Quote #96

Crowned force has governed ignorance through fear. Hypocrisy and tyranny - two vultures - have fed upon the liberties of man. From all these there has been, and is, but one means of escape - intellectual development. Upon the back industry has been the whip. Upon the brain have been the fetters of superstition. Nothing has been left undone by the enemies of freedom. Every art and artifice, every cruelty and outrage has been practiced and perpetrated to destroy the rights of man. In this great struggle every crime has been rewarded and every virtue has been punished. Reading, writing, thinking and investigating have all been crimes.

More from Robert G. Ingersoll

  1. Courage without conscience is a wild beast.
  2. Do not, I pray you, pluck from the heart the sweet flower of pity and trample it in the bloody dust of superstition.
  3. Colleges are places where pebbles are polished and diamonds are dimmed.
  4. Does belief depend upon evidence? I think it does somewhat in some cases. How is it when a jury is sworn to try a case, hearing all the evi…
  5. Certainly marriages by Justices of the Peace cannot cause the mental, moral and financial decay of a State.
  6. Each is entitled to the honest opinion of all.
  7. Celibacy is the essence of vulgarity.
  8. Each nation has created a god, and the god has always resembled his creators. He hated and loved what they hated and loved, and he invariab…

All Robert G. Ingersoll quotes