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
To destroy guide-boards that point in the wrong direction . . . to drive the fiend of fear from the mind . . . is the task of the Freethinker.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Freethinkers challenge false beliefs and dispel fear to seek truth and understanding.
This quote emphasizes the role of a freethinker in society as someone who criticizes and dismantles misleading guidance and irrational fears that hinder true understanding and progress. By advocating for independent thought and rationality, freethinkers aim to liberate individuals from the constraints imposed by dogma and fear, thus enabling a more enlightened way of living.
Themes
FreethinkerFearTruthRationalityBelief
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about critical thinking in education, this quote can inspire students to question assumptions.
More from Robert Green Ingersoll
All quotes βIf the guardians of society, the protectors of 'young persons,' could have had their way, we should have known nothing of Byron or Shelley. The voices that thrill the world would now be silent.
Robert Green IngersollRead
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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There is no slavery but ignorance.
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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.
Robert Green IngersollRead
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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