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

All religion, my friend, is simply evolved out of fraud, fear, greed, imagination, and poetry.

All religion, my friend, is simply evolved out of fraud, fear, greed, imagination, and poetry.

G-- knows I'm no the thing I should be,
Nor am I even the thing I could be,
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G-- knows I'm no the thing I should be,
Nor am I even the thing I could be,
But twenty times I rather would be
An atheist clean,
Than under gospel colours hid be,
Just for a screen.

If there is a God, atheism must seem to Him as less of an insult than religion.

If there is a God, atheism must seem to Him as less of an insult than religion.

Suppose we've chosen the wrong god

Suppose we've chosen the wrong god

We have just enough religion to make us hate, but not enough to make us love one another.

We have just enough religion to make us hate, but not enough to make us love one another.

Religion is not a department of life; it is something that enters into the whole of it.

Religion is not a department of life; it is something that enters into the whole of it.

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.]

To listen to some devout people, one would imagine that God never laughs.

To listen to some devout people, one would imagine that God never laughs.