Robert G. Ingersoll
American lawyer and orator, known as "the Great Agnostic" (1833 to 1899); author of The Ghosts, and Other Lectures.
Robert G. Ingersoll did not write this page.
We collected these quotes from things they published elsewhere, and every quote links to where it was said. They have no account here and have not endorsed this site. Quotes are word for word; the short line under each one is our own restatement, not their wording. Their own site. Is this you? Claim it or ask us to remove it. Or tell us what is wrong here.
Filter All topics · Newest first
-
Their wordsThe rights of men and women should be equal and sacred—marriage should be a perfect partnership—children should be governed by kindness,—every family should be a republic—every fireside a democracy.
↗The Ghosts, and Other Lectures (1876-1878)gutenberg.org All 20 from this book
-
Our reading
Someone threatened with punishment for their conclusions cannot weigh evidence impartially
Their wordsWhoever is held responsible for his conclusions cannot weigh the evidence with impartial scales. Fear stands at the balance, and gives to falsehood the weight of its trembling hand.
↗The Ghosts, and Other Lectures (1876-1878)gutenberg.org All 20 from this book
-
Their wordsReligion has not civilized man—man has civilized religion. God improves as man advances.
↗The Ghosts, and Other Lectures (1876-1878)gutenberg.org All 20 from this book
-
Their wordsThe science of medicine has had but one enemy—religion. Man was afraid to save his body for fear he might lose his soul.
↗The Ghosts, and Other Lectures (1876-1878)gutenberg.org All 20 from this book
-
Their wordsThere is one good—happiness. There is but one sin—selfishness. All law should be for the preservation of the one and the destruction of the other.
↗The Ghosts, and Other Lectures (1876-1878)gutenberg.org All 20 from this book
-
Their wordsA theory that is afraid of investigation is undeserving a place in the human mind.
↗The Ghosts, and Other Lectures (1876-1878)gutenberg.org All 20 from this book
-
Their wordsYou cannot change the conclusion of the brain by torture; nor by social ostracism. But I will tell you what you can do by these, and what you have done. You can make hypocrites by the million.
↗The Ghosts, and Other Lectures (1876-1878)gutenberg.org All 20 from this book
-
Their wordsHonest unbelief, honest infidelity, honest atheism, will be a perfume in heaven when pious hypocrisy, no matter how religious it may be outwardly, will be a stench.
↗The Ghosts, and Other Lectures (1876-1878)gutenberg.org All 20 from this book
-
Their wordsThis is my doctrine: Give every other human being every right you claim for yourself. Keep your mind open to the influences of nature. Receive new thoughts with hospitality.
↗The Ghosts, and Other Lectures (1876-1878)gutenberg.org All 20 from this book
-
Their wordsBy physical liberty I mean the right to do anything which does not interfere with the happiness of another. By intellectual liberty I mean the right to think right and the right to think wrong.
↗The Ghosts, and Other Lectures (1876-1878)gutenberg.org All 20 from this book
-
Their wordsIn my judgment, the woman is the equal of the man. She has all the rights I have and one more, and that is the right to be protected.
↗The Ghosts, and Other Lectures (1876-1878)gutenberg.org All 20 from this book
-
Our reading
Children have the same rights as adults and should be raised with kindness, not brutality
Their wordsI tell you the children have the same rights that we have, and we ought to treat them as though they were human beings. They should be reared with love, with kindness, with tenderness, and not with brutality.
↗The Ghosts, and Other Lectures (1876-1878)gutenberg.org All 20 from this book
-
Their wordsA lie is born of tyranny upon the one hand and weakness upon the other, and when you rush at a poor little boy with a club in your hand, of course he lies.
↗The Ghosts, and Other Lectures (1876-1878)gutenberg.org All 20 from this book
-
Their wordsIf 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.
↗The Ghosts, and Other Lectures (1876-1878)gutenberg.org All 20 from this book
-
Their wordsI believe that man came up from, the lower animals. I do not say this as a fact. I simply say I believe it to be a fact.
↗The Ghosts, and Other Lectures (1876-1878)gutenberg.org All 20 from this book
-
Their wordsAs long as woman regards the bible as the charter of her rights, she will be the slave of man.
↗The Ghosts, and Other Lectures (1876-1878)gutenberg.org All 20 from this book
-
Their wordsTHE Declaration of Independence is the grandest, the bravest, and the profoundest political document that was ever signed by the representatives of a people.
↗The Ghosts, and Other Lectures (1876-1878)gutenberg.org All 20 from this book
-
Their wordsThe religion that has to be supported by law is without value, not only, but a fraud and curse. The religious argument that has to be supported by a musket, is hardly worth making.
↗The Ghosts, and Other Lectures (1876-1878)gutenberg.org All 20 from this book
-
Their wordsIt is a thousand times better to be a whole farmer than part of a mechanic. It is better to till the ground and work for yourself than to be hired by corporations.
↗The Ghosts, and Other Lectures (1876-1878)gutenberg.org All 20 from this book
-
Their wordsSilver was demonetized by fraud. It was an imposition upon every solvent man; a fraud upon every honest debtor in the United States.
↗The Ghosts, and Other Lectures (1876-1878)gutenberg.org All 20 from this book