurred to the intelligent to examine our own religion, and this examination has excited great interest and great comment.
It taught that the business of this life was to prepare for death.
A Thanksgiving Sermon (1897)
The Catholic Church enslaved to the extent of its power.
Rome, or Reason? A Reply to Cardinal Manning. Part I. The North American Review (1888)
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)
Infinite punishment is infinite cruelty, endless injustice, immortal meanness. To worship an eternal gaoler hardens, debases, and pollutes even the vilest soul. While there is one sad and breaking heart in the universe, no good being can be perfectly happy.
The Great Infidels (1881)
These things are the foes of morality. They subvert all natural conceptions of virtue.
What Would You Substitute for the Bible as a Moral Guide? (1900)
What would we think of such a savage? And yet, according to the theologians, this is exactly the course pursued by God.
Why I Am an Agnostic (1896)
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)
The hands that help are holier than the lips that pray.
The Children of the Stage (1899)