Robert Green Ingersoll
Robert Green Ingersoll
Robert Green "Bob" Ingersollwas an American lawyer, a Civil War veteran, political leader, and orator of the United States during the Golden Age of Free Thought, noted for his broad range of culture and his defense of agnosticism. He was nicknamed "The Great Agnostic"...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionLawyer
Date of Birth11 August 1833
CountryUnited States of America
air eyes liberty light love lungs soul
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.
catholics continent declare eternal maryland people universal
The Catholics of Maryland were the first people on the new continent to declare universal religious toleration. Let this be remembered to their eternal honor.
prayer noble answers
Labor is the only prayer that Nature answers: It is the only prayer that deserves an answer—good, honest, noble work.
motivational faith religious
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.
prayer labor-day answers
Labor is the only prayer that Nature answers.
facts unnecessary infamous
When a fact can be demonstrated, force is unnecessary; when it cannot be demonstrated, force is infamous.
christian prayer savages
The savage prays to a stone that he calls a god, while the Christian prays to a god he calls a spirit, and the prayers of both are equally useful.
writing years names
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.
church atheism positive-atheism
The churches have no confidence in each other. Why? Because they are acquainted with each other.
prayer air religion
All prayers die in the air which they uselessly agitate.
prayer deeds good-deeds
A good deed is the best prayer.
holiness eras world
In our era, the road to holiness necessarily passes through the world of action.
money ambition insanity
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.
kings philosophy years
Years should not be devoted to the acquisition of dead languages or to the study of history which, for the most part, is a detailed account of things that never occurred. It is useless to fill the individual with dates of great battles, with the births and deaths of kings. They should be taught the philosophy of history, the growth of nations, of philosophies, theories, and, above all, of the sciences.