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.
Robert Green IngersollRead
Every cradle asks us, Whence? and every coffin, Whither? The poor barbarian, weeping above his dead, can answer these questions as intelligently as the robed priest of the most authentic creed.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Life prompts us to question our origins and our destinies, revealing the universality of these inquiries across all people.
In this quote, Ingersoll reflects on the fundamental questions of existence: where we come from and where we go after death. He suggests that these profound inquiries are not exclusive to learned individuals or religious authorities but are shared by all humanity, including the grieving and uneducated. This emphasizes the shared human experience of seeking meaning in life and death, highlighting that the answers to such existential questions can be equally grasped by everyone, regardless of their background.
Themes
ExistenceQuestionsLifeDeathHumanity
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be shared at a memorial service to reflect on the universal questions of life and death.
More from Robert Green Ingersoll
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The religion that has to be supported by law is without value, not only, but a fraud and a curse. The religious argument that has to be supported by a musket is hardly worth making.
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In all ages the people have honored those who dishonored them. They have worshiped their destroyers; they have canonized the most gigantic liars, and buried the great thieves in marble and gold. Under the loftiest monuments sleeps the dust of murder.
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I believe that there is something far nobler than loyalty to any particular man. Loyalty to the truth as we perceive it - loyalty to our duty as we know it - loyalty to the ideals of our brain and heart - is, to my mind, far greater and far nobler than loyalty to the life of any particular man or God. . . .
Robert Green IngersollRead
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