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There Are Treasures In Books That All The Money In The World Cannot Buy, But The Poorest Laborer Can Have For Nothing.
-Robert Green Ingersoll
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There Are Treasures In

Robert Green Ingersoll
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There Are Treasures In Books That All The Money In The World Cannot Buy, But The Poorest Laborer Can Have For Nothing.

Understanding the Quote: "there are treasures in books that all the money in the world..."

This quote by Robert Green Ingersoll reflects deeply on the theme of love. It connects to the universal human journey of purpose, motivation, and reflection. Often categorized under Love, Book, Learning, the quote offers insight, emotional clarity, and intellectual inspiration to readers worldwide.

Whether you’re a student exploring new ideas, a leader trying to motivate your team, or someone seeking direction in life — this quote provides value. It resonates because it’s more than words — it’s a bridge between experience and wisdom. It shows how Robert Green Ingersoll interprets life's core challenges and triumphs.

Lessons From the Quote

This quote teaches resilience and focus. It reminds readers that no matter where they stand in life, reflection and self-awareness lead to growth. Each word has meaning, and when studied, it becomes clear how impactful thoughtful language can be.

About Robert Green Ingersoll

Robert Green Ingersoll is celebrated for insightful thoughts on love and book. Their legacy lives on through writings that guide, comfort, and inspire. Discover more on their profile page.

Actionable Takeaways

  • Reflect on how this quote applies to your current life path.
  • Share the message with someone who needs inspiration.
  • Write your thoughts on this quote in a journal or blog post.
  • Use it as a daily affirmation or reminder.

Closing Thoughts

Quotes like this endure because they capture universal truths. They comfort us in solitude and empower us in groups. Carry this quote forward — live by its wisdom, share its message, and keep its essence alive.

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Love
Book
Learning
More From Robert Green Ingersoll
Certainly The Old Testament Does Not Teach Us That There Is Another Life, And Upon That Question Even The New Is Obscure And Vague. The Hunger Of The Heart Finds Only A Few Small And Scattered Crumbs. There Is Nothing Definite, Solid, And Satisfying. United With The Idea Of Immortality We Find The Absurdity Of The Resurrection. A Prophecy That Depends For Its Fulfillment Upon An Impossibility, Cannot Satisfy The Brain Or Heart.
Heart
Ideas
Brain
I Do Not Believe In Loving Enemies; I Have Pretty Hard Work To Love My Friends. Neither Do I Believe In Revenge. No Man Can Afford To Keep The Viper Of Revenge In His Heart. But I Believe In Justice, In Self-defense.
Revenge
Believe
Hard Work
Nothing But Truth Is Immortal.
Truth Is
Immortal
Music Was Born Of Love. Had There Never Been Any Human Affection, There Never Could Have Been Uttered A Strain Of Music.
Art
Affection
Born
He Raised His Hands, Not To Strike, But In Benediction. Lincoln Was The Grandest Figure Of The Fiercest Civil War. He Is The Gentlest Memory Of Our World.
Memories
War
Our World
The Way To Be Happy Is To Make Others So.
Happiness
Inner Peace
Way
To The Wise Man, To The Wise Nation, The Mistakes Of The Past Are The Torches Of The Present.
Life
Wise
Mistake
If, With All The Time At My Disposal, With All The Wealth Of The Resources Of This Vast Universe, To Do With As I Will, I Could Not Produce A Better Scheme Of Life Than Now Prevails, I Would Be Ashamed Of My Efforts And Consider My Work A Humiliating Failure.
Effort
Atheism
Would Be
You Cannot Be So Poor That You Cannot Help Somebody.
Helping
Poor
Helpfulness
Liberty Cannot Be Sacrificed For The Sake Of Anything.
Liberty
Sake
Martyrdom, As A Rule, Establishes The Sincerity Of The Martyr, Never The Correctness Of His Thought. Things Are True Or False In Themselves.
True Or False
Sincerity
Martyr
My Principal Objections To Orthodox Religion Are Two: Slavery Here And Hell Hereafter.
Two
Religion
Slavery
Who Can Estimate The Misery That Has Been Caused By This Infamous Doctrine Of Eternal Punishment? Think Of The Lives It Has Blighted-of The Tears It Has Caused-of The Agony It Has Produced. Think Of The Millions Who Have Been Driven To Insanity By This Most Terrible Of Dogmas. This Doctrine Renters God The Basest And Most Cruel Being In The Universe. ... There Is Nothing More Degrading Than To Worship Such A God.
Religious
Thinking
Punishment
Nothing Could Add To The Horror Of Hell, Except The Presence Of Its Creator, God.
Creator God
Atheism
Add
We Rise By Lifting Others.
Helping Others
Society
Public Service
Honesty Is The Mother Of Confidence; It Unites, Combines And Solidifies Society. Dishonesty Is Disintegration; It Destroys Confidence; It Brings Social Chaos. . . .
Mother
Honesty
Chaos
While I Am Opposed To All Orthodox Creeds, I Have A Creed Myself; And My Creed Is This. Happiness Is The Only Good. The Time To Be Happy Is Now. The Place To Be Happy Is Here. The Way To Be Happy Is To Make Others So. This Creed Is Somewhat Short, But It Is Long Enough For This Life, Strong Enough For This World. If There Is Another World, When We Get There We Can Make Another Creed.
Strong
Long
World
It Is Better To Deserve Without Receiving Than To Receive Without Deserving
Receiving
Deserve
Deserving
I Have Not The Slightest Confidence In 'spiritual Manifestations.'
Spiritual
Manifestation
He [the Improved Man] Will Enjoy Not Only The Sunshine Of Life, But Will Bear With Fortitude The Darkest Days. He Will Have No Fear Of Death. About The Grave, There Will Be No Terrors, And His Life Will End As Serenely As The Sun Rises.
Death
Sunshine
Men
The Few Have Said, Think! The Many Have Said, Believe! The First Doubt Was The Womb And Cradle Of Progress, And From The First Doubt, Man Has Continued To Advance.
Believe
Men
Thinking
The Meanest Hut With Love In It Is A Palace Fit For The Gods, And A Palace Without Love Is A Den Only Fit For Wild Beasts.
Love
Palaces
Fit
If Nobody Has Too Much, Everybody Will Have Enough.
Too Much
Enough
Ifs
It Is A Blessed Thing That In Every Age Some One Has Had The Individuality Enough And Courage Enough To Stand By His Own Convictions.
Birthday
Courage
Blessed
A Few Years Ago The Deists Denied The Inspiration Of The Bible On Account Of Its Cruelty. At The Same Time They Worshiped What They Were Pleased To Call The God Of Nature. Now We Are Convinced That Nature Is As Cruel As The Bible; So That, If The God Of Nature Did Not Write The Bible, This God At Least Has Caused Earthquakes And Pestilence And Famine, And This God Has Allowed Millions Of His Children To Destroy One Another. So That Now We Have Arrived At The Question - Not As To Whether The Bible Is Inspired And Not As To Whether Jehovah Is The Real God, But Whether There Is A God Or Not.
Children
Real
Inspiration
Not One Of The Orthodox Ministers Dare Preach What He Thinks If He Knows A Majority Of His Congregation Think Otherwise. He Knows That Every Member Of His Church Stands Guard Over His Brain With A Creed, Like A Club, In His Hand. He Knows That He Is Not Expected To Search After The Truth, But That He Is Employed To Defend The Creed. Every Pulpit Is A Pillory, In Which Stands A Hired Culprit, Defending The Justice Of His Own Imprisonment.
Thinking
Hands
Justice
I Found That The Clergy Did Not Understand Their Own Book.
Book
Found
Clergy
It Is Hard To Overstate The Debt We Owe To The Men And Women Of Genius.
Men
Genius
Debt
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.
Self
Way
Should
Shakespeare Was An Intellectual Ocean, Whose Waves Touched All The Shores Of Thought; Within Which Were All The Tides And Waves Of Destiny And Will; Over Which Swept All The Storms Of Fate, Ambition And Revenge; Upon Which Fell The Gloom And Darkness Of Despair And Death And All The Sunlight Of Content And Love, And Within Which Was The Inverted Sky Lit With The Eternal Stars -- An Intellectual Ocean -- Toward Which All Rivers Ran, And From Which Now The Isles And Continents Of Thought Receive Their Dew And Rain.
Stars
Revenge
Rain
Our Ignorance Is God; What We Know Is Science. When We Abandon The Doctrine That Some Infinite Being Created Matter And Force, And Enacted A Code Of Laws For Their Government ... The Real Priest Will Then Be, Not The Mouth-piece Of Some Pretended Deity, But The Interpreter Of Nature.
God
Real
Ignorance
Small People Delight In What They Call Consistency-that Is, It Gives Them Immense Pleasure To Say That They Believe Now Exactly As They Did Ten Years Ago. This Simply Amounts To A Certificate That They Have Not Grown-that They Have Not Developed-and That They Know Just As Little Now As They Ever Did. The Highest Possible Conception Of Consistency Is To Be True To The Knowledge Of Today, Without The Slightest Reference To What Your Opinion Was Years Ago.
Integrity
Believe
Years
When A Man Really Believes That It Is Necessary To Do A Certain Thing To Be Happy Forever, Or That A Certain Belief Is Necessary To Ensure Eternal Joy, There Is In That Man No Spirit Of Concession. He Divides The Whole World Into Saints And Sinners, Into Believers And Unbelievers, Into God's Sheep And Devil's Goats, Into People Who Will Be Glorified And People Who Are Damned.
Believe
Men
Sheep
Every Creed Is A Rock In Running Water: Humanity Sweeps By It. Every Creed Cries To The Universe, "halt!" A Creed Is The Ignorant Past Bulling The Enlightened Present.
Running
Past
Rocks
I Would Rather Smoke One Cigar Than Hear Two Sermons.
Two
Smoking
Cigar
Music Expresses Feeling And Thought, Without Language; It Was Below And Before Speech, And It Is Above And Beyond All Words.
Music
Piano
Feelings
If I Owe Smith Ten Dollars And God Forgives Me, That Doesn't Pay Smith.
Forgiveness
God
Forgive Me
To Know That The Bible Is The Literature Of A Barbarous People, To Know That It Is Uninspired, To Be Certain That The Supernatural Does Not And Cannot Exist - All This Is But The Beginning Of Wisdom.
People
Doe
Literature
One Laugh Of A Child Will Make The Holiest Day More Sacred Still.
Family
Children
Laughing
If The World Ever Advances Beyond What It Is Today, It Must Be Led By Men Who Express Their Real Opinions.
Real
Men
World
[t]he Blossom Of Benevolence, Of Charity, Is The Fairest Flower, No Matter Whether It Blooms By The Side Of A Hovel, Or Bursts From A Vine Climbing The Marble Pillar Of A Palace. I Respect No Man Because He Is Rich; I Hold In Contempt No Man Because He Is Poor.
Flower
Men
Climbing
We Must Remember That There Is A Great Difference Between A Myth And A Miracle. A Myth Is The Idealization Of A Fact. A Miracle Is The Counterfeit Of A Fact. There Is The Same Difference Between A Myth And A Miracle That There Is Between Fiction And Falsehood -- Between Poetry And Perjury. Miracles Belong To The Far Past And The Far Future. The Little Line Of Sand, Called The Present, Between The Seas, Belongs To Common Sense To The Natural.
Past
Sea
Differences
It May Be That Ministers Really Think That Their Prayers Do Good, And It May Be That Frogs Imagine That Their Croaking Brings Spring.
Prayer
Spring
Thinking
All The Professors In All The Religious Colleges In This Country Rolled Into One, Would Not Equal Charles Darwin.
Country
Religious
College
To Give Up Your Individuality Is To Annihilate Yourself.
Giving Up
Giving
Individuality
The Good Part Of Christmas Is Not Always Christian -- It Is Generally Pagan; That Is To Say, Human, Natural.
Life
Christian
Paganism
Just To The Extent That The Bible Was Appealed To In Matters Of Science, Science Was Retarded; And Just To The Extent That Science Has Been Appealed To In Matters Of Religion, Religion Has Advanced - So That Now The Object Of Intelligent Religionists Is To Adopt A Creed That Will Bear The Test And Criticism Of Science.
Intelligent
Religion
Criticism
Laughing Has Always Been Considered By Theologians As A Crime.
Laughter
Laughing
Crime
We Have At Last Ascertained That Miracles Can Be Perfectly Understood; That There Is Nothing Mysterious About Them; That They Are Simply Transparent Falsehoods.
Miracle
Lasts
Mysterious
What Has Religion To Do With Facts? Nothing.
Religion
Facts
God Cannot Send To Eternal Pain A Man Who Has Done Something Toward Improving The Condition Of His Fellow-man. If He Can, I Had Rather Go To Hell Than To Heaven And Keep Company With Such A God.
Pain
Men
Heaven
The Clergy Know That I Know That They Know That They Do Not Know.
Atheist
Clergy
Positive Atheism
All Laws For The Purpose Of Making Man Worship God, Are Born Of The Same Spirit That Kindled The Fires Of The Auto Da Fe, And Lovingly Built The Dungeons Of The Inquisition. All Laws Defining And Punishing Blasphemy - Making It A Crime To Give Your Honest Ideas About The Bible, Or To Laugh At The Ignorance Of The Ancient Jews, Or To Enjoy Yourself On The Sabbath, Or To Give Your Opinion Of Jehovah, Were Passed By Impudent Bigots, And Should Be At Once Repealed By Honest Men. An Infinite God Ought To Be Able To Protect Himself, Without Going In Partnership With State Legislatures.
Ignorance
Men
Law
Spirituality For The Most Part Is A Mask Worn By Idleness, Arrogance And Greed.
Greed
Arrogance
Spirituality
Is There An Intelligent Man Or Woman Now In The World Who Believes In The Garden Of Eden Story? If You Find Any Man Who Believes It, Strike His Forehead And You Will Hear An Echo. Something Is For Rent.
Believe
Men
Garden
The More A Man Knows, The More Willing He Is To Learn-the Less A Man Knows, The More Positive He Is That He Knows Everything.
Humility
Men
Willing
Who Can Over Estimate The Progress Of The World If All The Money Wasted In Superstition Could Be Used To Enlighten, Elevate And Civilize Mankind?
Progress
World
Superstitions
The Idea That There Is A God Who Rewards And Punishes, And Who Can Reward, If He So Wishes, The Meanest And Vilest Of The Human Race, So That He Will Be Eternally Happy, And Can Punish The Best Of The Human Race, So That He Will Be Eternally Miserable, Is Subversive Of All Morality.
Race
Ideas
Religion
If We Should Put God In The Constitution There Would Be No Room Left For Man.
Men
Would Be
Rooms
How Any Human Being Ever Has Had The Impudence To Speak Against The Right To Speak, Is Beyond The Power Of My Imagination. Here Is A Man Who Speaks-who Exercises A Right That He, By His Speech, Denies. Can Liberty Go Further Than That? Is There Any Toleration Possible Beyond The Liberty To Speak Against Liberty-the Real Believer In Free Speech Allowing Others To Speak Against The Right To Speak?
Real
Exercise
Men
Hope Is The Only Bee That Makes Honey Without Flowers.
Inspirational
Hope
Nature
The Falling Leaf That Tells Of Autumn's Death Is, In A Subtler Sense, A Prophecy Of Spring.
Faith
Wisdom
Spring
Truth Is The Mother Of Joy. Truth Civilizes, Ennobles And Purifies. The Grandest Ambition That Can Enter The Soul Is To Know The Truth.
Mother
Truth
Ambition
This Is My Creed: Happiness Is The Only Good; Reason The Only Torch; Justice The Only Worship, Humanity The Only Religion, And Love The Only Priest.
Happiness
Justice
Humanity
Superstition Is, Always Has Been, And Forever Will Be, The Foe Of Progress, The Enemy Of Education And The Assassin Of Freedom.
Forever
Enemy
Religion
I Admit That Books Were Voted In And Out, And That The Bible Was Finally Formed In Accordance With A Vote.
Book
Vote
Abraham Lincoln Was, In My Judgment, In Many Respects, The Grandest Man Ever President Of The United States. Upon His Monument These Words Should Be Written: "here Sleeps The Only Man In The History Of The World Who, Having Been Clothed With Almost Absolute Power, Never Abused It, Except Upon The Side Of Mercy."
Sleep
Men
President
It Is Contended By Many That Ours Is A Christian Government, Founded Upon The Bible, And That All Who Look Upon The Book As False Or Foolish Are Destroying The Foundation Of Our Country. The Truth Is, Our Government Is Not Founded Upon The Rights Of Gods, But Upon The Rights Of Men. Our Constitution Was Framed, Not To Declare And Uphold The Deity Of Christ, But The Sacredness Of Humanity. Ours Is The First Government Made By The People And For The People. It Is The Only Nation With Which The Gods Have Had Nothing To Do.
Christian
Country
Book
Christianity Has Such A Contemptible Opinion Of Human Nature That It Does Not Believe A Man Can Tell The Truth Unless Frightened By A Belief In God. No Lower Opinion Of The Human Race Has Ever Been Expressed.
Believe
Men
Race
Justice, Poised And Balanced In Eternal Calm, Will Shake From The Golden Scales In Which Are Weighed The Acts Of Men, The Very Dust Of Prejudice And Caste: No Race, No Color, No Previous Condition, Can Change The Rights Of Men.
Men
Rights
Race
Intellect, Without Heart, Is Infinitely Cruel. . . . So That, After All, The Real Aristocracy Must Be That Of Goodness Where The Intellect Is Directed By The Heart.
Wisdom
Real
Heart
According To The Celestial Multiplication Table, Once One Is Three, And Three Times One Is One, And According To Heavenly Subtraction If We Take Two From Three, Three Are Left. The Addition Is Equally Peculiar, If We Add Two To One We Have But One. Each One Is Equal To Himself And The Other Two.
Two
Religion
Peculiar
All The Martyrs In The History Of The World Are Not Sufficient To Establish The Correctness Of An Opinion. Martyrdom, As A Rule, Establishes The Sincerity Of The Martyr, - Never The Correctness Of His Thought. 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.
Truth
Errors
Religion
Where Is The Soul? . . . I Refuse To Believe Anything Of That Kind Without Proof. The Idea That, As Soon As A Man's Breath Leaves His Body, The Soul Flops Out Like A Chicken's Head And Flies Off Into Space To Find A Lodgment Where There [are] Harps And Haloes. Too Much For Me.
Believe
Men
Ideas
The Priests Of One Religion Never Credit The Miracles Of Another Religion. Is This Because Priests Instinctively Know Priests?
Miracle
Religion
Credit
I Would Rather Live With The Woman I Love In A World Full Of Trouble, Than To Live In Heaven With Nobody But Men.
Men
Heaven
World
Character Survives; Goodness Lives; Love Is Immortal.
Love Life
Character
Love Is
As We Become Civilized We Are Governed Less By Persons And More By Principles. . . . The Best Of All Leaders Is The Man Who Teaches People To Lead Themselves.
Leadership
Men
People
I Believe That Labor Is A Blessing. It Never Was And Never Will Be A Curse. It Is A Blessed Thing To Labor For . . . The Ones You Love. It Is A Blessed Thing To Have An Object In Life - Something To Do - Something To Call Into Play Your Best Thoughts, To Develop Your Faculties And To Make You A Man.
Work
Believe
Blessed
The Only Evidence, So Far As I Know, About Another Life Is, First, That We Have No Evidence; And Secondly, That We Are Rather Sorry That We Have Not, And Wish We Had.
Sorry
Religion
Wish
The Churches Have No Confidence In Each Other. Why? Because They Are Acquainted With Each Other.
Atheism
Church
Positive Atheism
We Do Not Need The Forgiveness Of God, But Of Each Other And Of Ourselves.
Needs
The Laboring People Should Unite And Should Protect Themselves Against All Idlers. You Can Divide Mankind Into Two Classes: The Laborers And The Idlers, The Supporters And The Supported, The Honest And The Dishonest. Every Man Is Dishonest Who Lives Upon The Unpaid Labor Of Others, No Matter If He Occupies A Throne. All Laborers Should Be Brothers.
Brother
Men
Class
Shakespeare Has Done Far More For The World Than The Bible.
Done
World
The Doctrine Of Eternal Punishment Is In Perfect Harmony With The Savagery Of The Men Who Made The Orthodox Creeds. It Is In Harmony With Torture, With Flaying Alive, And With Burnings.
Men
Perfect
Doctrine
Infidels In All Ages Have Battled For The Rights Of Man, And Have At All Times Been The Fearless Advocates Of Liberty And Justice.
Men
Rights
Justice
No One, In The World's Whole History, Ever Attempted To Substantiate A Truth By A Miracle. Truth Scorns The Assistance Of Miracle. Nothing But Falsehood Ever Attested Itself By Signs And Wonders. No Miracle Ever Was Performed, And No Sane Man Ever Thought He Had Performed One, And Until One Is Performed, There Can Be No Evidence Of The Existence Of Any Power Superior To, And Independent Of Nature.
Independent
Men
Miracle
Liberty Is The Condition Of Progress. Without Liberty, There Remains Only Barbarism. Without Liberty, There Can Be No Civilization.
Civilization
Progress
Liberty
Creationists Use Facts The Same Way A Drunk Uses A Lightpost: For Support Instead Of Illumination
Illumination
Drunk
Support
Let Us Agree Not To Step On Each Other’s Feet.
Feet
Steps
Agree
Mental Slavery Is Mental Death, And Every Man Who Has Given Up His Intellectual Freedom Is The Living Coffin Of His Dead Soul.
Men
Soul
Intellectual
The Old Testament Filled This World With Tyranny And Injustice, And The New Gives Us A Future Filled With Pain For Nearly All Of The Sons Of Men. The Old Testament Describes The Hell Of The Past, And The New The Hell Of The Future.
Pain
Son
Past
Orthodox Christians Have The Habit Of Claiming All Great Men, All Men Who Have Held Important Positions, Men Of Reputation, Men Of Wealth. As Soon As The Funeral Is Over Clergymen Begin To Relate Imaginary Conversations With The Deceased, And In A Very Little While The Great Man Is Changed To A Christian - Possibly To A Saint.
Christian
Men
Funeral
The Rights Of Men And Women Should Be Equal And Sacred-marriage Should Be A Perfect Partnership.
Men
Rights
Perfect
I Am Simply In Favor Of Intellectual Hospitality-that Is All. You Come To Me With A New Idea. I Invite You Into The House. Let Us See What You Have. Let Us Talk It Over. If I Do Not Like Your Thought, I Will Bid It A Polite "good Day." If I Do Like It, I Will Say: "sit Down; Stay With Me, And Become A Part Of The Intellectual Wealth Of My World."
Good Day
Ideas
House
I Cannot See Why We Should Expect An Infinite God To Do Better In Another World Than He Does In This.
Atheist
Doe
World
My Heart Was Filled With Gratitude, With Thankfulness, And Went Out In Love To All The Heroes, The Thinkers Who Gave Their Lives For The Liberty Of Hand And Brain... To All The Wise, The Good, The Brave Of Every Land, Whose Thoughts And Deeds Have Given Freedom To The Sons Of Men. And Then I Vowed To Grasp The Torch That They Had Held, And Hold It High, That Light Might Conquer Darkness Still.
Wise
Gratitude
Hero
If There Is A God Who Will Damn His Children Forever, I Would Rather Go To Hell Than To Go To Heaven And Keep The Society Of Such An Infamous Tyrant.
Children
If There Is A God
Tyrants
The Church Hates A Thinker Precisely For The Same Reason A Robber Dislikes A Sheriff, Or A Thief Despises The Prosecuting Witness.
Hate
Religion
Church
No Man With A Sense Of Humor Ever Founded A Religion.
Work
Men
Sense Of Humor
Would God Give A Bird Wings And Make It A Crime To Fly? Would He Give Me Brains And Make It A Crime To Think? Any God That Would Damn One Of His Children For The Expression Of His Honest Thought Wouldn't Make A Decent Thief. When I Read A Book And Don't Believe It, I Ought To Say So. I Will Do So And Take The Consequences Like A Man.
Children
Believe
Book
...in Every Religion The Priest Insists On Five Things - First: There Is A God. Second: He Has Made Known His Will. Third: He Has Selected Me To Explain This Message. Fourth: We Will Now Take Up A Collection; And Fifth: Those Who Fail To Subscribe Will Certainly Be Damned.
Messages
Firsts
Failing
There Are Treasures In Books That All The Money In The World Cannot Buy, But The Poorest Laborer Can Have For Nothing.
Love
Book
Learning
The Object Of All Education Should Be To Increase The Usefulness Of Man - Usefulness To Himself And Others.
Education
Men
Increase
Arguments Cannot Be Answered With Insults. . . . Kindness Is Strength. . . . Anger Blows Out The Lamp Of The Mind. In The Examination Of A Great And Important Question, Every One Should Be Serene, Slow-pulsed, And Calm.
Kindness
Blow
Mind
Surely There Is Grandeur In Knowing That In The Realm Of Thought, At Least, You Are Without A Chain; That You Have The Right To Explore All Heights And Depth; That There Are No Walls Nor Fences, Nor Prohibited Places, Nor Sacred Corners In All The Vast Expanse Of Thought.
Wall
Knowing
Depth
I Have Made Up My Mind That If There Is A God, He Will Be Merciful To The Merciful. Upon That Rock I Stand. That He Will Not Torture The Forgiving. Upon That Rock I Stand. That Every Man Should Be True To Himself, And That There Is No World, No Star In Which Honesty Is A Crime. Upon That Rock I Stand.
Stars
Honesty
Men
If I Had My Way I'd Make Health Catching Instead Of Disease.
Get Well Soon
Health
Disease
We Are Not Accountable For The Sins Of "adam".
Fear
Atheism
Sin
The Ministers Are In Duty Bound To Denounce All Intellectual Pride, And Show That We Are Never Quite So Dear To God As When We Admit That We Are Poor, Corrupt And Idiotic Worms; That We Never Should Have Been Born; That We Ought To Be Damned Without The Least Delay.... The Old Creed Is Still Taught. They Still Insist That God Is Infinitely Wise, Powerful And Good, And That All Men Are Totally Depraved. They Insist That The Best Man God Ever Made, Deserved To Be Damned The Moment He Was Finished.
Wise
Powerful
Pride
I Will Follow My Logic, No Matter Where It Goes, After It Has Consulted With My Heart. If You Ever Come To A Conclusion Without Calling The Heart In, You Will Come To A Bad Conclusion.
Life
Heart
Calling
Commerce Is The Great Civilizer.
Commerce
I Am Going To Put The Bible Out Of Business.
Bible
Biblical
If The People Were A Little More Ignorant, Astrology Would Flourish - If A Little More Enlightened, Religion Would Perish.
Astrology
People
Ignorant
Love Is The Magician, The Enchanter, That Changes Worthless Things To Joy, And Makes Right Royal Kings And Queens Of Common Clay. It Is The Perfume Of That Wondrous Flower, The Heart, And Without That Sacred Passion, That Divine Swoon, We Are Less Than Beasts; But With It, Earth Is Heaven, And We Are Gods.
Love
Queens
Kings
Cruelty Hardens And Degrades, Kindness Reforms And Ennobles.
Kindness
Reform
Civility
The Destroyer Of Weeds, Thistles, And Thorns Is A Benefactor Whether He Soweth Grain Or Not.
Weed
Making A Difference
Thorns
Hope Is The Consolation Of The World.
Life
World
Consolation
The Intelligent And Good Man Holds In His Affections The Good And True Of Every Land -- The Boundaries Of Countries Are Not The Limitations Of His Sympathies. Caring Nothing For Race, Or Color, He Loves Those Who Speak Other Languages And Worship Other Gods. Between Him And Those Who Suffer, There Is No Impassable Gulf. He Salutes The World, And Extends The Hand Of Friendship To The Human Race. He Does Not Bow Before A Provincial And Patriotic God -- One Who Protects His Tribe Or Nation, And Abhors The Rest Of Mankind.
Love
Country
Patriotic
In The Search For Truth - That Everything In Nature Seems To Hide - Man Needs The Assistance Of All His Faculties. All The Senses Should Be Awake.
Men
Needs
Should
Lincoln Was Not A Type. He Stands Alone - No Ancestors, No Fellows, No Successors.
Stand Alone
Presidents Day
Type
Heresy Is A Cradle; Orthodoxy A Coffin.
Coffins
Orthodoxy
Cradle
The Inspiration Of The Bible Depends Upon The Ignorance Of The Gentleman Who Reads It.
Bible
Inspiration
Ignorance
If The Property Belongs To God He Is Able To Pay The Tax.
Church
Pay
Able
They Say: Belief Is Important. I Say: No, Actions Are Important. Judge By Deed, Not By Creed.
Judging
Important
Deeds
Jehovah Was Not A Moral God. He Had All The Vices And He Lacked All The Virtues. He Generally Carried Out All His Threats, But He Never Faithfully Kept A Promise.
Promise
Vices
Jehovah
Life Is A Narrow Vale Between The Cold And Barren Peaks Of Two Eternities. We Strive In Vain To Look Beyond The Heights. We Cry Aloud
Life
Two
Looks
It Is An Old Habit With Theologians To Beat The Living With The Bones Of The Dead.
Old Habits
Bones
Beats
Some President Wishes To Be Re-elected, And Thereupon Speaks About The Bible As "the Corner-stone Of American Liberty." This Sentence Is A Mouth Large Enough To Swallow Any Church, And From That Time Forward The Religious People Will Be Citing That Remark Of The Politician To Substantiate The Inspiration Of The Scriptures.
Religious
Inspiration
People
If Cathedrals Had Been Universities If Dungeons Of The Inquisition Had Been Laboratories If Christians Had Believed In Character Instead Of Creed If They Had Taken From The Bible Only That Which Is Good And Thrown Away The Wicked And Absurd If Temple Domes Had Been Observatories If Priests Had Been Philosophers If Missionaries Had Taught Useful Arts Instead Of Bible Lore If Astrology Had Been Astronomy If The Black Arts Had Been Chemistry If Superstition Had Been Science If Religion Had Been Humanity The World Then Would Be A Heaven Filled With Love, And Liberty And Joy
Christian
Art
Taken
The Man Who Finds A Truth Lights A Torch.
Men
Light
Torches
Orthodoxy Cannot Afford To Put Out The Fires Of Hell.
Fire
Orthodoxy
Hell
For The First Time I Understood The Dogma Of Eternal Pain... For The First Time My Imagination Grasped The Height And Depth Of The Christian Horror. Then I Said: "it Is A Lie, And I Hate Your Religion. If It Is True, I Hate Your God." From That Day I Have Had No Fear, No Doubt. For Me, On That Day, The Flames Of Hell Were Quenched. From That Day I Have Passionately Hated Every Orthodox Creed. That Sermon Did Some Good.
Christian
Religious
Pain
An Infinite Personality Is An Infinite Impossibility.
Personality
Infinite
Impossibility
No God Can Put A Man In Hell In Another World, Who Has Made A Little Heaven In This. God Cannot Make A Man Miserable If That Man Has Made Somebody Else Happy.
Men
Heaven
World
My Objection To Christianity Is That It Is Infinitely Cruel, Infinitely Selfish, And, I Might Add, Infinitely Absurd.
Religious
Selfish
Religion
Courage Without Conscience Is A Wild Beast.
Courage
Integrity
Beast
The First Step Is For Man To Cease To Be The Slave Of Man. The Second, Is To Cease To Be The Slave Of The Monsters Of His Own Creation, The Ghosts And Phantoms Of The Air.
Men
Air
Religion
Temptations Are As Thick As The Leaves Of The Forest, And No One Can Be Out Of The Reach Of Temptation Unless He Is Dead. The Great Thing Is To Make People Intelligent Enough And Strong Enough, Not To Keep Away From Temptation, But To Resist It.
Strong
Intelligent
People
If The Reason I Give Is A Good One, You Will Act Upon It. If It Is A Bad One I Cannot Make It Better By Piling Epithet Upon Epithet. There Is No Logic In Abuse; There Is No Argument In An Epithet.
Giving
Abuse
Logic
They Say That When God Was In Jerusalem He Forgave His Murderers, But Now He Will Not Forgive An Honest Man For Differing With Him On The Subject Of The Trinity. They Say That God Says To Me, "forgive Your Enemies." I Say, "i Do;" But He Says, "i Will Damn Mine." God Should Be Consistent. If He Wants Me To Forgive My Enemies He Should Forgive His. I Am Asked To Forgive Enemies Who Can Hurt Me. God Is Only Asked To Forgive Enemies Who Cannot Hurt Him. He Certainly Ought To Be As Generous As He Asks Us To Be.
Hurt
Men
Forgiving
Prayer Is Of No Avail. The Lightning Falls On The Just And The Unjust In Accordance With Natural Laws.
Prayer
Fall
Law
The Real Searcher After Truth Will Not Receive The Old Because It Is Old, Or Reject The New Because It Is New. He Will Not Believe Men Because They Are Dead, Or Contradict Them Because They Are Alive. With Him An Utterance Is Worth The Truth, The Reason It Contains, Without The Slightest Regard To The Author. He May Have Been A King Or Serf - A Philosopher Or Servant, - But The Utterance Neither Gains Nor Loses In Truth Or Reason. Its Value Is Absolutely Independent Of The Fame Or Station Of The Man Who Gave It To The World.
Wisdom
Kings
Truth
If We Admit That Some Infinite Being Has Controlled The Destinies Of Persons And Peoples, History Becomes A Most Cruel And Bloody Farce.
God
Destiny
Farce
All Religion Is Slavery.
Atheism
Slavery
Whenever A Man Believes That He Has The Exact Truth From God, There Is In That Man No Spirit Of Compromise. He Has Not The Modesty Born Of The Imperfections Of Human Nature; He Has The Arrogance Of Theological Certainty And The Tyranny Born Of Ignorant Assurance. Believing Himself To Be The Slave Of God, He Imitates His Master, And Of All Tyrants The Worst Is A Slave In Power.
Believe
Men
Tyrants
One Good Schoolmaster Is Worth A Thousand Priests.
Education
Priests
Good School
It Is Like Most Other Ancient Books - A Mingling Of Falsehood And Truth, Of Philosophy And Folly - All Written By Men, And Most Of The Men Only Partially Civilized. Some Of Its Laws Are Good - Some Infinitely Barbarous. None Of The Miracles Related Were Performed. . . . Take Out The Absurdities, The Miracles, All That Pertains To The Supernatural - All The Cruel And Barbaric Laws - And To The Remainder I Have No Objection. Neither Would I Have For It Any Great Admiration.
Philosophy
Book
Men
Give To Every Human Being Every Right That You Claim For Yourself.
Respect
Rights
Giving
He Was A Worshiper Of Liberty, A Friend Of The Oppressed. A Thousand Times I Have Heard Him Quote These Words: 'for Justice All Place A Temple, And All Season, Summer.' He Believed That Happiness Is The Only Good, Reason The Only Torch, Justice The Only Worship, Humanity The Only Religion, And Love The Only Priest. He Added To The Sum Of Human Joy; And Were Every One To Whom He Did Some Loving Service To Bring A Blossom To His Grave, He Would Sleep Tonight Beneath A Wilderness Of Flowers. . . .
Love
Summer
Flower
To Me, The Most Obscene Word In Our Language Is Celibacy.
Language
Celibacy
Obscene
It Cannot Be Too Often Repeated, That Truth Scorns The Assistance Of Miracle.
Truth
Miracle
Scorn
The Mechanic, When A Wheel Refuses To Turn, Never Thinks Of Dropping On His Knees And Asking The Assistance Of Some Divine Power. He Knows There Is A Reason. He Knows That Something Is Too Large Or Too Small; That There Is Something Wrong With His Machine; And He Goes To Work And He Makes It Larger Or Smaller, Here Or There, Until The Wheel Will Turn.
Thinking
Atheism
Machines
Blasphemy Is An Epithet Bestowed By Superstition Upon Common Sense.
Common Sense
Superstitions
Epithet
Our Hope Of Immortality Does Not Come From Any Religions, But Nearly All Religions Come From That Hope.
Religion
Immortal Soul
Doe
They Who Stand With Breaking Hearts Around This Little Grave, Need Have No Fear. The Larger And The Nobler Faith In All That Is, And Is To Be, Tells Us That Death, Even At Its Worst, Is Only Perfect Rest ... The Dead Do Not Suffer.
Heart
Perfect
Suffering
Every Flower About A House Certifies To The Refinement Of Somebody. Every Vine Climbing And Blossoming Tells Of Love And Joy
Flower
Climbing
House
Millions Of Men Give All Their Energies, As Well As Their Very Souls, For The Acquisition Of Gold. And This Will Continue As Long As Society Is Ignorant Enough And Hypocritical Enough To Hold In High Esteem The Man Of Wealth Without The Slightest Regard To The Character Of The Man.
Money
Character
Men
He Loves His Country Best Who Strives To Make It Best.
Country
4th Of July
Patriotic
As A Man Develops, He Places A Greater Value Upon His Own Rights. Liberty Becomes A Grander And Diviner Thing. As He Values His Own Rights He Begins To Value The Rights Of Others. And When All Men Give To All Others All The Rights They Claim For Themselves, This World Will Be Civilized.
Men
Rights
Giving
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.
Intellectual
Liberty
Clay
Liberty A Word Without Which All Other Words Are Vain.
Liberty
Vain
And Yet This Same Deity Says To Me, Resist Not Evil; Pray For Those That Despitefully Use You; Love Your Enemies, But I Will Eternally Damn Mine. It Seems To Me That Even Gods Should Practice What They Preach.
Love You
Practice
Evil
The Church Says The Earth Is Flat. But I Know That It Is Round. For I Have Seen The Shadow On The Moon. And I Have More Faith In A Shadow Than In The Church.
Motivational
Death
Faith
It Cannot Be Said Too Often That Actions Are Good Or Bad In The Light Of Consequences, And That A Clear Perception Of Consequences Would Control Actions. That Which Increases The Sum Of Human Happiness Is Moral; And That Which Diminishes The Sum Of Human Happiness Is Immoral. . . . Blind, Unreasoning Obedience Is The Enemy Of Morality.
Light
Perception
Enemy
In Making Up My Mind As To What Mr. Lincoln Really Believed, I Do Not Take Into Consideration The Evidence Of Unnamed Persons Or The Contents Of Anonymous Letters; I Take The Testimony Of Those Who Knew And Loved Him, Of Those To Whom He Opened His Heart And To Whom He Spoke In The Freedom Of Perfect Confidence.
Heart
Perfect
Mind
There Is No Necessity For Going To The Church And Hearing The Same Story Forever. Let The Minister Write What He Wishes To Say. Let Him Publish It. If It Is Worth Buying, People Will Read It. It Is Hardly Fair To Get Them In A Church In The Name Of Duty And There Inflict Upon Them A Sermon That Under No Circumstances They Would Read...the Idea Of Going Fifty-two Days In A Year To Hear Anybody On The Same Subject Is Absurd.
Writing
Years
Names
When I Became Convinced That The Universe Is Natural, That All The Ghosts And Gods Are Myths, There Entered Into My Brain, Into My Soul, Into Every Drop Of My Blood The Sense, The Feeling, The Joy Of Freedom. The Walls Of My Prison Crumbled And Fell. The Dungeon Was Flooded With Light And All The Bolts And Bars And Manacles Became Dust.
Atheist
Wall
Light
What Light Is To The Eyes - What Air Is To The Lungs - What Love Is To The Heart, Liberty Is To The Soul Of Man.
Love
Motivational
Stars
The Record Of A Generous Life Runs Like A Vine Around The Memory Of Our Dead, And Every Sweet Unselfish Act Is Now A Perfumed Flower.
Running
Sweet
Memories
He (thomas Paine) Saw Oppression On Every Hand; Injustice Everywhere; Hypocrisy At The Altar; Venality On The Bench, Tyranny On The Throne; And With A Splendid Courage He Espoused The Cause Of The Weak Against The Strong
Strong
Hands
Hypocrisy
Argument Cannot Be Answered With Insults. Kindness Is Strength; Anger Blows Out The Lamp Of The Mind.
Kindness
Blow
Mind
Religion Has Not Civilized Man, Man Has Civilized Religion.
Men
Religion
Civilized
Every Library Is An Arsenal.
Library
Arsenal
It Seems To Me That If There Is Some Infinite Being Who Wants Us To Think Alike He Would Have Made Us Alike.
God
Thinking
Want
The Old Doctrine That God Wanted Man To Do Something For Him, And That He Kept A Watchful Eye Upon All The Children Of Men; That He Rewarded The Virtuous And Punished The Wicked, Is Gradually Fading From The Mind. We Know That Some Of The Worst Men Have What The World Calls Success. We Know That Some Of The Best Men Lie Upon The Straw Of Failure. We Know That Honesty Goes Hungry, While Larceny Sits At The Banquet. We Know That The Vicious Have Every Physical Comfort, While The Virtuous Are Often Clad In Rags.
Children
Honesty
Lying
Blasphemy Is What An Old Dogma Screams At A New Truth.
Doubt
Atheism
Dogma
Life Is A Narrow Vale Between The Cold And Barren Peaks Of Two Eternities. We Strive In Vain To Look Beyond The Heights. We Cry Aloud-and The Only Answer Is The Echo Of Our Wailing Cry. From The Voiceless Lips Of The Unreplying Dead There Comes No Word. But In The Night Of Death Hope Sees A Star And Listening Love Can Hear The Rustling Of A Wing.
Stars
Night
Echoes
If I Go To Heaven I Want To Take My Reason With Me.
Heaven
Want
Reason
There Is No Slavery But Ignorance.
Ignorance
Slavery
Happiness Is Not A Reward - It Is A Consequence. Suffering Is Not A Punishment - It Is A Result.
Inspirational
Happiness
Depression
Custom Meets Us At The Cradle And Leaves Us Only At The Tomb.
Peer Pressure
Cradle
Tombs
It Is A Blessed Thing That In Every Age Some One Has Had Individuality Enough And Courage Enough To Stand By His Own Convictions, -- Some One Who Had The Grandeur To Say His Say. I Believe It Was Magellan Who Said, The Church Says The Earth Is Flat; But I Have Seen Its Shadow On The Moon, And I Have More Confidence Even In A Shadow Than In The Church. On The Prow Of His Ship Were Disobedience, Defiance, Scorn, And Success.
Faith
Believe
Blessed
A Miracle Is The Badge And Brand Of Fraud. ... No Intelligent, Honest Man Ever Pretended To Perform A Miracle, And Never Will.
Intelligent
Men
Miracle
They Knew That It Was Necessary To Believe These Things And To Love God. They Knew That There Could Be No Salvation Except By Faith, And Through The Atoning Blood Of Jesus Christ.
God
Jesus
Believe
It Is With Men As With Other Things. The Mullein Needs Only A Year, But The Oak A Century, And The Greatest Men Are Those Who Have Continued To Grow As Long As They Have Lived.
Men
Years
Long
This, In My Judgment, Is The Highest Philosophy: First, Do Not Regret Having Lost Yesterday; Second, Do Not Fear That You Will Lose Tomorrow; Third, Enjoy Today.
Attitude
Regret
Philosophy
Like An Armed Warrior, Like A Plumed Knight, James G. Blaine Marched Down The Halls Of The American Congress And Threw His Shining Lance Full And Fair Against The Brazen Foreheads Of The Defamers Of His Country, And The Maligners Of His Honor.
Country
Warrior
Knights
As A Matter Of Fact, No One Knows That God Exists And No One Knows That God Does Not Exist. To My Mind There Is No Evidence That God Exists - That This World Is Governed By A Being Of Infinite Goodness, Wisdom And Power, But I Do Not Pretend To Know.
Mind
Religion
Doe
Religion Is One Of The Phases Of Thought Through Which The World Is Passing.
Religion
World
Phases
If Abuses Are Destroyed, Man Must Destroy Them. If Slaves Are Freed, Man Must Free Them. If New Truths Are Discovered, Man Must Discover Them. If The Naked Are Clothed; If The Hungry Are Fed; If Justice Is Done; If Labor Is Rewarded; If Superstition Is Driven From The Mind; If The Defenseless Are Protected, And If The Right Finally Triumphs, All Must Be The Work Of Man. The Grand Victories Of The Future Must Be Won By Man, And By Man Alone.
People
Justice
Humanity
The Man Who Invented The Telescope Found Out More About Heaven Than The Closed Eyes Of Prayer Ever Discovered.
Prayer
Eye
Men
Nothing Discloses Real Character Like The Use Of Power. It Is Easy For The Weak To Be Gentle. Most People Can Bear Adversity. But If You Wish To Know What A Man Really Is, Give Him Power. This Is The Supreme Test. It Is The Glory Of Lincoln That, Having Almost Absolute Power, He Never Abused It, Except Upon The Side Of Mercy.
Real
Character
Adversity
All Should Be Taught That The Highest Ambition Is To Be Happy, And To Add To The Well-being Of Others; That Place And Power Are Not Necessary To Success; That The Desire To Acquire Great Wealth Is A Kind Of Insanity. They Should Be Taught That It Is A Waste Of Energy, A Waste Of Thought, A Waste Of Life, To Acquire What You Do Not Need And What You Do Not Really Use For The Benefit Of Yourself Or Others.
Money
Ambition
Insanity
Intelligence Is The Only Moral Guide.
Moral
Guides
At The Bottom Of Religious Persecution Is The Doctrine Of Self-defence; That Is To Say, The Defence Of The Soul. If The Founder Of Christianity Had Plainly Said: 'it Is Not Necessary To Believe In Order To Be Saved; It Is Only Necessary To Do, And He Who Really Loves His Fellow-men, Who Is Kind, Honest, Just And Charitable, Is To Be Forever Blest' - If He Had Only Said That, There Would Probably Have Been But Little Persecution.
Religious
Believe
Men
The Greatest Test Of Courage On Earth Is To Bear Defeat Without Losing Heart.
Inspirational
Positive
Sports
Even In The Business Of Corporations Honesty Is The Best Policy, And The Companies That Have Acted In Accordance With The Highest Standard, Other Things Being Equal, Have Reaped The Richest Harvest.
Honesty
Corporations
Harvest
If The Bible Is True, It Needs No Inspiration, And - If Not True, Inspiration Can Do It No Good.
Bible
Inspiration
Needs
If A Man Wishes To Have God Recognized In The Constitution Of Our Country, Let Him Read The History Of The Inquisition, And Let Him Remember That Hundreds Of Millions Of Men, Women, And Children Have Been Sacrificed To Placate The Wrath, Or Win The Approbation Of This God.
Country
Religious
Children
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