Religion consists of a set of things which the average man thinks he believes and wishes he was certain

Religion consists of a set of things which the average man thinks he believes and wishes he was certain

Rough Johnson, the great moralist.

Rough Johnson, the great moralist.

What I have absolutely no sympathy with is the legislator, the man who seeks, for his own profit, to exploit read more

What I have absolutely no sympathy with is the legislator, the man who seeks, for his own profit, to exploit the weaknesses of those who are unable to help themselves and then to fasten some moral superscription upon it. This I loathe so much that I cannot conceivably explain how much it is.

Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary use words.

Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary use words.

Eskimo: "If I did not know about God and sin, would I go to hell?" Priest: "No, not if you read more

Eskimo: "If I did not know about God and sin, would I go to hell?" Priest: "No, not if you did not know." Eskimo: "Then why did you tell me?"

Religion brought forth riches, and the daughter devoured the
mother.
[Lat., Religio peperit divitias et filia devoravit matrem.]

Religion brought forth riches, and the daughter devoured the
mother.
[Lat., Religio peperit divitias et filia devoravit matrem.]

It is a fine thing to establish one's own religion in one's heart, not to be dependent on tradition and read more

It is a fine thing to establish one's own religion in one's heart, not to be dependent on tradition and second-hand ideals. Life will seem to you, later, not a lesser, but a greater thing.

Morality without religion is only a kind of dead reckoning,--an
endeavor to find our place on a cloudy sea read more

Morality without religion is only a kind of dead reckoning,--an
endeavor to find our place on a cloudy sea by measuring the
distance we have run, but without any observation of the heavenly
bodies.

When we start deceiving ourselves into thinking not that we want something or need something, not that it is a read more

When we start deceiving ourselves into thinking not that we want something or need something, not that it is a pragmatic necessity for us to have it, but that it is a moral imperative that we have it, then is when we join the fashionable madmen, and then is when the thin whine of hysteria is heard in the land, and then is when we are in bad trouble.