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Religion Quotes

Religion is a page where believers and unbelievers share space. Shakespeare and Milton lead, but Robert Ingersoll and the biologist Jerry Coyne are close behind, and the sourced favourites lean sceptical: Bertrand Russell in Sceptical Essays (1928) on moralists and Hell, Bierce in 1911 calling religion a daughter of Hope and Fear.

Three entries are flagged. “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep” is credited to the missionary Jim Elliot, and the notes call it a paraphrase of the English clergyman Philip Henry (1631–1696). Newton’s remark that he could calculate the motions of heavenly bodies but not the madness of the people is disputed, and it is usually tied to the South Sea stock bubble. A line about Earth and Heaven credited to David Hare is flagged misattributed.

Random quote on Religion

Most quoted on religion:

Scientology … is not a religion.

L. Ron Hubbard The Creation Of Human Ability (1954)

[T]hat shapeless, formless, fibreless mass of platitudes which in official cant is called "unsectarian religion".

Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury

I set my mind to seek and explore by wisdom concerning all that has been done under heaven. It is a grievous task which God has given to the sons of men to be afflicted with.

Solomon

When I come before these men I do not have to explain that we are all sinners. They have committed every sin there is. All I have to tell them is that I, too, am a sinner.

Karl Barth Witness to an Ancient Truth (1962)

“Oh, but I am soiled beyond all cleansing.…”
“Nonsense,” said Mavin impatiently. “You are silly beyond all belief, but that is your sole sin I am aware of, young man.”

Sheri S. Tepper The Flight of Mavin Manyshaped (1985)

I swore to the Constitution, but even if I had not sworn to it, it would be to me a second religion.

Pedro II of Brazil

Athens became the capital of Mediterranean civilisation, the clearing-house of religions and moral ideas, whatever their source.

E. B. Osborn

All the histories in the Bible were written to teach us good things, and to show us how we must love and obey God, that we may go to heaven when we die, and be happy there for ever.

Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet

He comes with western winds, with evening's wandering airs,
With that clear dusk of heaven that brings the thickest stars;
Winds take a pensive tone and stars a tender fire
And visions rise and change which kills me with desire.

Emily Brontë

What is considered sinful in one of the great religions to which citizens belong isn't necessarily sinful in the others. Criminal law therefore cannot be based on the notion of sin; it is crimes that it must define.

Pierre Trudeau Memoirs (1993)

Religion, you see, is not in its roots adoration of a god or a goddess. Religion is fear. Religion is the spark that issues forth when the thought of death or danger strikes the individual. It’s personal. It grows out of darkness and uncertainty.

A. E. van Vogt The Book of Ptath (1947)

She normally did not pay very much attention to religion, but, as Leader of the Clan, she was automatically Chief Worshiper of Bright at holy times, and it wouldn’t do to let things be disrupted by an obviously deranged individual.

Robert L. Forward Dragon's Egg (1980)

If I had only loved your flesh
And careless damned your soul to Hell,
I might have laughed and loved afresh,
And loved as lightly and as well,
And little more to tell.

Vita Sackville-West

There seems very little between these views worth argument, and among educated modern peoples, were it not for the priests, religious differences would scarcely trouble the world.

Frederick Soddy Matter, Energy, Consciousness and Spirit (1919)

Little did Vanbala know that Naxalism is just a vehicle to take her from one hell to another hell.

Vivek Agnihotri Urban Naxals (2018)

“Pray, sir,” said she, “tell me only, where am I?”
“Why, in Hell, to be sure,” said he, with a hearty laugh.
“Oh, thank goodness!” cried she. “I thought I was in Buenos Aires.”

John Collier Fancies and Goodnights (1951)

What’s the use of religion if it oppresses instead of consoling? If it offers despair instead of relief? If it takes away instead of preserving?

Marie Vieux-Chauvet Love, Anger, Madness: A Haitian Trilogy (1968)

Religions are all founded on miracles — on things we cannot understand, such as the Trinity. Jesus calls himself the Son of God, and yet is descended from David. I prefer the religion of Mahomet — it is less ridiculous than ours.

Napoleon

Kierkegaard writes: If Christianity were so easy and cozy, why should God in his Scriptures have set Heaven and Earth in motion and threatened eternal punishments? — Question: But then in that case why is this Scriptures so unclear?

Ludwig Wittgenstein Culture and Value (1980)

I believe firmly in the efficacy of religion, in its powerful influence on a person's whole life. It helps immeasurably to meet the storms and stress of life and keep you attuned to the Divine inspiration. Without inspiration, we would perish.

Walt Disney EPCOT promotional film (1966)

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