Atheist Quotes - Page 15

• I would fain ask one of these bigotted Infidels, supposing all the great Points of Atheism... were laid together and formed into a kind of Creed, according to the Opinions of the most celebrated Atheists; I say, supposing such a Creed as this were formed, and imposed upon any one People in the World, whether it would not require an infinitely greater Measure of Faith, than any Set of Articles which they so violently oppose.

  Joseph Addison

  Faith, Religion, Atheism

  The Spectator, No. 185, October 2, 1711.

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• Surely you do not believe in the gods. What's your argument? Where's your proof?

  Aristophanes

  Believe, Religion, Atheism

  John Hookham Frere, Sir Bartle Frere, Aristophanes, Theognis (1872). “The Works of John Hookham Frere in Verse and Prose”, p.70

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• Agnostics are just atheists without balls.

  Stephen Colbert

  Balls

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• I do not believe in God. It seems to me that theists of all kinds have very largely failed to make their concept of a deity intelligible; and to the extent that they have made it intelligible, they have given us no reason to think that anything answers to it.

  A.J. Ayer

  Believe, Thinking, Religion

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• I have found it an amusing strategy, when asked whether I am an atheist, to point out that the questioner is also an atheist when considering Zeus, Apollo, Amon Ra, Mithras, Baal, Thor, Wotan, the Golden Calf and the Flying Spaghetti Monster. I just go one god further.

  Richard Dawkins

  Flying, Monsters, Apollo

  Richard Dawkins (2008). “The God Delusion”, p.77, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

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• Radical Muslims fly planes into buildings. Radical Christians kill abortion doctors. Radical Atheists write books.

  Hemant Mehta

  Christian, Book, Writing

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• A young man who wishes to remain a sound atheist cannot be too careful of his reading.

  C. S. Lewis

  Reading, Men, Religion

  C. S. Lewis (1966). “Surprised by Joy: The Shape of My Early Life”, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

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• Take from the church the miraculous, the supernatural, the incomprehensible, the unreasonable, the impossible, the unknowable, the absurd, and nothing but a vacuum remains.

  Robert Green Ingersoll

  Religious, If There Is A God, Religion

  Robert Green Ingersoll (1907). “The works of Robert G. Ingersoll”, p.159, Library of Alexandria

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• Believing there's no God means I can't really be forgiven except by kindness and faulty memories. That's good; it makes me want to be more thoughtful. I have to try to treat people right the first time around.

  Penn Jillette

  Motivational, God, Forgiveness

  Twitter post from

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• Without God man has no reference point to define himself. 20th century philosophy manifests the chaos of man seeking to understand himself as a creature with dignity while having no reference point for that dignity.

  R. C. Sproul

  Philosophy, Men, Atheism

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• Most sermons sound to me like commercials - but I can't make out whether God is the Sponsor or the Product.

  Mignon McLaughlin

  Sound, Literature, Agnostic

  Mignon McLaughlin (2014). “Aperçus: The Aphorisms of Mignon McLaughlin”, p.94, BookBaby

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• Isn't it enough to see that a garden is beautiful without having to believe that there are fairies at the bottom of it too?

  Douglas Adams

  Beauty, Beautiful, Religious

  Douglas Adams (2009). “The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy”, p.79, Pan Macmillan

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• In no instance have... the churches been guardians of the liberties of the people.

  James Madison

  People, Church, Liberty

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• It will not do to investigate the subject of religion too closely, as it is apt to lead to infidelity.

  Abraham Lincoln

  Life, Infidelity, Religion

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• Among the repulsions of atheism for me has been its drastic un-interestingness as an intellectual position. Where was the ingenuity, the ambiguity, the humanity of saying that the universe just happened to happen and that when we're dead we're dead?

  John Updike

  Humanity, Intellectual, Atheism

  John Updike (2012). “Self-Consciousness: Memoirs”, p.141, Random House

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• When any government, or any church for that matter, undertakes to say to its subjects, This you may not read, this you must not see, this you are forbidden to know, the end result is tyranny and oppression no matter how holy the motives.

  Robert A. Heinlein

  Government, Church, May

  Robert A. Heinlein (2007). “Glory Road”, p.318, Macmillan

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• You don’t have to be brave or a saint, a martyr, or even very smart to be an atheist. All you have to be able to say is “I don’t know”.

  Penn Jillette

  Smart, Brave, Atheism

  Penn Jillette (2012). “God, No!: Signs You May Already Be an Atheist and Other Magical Tales”, p.13, Simon and Schuster

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• I know of no wars started by anyone to impose lack of religion on someone else.

  Simon Hoggart

  Inspirational, Motivational, War

  "Simon Hoggart's week: Ever heard of an agnostic suicide bomber?" by Simon Hoggart, www.theguardian.com. February 24, 2012.

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• A man cannot become an atheist merely by wishing it.

  Napoleon Bonaparte

  Men, Wish, Atheism

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• I have as much authority as the Pope, I just don't have as many people who believe it.

  George Carlin

  Funny, Witty, Humorous

  George Carlin (2007). “The Best of Brain Droppings”, p.52, Peter Pauper Press, Inc.

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• Not one man in a thousand has either strength of mind or goodness of heart to be an atheist.

  Samuel Taylor Coleridge

  Strength, Heart, Men

  "Opus Maximum".

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• There may be fairies at the bottom of the garden. There is no evidence for it, but you can't prove that there aren't any, so shouldn't we be agnostic with respect to fairies?

  Richard Dawkins

  Respect, Learning, Knowledge

  Speech at the Edinburgh International Science Festival, April 15, 1992.

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• An atheist is a man who watches a Notre Dame - Southern Methodist University game and doesn't care who wins.

  Dwight D. Eisenhower

  Funny, Sports, Winning

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• The easiest way to get a reputation is to go outside the fold, shout around for a few years as a violent atheist or a dangerous radical, and then crawl back to the shelter.

  F. Scott Fitzgerald

  Technology, Years, Literature

  F. Scott Fitzgerald (2009). “The Crack-Up”, p.208, New Directions Publishing

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• No, I don't know that atheists should be considered as citizens, nor should they be considered as patriots. This is one nation under God.

  George H. W. Bush

  Hatred, Scary, Religion

  Campaign press conference at O'Hare Airport, Chicago, August 27, 1987.

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