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
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.
Interpretation
What this quote means
True faith should stand on its own merits without coercion or legal pressure.
In this quote, Robert Green Ingersoll emphasizes the idea that genuine belief should not rely on legal enforcement or physical force. He suggests that if a religion requires the backing of laws or violence to maintain its followers, it lacks authenticity and moral worth. This reflects a broader commentary on the nature of faith and its intrinsic value, independent of external pressures or societal norms.
Themes
FaithCoercionLawReligionMorality
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a discussion on religious freedom and the importance of genuine belief.
More from Robert Green Ingersoll
All quotes →If 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.
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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.
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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. . . .
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Happiness is the only good. The time to be happy is now. The place to be happy is here. The way to be happy is to make others so.
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