Robert Green Ingersoll
Robert Green Ingersoll
Robert Green "Bob" Ingersollwas an American lawyer, a Civil War veteran, political leader, and orator of the United States during the Golden Age of Free Thought, noted for his broad range of culture and his defense of agnosticism. He was nicknamed "The Great Agnostic"...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionLawyer
Date of Birth11 August 1833
CountryUnited States of America
doctrine human love rests
The doctrine of immortality rests upon human affection. We love; therefore, we wish to live.
authors children great
The children of great authors do not, as a rule, become writers.
man people side
The American people do not like neutrality. They would rather a man were on the wrong side than on neither.
characters highway pursued shakespeare
Shakespeare pursued the highway of the right. He did not seek to put his characters in a position where it was right to do wrong.
common facts religion science
Science has nothing in common with religion. Facts and miracles never did and never will agree.
conviction divine life religion theory
Religion is not theory - it is life. It is not intellectual conviction - it is divine humanity, and nothing else.
chain doctrine infamous man perish resent
Perish the infamous doctrine that man can have property in man. Let us resent with indignation every effort to put a chain upon our minds.
entirely government kept purely religious views
Our government should be entirely and purely secular. The religious views of a candidate should be kept entirely out of sight.
fathers worships
Our fathers worshiped the golden calf. The worst you can say of an American now is, he worships the gold of the calf.
intended knew man
Our fathers knew that the flag was never intended to protect any man who wanted to assail it.
measured tendency word work
No writer must be measured by a word or paragraph. He is to be measured by his work - by the tendency, not of one line, but by the tendency of all.
blindness conceive cruelty fugitive hard independence patriotic people utter
It is hard to conceive of the utter demoralization, of the political blindness and immorality, of the patriotic dishonesty, of the cruelty and degradation of a people who supplemented the incomparable Declaration of Independence with the Fugitive Slave Law.
ancestors children genius great heredity man people seem select
It has been said that a man of genius should select his ancestors with great care - and yet there does not seem to be as much in heredity as most people think. The children of the great are often small.
above brave citizens courage free great honor man nation pillars support
Intelligence, integrity and courage are the great pillars that support the State. Above all, the citizens of a free nation should honor the brave and independent man - the man of stainless integrity, of will and intellectual force.