Great Atheistic Quotes

[Nitish]

Religion is not merely the opium of the masses,it's the cyanide. -Tom Robbins

That the world is in a bad shape is undeniable, but there is not the faintest reason in history to suppose that Christianity offers a way out. -Bertrand Russell

Religion is fundamentally opposed to everything I hold in veneration - courage, clear thinking, honesty, fairness, and, above all, love of the truth." -H L Mencken

I cannot be angry at God, in whom I do not believe. -Simone de Beauvoir

The Bible and Church have been the greatest stumbling block
in the way of women's emancipation. - Elizabeth Cady Stanton

Existentialism isn't so atheistic that it wears itself out showing that God doesn't exist.
Rather, it declares that even if God did exist, that would change nothing. - Jean-Paul Sartre

Religions are like fireflies.
They require darkness in order to shine. -Arthur Schopenhauer

Our ignorance is God; what we know is science. -Robert G. Ingersoll

"Christianity is the most perverted system that ever shone on man." -Thomas Jefferson

"Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, & the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people." -Karl Marx

Religion is comparable to a childhood neurosis -Sigmund Freud

"The fact that a believer is happier than a skeptic is no more to the point than the fact that a drunken man is happier than a sober one." -George Bernard Shaw

"A man's ethical behavior should be based effectually on sympathy, education, and social ties; no religious basis is necessary. Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after death." -Albert Einstein(Agnostic)

Religion is excellent stuff for keeping common people quiet. -Napoleon Bonaparte

The Americans should keep in mind that many of their past presidents were ATHEISTS. -Myself

[ogden]

Nitish, nice!

I found this interesting, but the theists may notice the anti religion theme.

[Didymos Thomas]

I'm not sure that any American president was an atheist. Many (at least seven if I recall correctly) were probably deists, and certainly very critical of organized religion and many common religious claims of their day.

[Justin]

What does any of this have to do with aesthetics?... Never mind, I misread the title. Atheistic has nothing to do with aesthetics... carry on! lol

[RuhiWarrior19]

Most of these are not really atheist quotes, just arguing against organized or politicized religion. I am a theist and I agree with most of those quotes!

The King of Atheism and one of the most phenomenal authors of the twentieth . . of ever, Isaac Asimov:

"If I were not an atheist, I would believe in a God who would choose to save people on the basis of the totality of their lives and not the pattern of their words. I think he would prefer an honest and righteous atheist to a TV preacher whose every word is God, God, God, and whose every deed is foul, foul, foul."

"Properly read, the Bible is the most potent force for atheism ever conceived."

[Didymos Thomas]

Most of these are not really atheist quotes, just arguing against organized or politicized religion. I am a theist and I agree with most of those quotes!

And many of those quotes come from either theists or people who would consider themselves something other than an atheists.

[<daleader>]

Originally Posted by Didymos Thomas

And many of those quotes come from either theists or people who would consider themselves something other than an atheists.

very true. I believe one even support religion. The one about the fireflys. But nice thread anyways

[Didymos Thomas]

Schopenhauer's personal devotional was the 'Upanishads'.

Thomas Jefferson was a deist, and even complied his own New Testaments - clippings from every edition of the Bible he could find, the teachings of Jesus which he thought were valuable spiritual guidance.

Of course, Einstein famously said "God does not play dice", and to my knowledge Jewish.

[Candide]

"I contend that we are both atheists. I merely believe in one less god than you. When you understand why you do not believe in all the possible gods, you will understand why I do not believe in yours."

"Wouldn't God be the first Atheist?"

[RuhiWarrior19]

Originally Posted by Didymos Thomas

Schopenhauer's personal devotional was the 'Upanishads'.

Thomas Jefferson was a deist, and even complied his own New Testaments - clippings from every edition of the Bible he could find, the teachings of Jesus which he thought were valuable spiritual guidance.

Of course, Einstein famously said "God does not play dice", and to my knowledge Jewish.

Jefferson not only used that altered Bible, he distributed it to the pagan Native Americans. While he was a secularist, he did seem to see Jesus's teachings as essential to the sort of civilization he wanted.

Einstein was Jewish, but not too religious as far as I know. He was a deeply spiritual man, and God played a role in his life, but I don't know how "Jewish" he was.

I believe in Spinoza's God who reveals Himself in the orderly harmony of what exists, not in a God who concerns himself with fates and actions of human beings.
—Albert Einstein

Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind.—Albert Einstein
If one purges the Judaism of the Prophets and Christianity as Jesus taught it of all subsequent additions, especially those of the priests, one is left with a teaching which is capable of curing all the social ills of humanity.
It is the duty of every man of good will to strive steadfastly in his own little world to make this teaching of pure humanity a living force, so far as he can. If he makes an honest attempt in this direction without being crushed and trampled under foot by his contemporaries, he may consider himself and the community to which he belongs lucky.

— From Einstein's book The World as I See It (Philosophical Library, New York, 1949) pp. 111-112