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
Religion has not civilized man, man has civilized religion.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote suggests that human development and morality shape religion rather than religion shaping humanity.
Ingersoll's quote emphasizes the idea that humans are the ones who define and evolve religious beliefs and practices, rather than being static recipients of divine dictates. It highlights the responsibility of humanity in interpreting and applying religious principles to foster a more civilized society, suggesting that progress on moral and ethical issues often comes from human ingenuity rather than religious frameworks.
Themes
ReligionCivilizationHumanityMoralityProgress
In practice
Example use cases
During a lecture on ethics, one might quote this to emphasize the need for humans to take responsibility for moral progress.
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.
Robert Green IngersollRead
There is no slavery but ignorance.
Robert Green IngersollRead
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
Similar quotes
Either you think, or else others have to think for you and take power from you, pervert and discipline your natural tastes, civilize and sterilize you.
F. Scott FitzgeraldRead
We on Earth have just awakened to the great oceans of space and time from which we have emerged. We are the legacy of 15 billion years of cosmic evolution. We have a choice: We can enhance life and come to know the universe that made us, or we can squander our 15 billion-year heritage in meaningless self-destruction. What happens in the first second of the next cosmic year depends on what we do, here and now, with our intelligence and our knowledge of the cosmos.
Carl SaganRead
It is the greatest mistake to think that man is always one and the same. A man is never the same for long. He is continually changing. He seldom remains the same even for half an hour.
G. I. GurdjieffRead
To become a philosopher, start by walking very slowly.
Nassim Nicholas TalebRead
No human face is exactly the same in its lines on each side, no leaf perfect in its lobes, no branch in its symmetry. All admit irregularity as they imply change; and to banish imperfection is to destroy expression, to check exertion, to paralyze vitality. All things are literally better, lovelier, and more beloved for the imperfections which have been divinely appointed, that the law of human life may be Effort, and the law of human judgment, Mercy.
John RuskinRead
Religion was fading into the background. He had shovelled away all the beliefs that would hamper him, had cleared the ground, and come more or less to the bedrock of belief that one should feel inside oneself for right or wrong, and should have the patience to gradually realise one's God. Now life interested him more.
D. H. LawrenceRead