deconversion

Do you know any notable quotes? If so post them here!

I'll start with one I read last night in The Atheist's Way: Living Well Without Gods.

Quoting Henry Fielding, "'No man has ever sat down calmly unbiased to reason out his religion and not ended by rejecting it.'"

THAT is a great quote!

Oh, I have a whole file dedicated to good quotes. I'll just put in a few of my favorites:

Sacred cows make the best hamburger - Mark Twain

Christianity:
...the belief that a cosmic Jewish Zombie who was his own father can make you live forever if you symbolically eat his flesh and telepathically tell him you accept him as your master, so he can remove an evil force from your soul that is present in humanity because a rib-woman was convinced by a talking snake to eat from a magical tree. (source unknown)

"You can't reason someone out of a position they didn't reason themselves into." (Swift?)

And what is probably my favorite quote ever:
"I was robbed! I spent the whole night waiting for the Great Pumpkin when I could have been out for tricks or treats! Halloween is over and I missed it! You blockhead! You kept me up all night waiting for the Great Pumpkin and all that came was a beagle!

I didn't get a chance to go out for tricks or treats! And it was all your fault! I'll sue! What a fool I was. And could have had candy apples and gum! And cookies and money and all sorts of things! But no, I had to listen to you! You blockhead. What a fool I was. Trick or treats come only once a year. And I miss it by sitting in a pumpkin patch with a blockhead. You owe me restitution!" -Sally Brown, It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!

Like Ubi, I have a whole file full of great quotes. Here are some faves. “It is surely harmful to souls to make it a heresy to believe what is proved.” [The Authority of Scripture in Philosophical Controversies]

"You and you alone are the sole arbiter of the meaning of your life"
~Eric Maisel

“Why continue? Because we must. Because we have the call. Because it is nobler to fight for rationality without winning than to give up in the face of continued defeats. Because whatever true progress humanity makes is through the rationality of the occasional individual and because any one individual we may win for the cause may do more for humanity than a hundred thousand who hug their superstitions to their breast.” - Isaac Asimov

Saw this on a T-shirt on cafepress.com for freethoughtnation.com:

"The truth will set you free...
right after it pisses you off!"

Methinks that only folks like us can truly appreciate the wit here.

Isn’t it enough to see that a garden is beautiful without having to believe that there are fairies at the bottom of it too? - Douglas Adams

You don’t use science to show that you’re right. You use science to become right. - XKCD (today)

I really like the quotes idea. I am on the hunt for quotes that are empowering or inspiring that could be used in a footer. I have noticed a ton of Bible verses in the footers of one of the forums I frequent. I'd like to have several quotes to alternate in my footer that are positive but not religious. If anyone has any - pass them on? I'll share some if I find them.

How about this one?

Happiness is the only good. The place to be happy is here. The time to be happy is now. The way to be happy is to make others so. – Robert Ingersoll

"To deny our impulses, is to deny the very thing that makes us human"
Ok, ok, it was from the matrix, but I still like it as we were all once told to deny our impulses.

I saw a great quote the other day but can't find the bugger again, it was something about the first man to proclaim land as his own and having people foolish enough to believe him. Anyone know what im on about?

No, Crozzy. I'm afraid I haven't heard the one you're referring to.

Your comment made me think about something I've wondered about for years: why do people follow someone, especially a bad person?

Take our most infamous example, Hitler. Why did anyone follow Hitler, especially after they figured out what he was all about. Why did any of his generals follow his orders? Because they would be executed? What was he going to do, walk around personally executing everyone who didn't follow his orders? What? No one was going to shoot back?

If no one had done what he said, he would have had NO power. He only had power BECAUSE people did what he said. Is he proof that

Fear.

Or maybe something along the lines of looking out for number 1. It's horrible but would you sacrifice your morals for survival? If not you, would people you know do it? It almost loops back to fear when faced with starvation, poverty, and homelessness.

Also, I don't know much about modern history but I'm pretty sure before he was a tyrant he was both an excellent public speaker and a poltician who helped his country's massive debt after WWI.

No, Crozzy. I'm afraid I haven't heard the one you're referring to.

Your comment made me think about something I've wondered about for years: why do people follow someone, especially a bad person?

Take our most infamous example, Hitler. Why did anyone follow Hitler, especially after they figured out what he was all about. Why did any of his generals follow his orders? Because they would be executed? What was he going to do, walk around personally executing everyone who didn't follow his orders? What? No one was going to shoot back?

If no one had done what he said, he would have had NO power. He only had power BECAUSE people did what he said. Is he proof that

Hey! What happened to the rest of my post? I was saying, "Is he proof that might makes right? If you are willing to hurt/kill people, the mob (er, society) will put you in power?"

To try and keep on topic:
"Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe."

"Science without religion is lame. Religion without science is blind."

"The further the spiritual evolution of mankind advances, the more certain it seems to me that the path to genuine religiosity does not lie through the fear of life, and the fear of death, and blind faith, but through striving after rational knowledge."

"I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones."

All Einstein (unreliable source), the last one is interesting because in 1939 he signed a letter to Roosevelt warning him about the Nazi's developing an atom bomb, giving America incentive to research the technology and later start the Manhattan Project. Einstein later on allegedly regretted signing letter.

double post!
"Life is simple unless you make it confusing. The wise know this and the clever will use it" - Sticky Fingaz