George Holyoake quotes

“Free thought means fearless thought. It is not deterred by legal penalties, nor by spiritual consequences. Dissent from the Bible does not alarm the true investigator, who takes truth for authority not authority for truth. The thinker who is really free, is independent; he is under no dread; he yields to no menace; he is not dismayed by law, nor custom, nor pulpits, nor society-whose opinion appals so many. He who has the manly passion of free thought, has no fear of anything, save the fear of error.”
-- George Holyoake

Source : George Jacob Holyoake (1896). “English Secularism: A Confession of Belief”, p.18, Library of Alexandria

#Spiritual Quotes #Mean Quotes #Independent Quotes

“There can be no public or private virtue unless the foundation of action is the practice of truth.”
-- George Holyoake

Source : George Jacob Holyoake (1850). “The History of the Last Trial by Jury for Atheism in England: A Fragment of Autobiography, Submitted for the Perusal of Her Majesty's Attorney General and the British Clergy”, p.37

#Truth Quotes #Practice Quotes #Foundation Quotes

“Atheism deprives superstition of its stand ground, and compels Theism to reason for its existence”
-- George Holyoake

Source : George Jacob Holyoake (1896). “The Origin and Nature of Secularism: Showing that where Freethought Commonly Ends Secularism Begins”

#Atheism Quotes #Superstitions Quotes #Reason Quotes

“I do not believe there is such a thing as a God.”
-- George Holyoake

#Believe Quotes #Atheism Quotes

“If I could have my way I would place the Deity on half-pay as the Government of this Country did the subaltern officers.”
-- George Holyoake

#Country Quotes #Government Quotes #Atheism Quotes

“Anybody can see that the little money you get is half-wasted, because you cannot spend it to advantage. The worst food comes to the poor, which their poverty makes them buy and their necessity makes them eat. Their stomachs are the waste-basket of the State. It is their lot to swallow all the adulterations on the market.”
-- George Holyoake

#Atheism Quotes #Half Quotes #Littles Quotes

“A poor man cannot rival the rich in luxury of life, but he can in luxury of knowledge. He cannot furnish his house as the wealthy can, but he can furnish his head. He cannot found a house of note, but he may found a mind of mark. Though some kingdoms may be adorned or afflicted with kings, learning has always been a republic, where all are equal who know.”
-- George Holyoake

#Kings Quotes #Men Quotes #Luxury Quotes

“A devotee should be fixed in the conclusion that, the spiritual master cannot be subject to criticism and should never be considered equal to a common man.”

“Since one cannot visually experience the presence of the Supersoul, He appears before us as a liberated devotee. Such a spiritual master is none other than Krishna himself.”

“The holy name of Krishna has extraordinary spiritual potency because the name of God is nondifferent from God Himself.”

“The whole bible is the working out of the relationship between God and man. God is not a dictator barking out orders and demanding silent obedience. Were it so, there would be no relationship at all. No real relationship goes just one way. There are always two active parties. We must have reverence and awe for God, and honor for the chain of tradition. But that doesn't mean we can't use new information to help us read the holy texts in new ways.”

“We two remake our world by naming it / Together, knowing what words mean for us / And for the other for whom current coin / Is cold speech--but we say, the tree, the pool, / And see the fire in the air, the sun, our sun, / Anybody's sun, the world's sun, but here, now / Particularly our sun....”

“There are a billion people in China. It's not easy to be an individual in a crowd of more than a billion people. Think of it. More than a billion people. That means even if you're a one-in-a-million type of guy, there are still a thousand guys exactly like you.”

Source : A. Whitney Brown (1991). “The Big Picture: An American Commentary”, Harper Perennial

“Labor is prior to, and independent of, capital. Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if labor had not first existed. Labor is the superior of capital, and deserves much the higher consideration.”

“Human beings have fabricated the illusion that in the 21st century they have the technological prowess to be independent of nature. Bees underline the reality that we are more, not less, dependent on nature’s services in a world of close to 7 billion people”

Source : "Bee deaths may signal wider pollination threat: U.N." by Alister Doyle, www.reuters.com. March 10, 2011.

“From first to last it is a dish of rank materialism cleverly cooked up ... . And why is this done? For no other reason, I am sure, except to make us independent of a Creator.”

“Civilization can only revive when there shall come into being in a number of individuals a new tone of mind, independent of the prevalent one among the crowds, and in opposition to it - a tone of mind which will gradually win influence over the collective one, and in the end determine its character. Only an ethical movement can rescue us from barbarism, and the ethical comes into existence only in individuals.”