250 quotes
The writers of the New Testament seem to have thought that the world was about coming to an end. This world was to be sacrificed absolutely to the next.
A Christmas Sermon (1890)
Celibacy is the essence of vulgarity.
Nothing is said in the Testament about the families of the apostles; nothing of family life, of the sacredness of home; nothing about the necessity of education, the improvement and development of the mind.
Is Divorce Wrong? (1889)
The Declaration of Independence announces the sublime truth, that all power comes from the people. This was a denial, and the first denial of a nation, of the infamous dogma that God confers the right upon one man to govern others.
Individuality (1873)
There is this peculiarity in our country—the only men who can be trusted with human liberty are the ones who are not to be angels hereafter.
To the Indianapolis Clergy." The Iconoclast (Indianapolis, IN) (1883)
Paul quotes none of the miracles of the New Testament.
To the Indianapolis Clergy." The Iconoclast (Indianapolis, IN) (1883)
Did they explain any of the phenomena of nature?
A Thanksgiving Sermon (1897)
They insist that for the glory of God, husbands and wives who loathe each other should be compelled to live together. They abhor all works of fiction, and love the Bible.
The Truth (1896)
Things are true or false in themselves. Truth cannot be affected by opinions; it cannot be changed, established, or affected by martyrdom. An error cannot be believed sincerely enough to make it a truth.
The Great Infidels (1881)
I belong to the Great Church which holds the world within its starlit aisles; that claims the great and good of every race and clime; that finds with joy the grain of gold in every creed, and floods with light and love the germs of good in every soul.
The night of the Middle Ages lasted for a thousand years. The first star that enriched the horizon of this universal gloom was Giordano Bruno. He was the herald of the dawn.
The Great Infidels (1881)
Whoever has an opinion of his own, and honestly expresses it, will be guilty of heresy. Heresy is what the minority believe; it is the name given by the powerful to the doctrine of the weak.
Heretics and Heresies (1874)
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)
It is a waste of money to pay priests to frighten our children, and paralyze the intellect of women.
My Reviewers Reviewed (1877)
What then is, or can be called, a moral guide? The shortest possible answer is one word: Intelligence.
What Would You Substitute for the Bible as a Moral Guide? (1900)
The Protestants have persecuted exactly to the extent of their power. The Catholics have done the same.
My Reviewers Reviewed (1877)
The church must not abandon its belief in devils. Orthodoxy cannot afford to put out the fires of hell.
Orthodoxy (1884)
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)
In the pulpit, hypocrites have been worshiped; upon the stage they have been held up to derision and execration.
Satan sought in many ways to scandalize the church. He sometimes assumed the appearance of a priest and committed crimes.
A Thanksgiving Sermon (1897)