101 Quotations by or about Atheists

[Hitokiri]

Found this an interesting read. It's been posted several times; thought I'd share it here. Warning Wall of text to follow.

Spoiler:

1. The fact that a believer is happier than a sceptic is no more to the point than the fact that a drunken man is happier than a sober one. The happiness of credulity is a cheap and dangerous quality. - George Bernard Shaw
2. Faith means not wanting to know what is true. - Friedrich Nietzsche
3. I believe in God, only I spell it Nature. - Frank Lloyd Wright
4. We must question the story logic of having an all-knowing all-powerful God, who creates faulty Humans, and then blames them for his own mistakes. - Gene Roddenberry
5. To surrender to ignorance and call it God has always been premature, and it remains premature today. - Isaac Asimov
6. A man is accepted into a church for what he believes and he is turned out for what he knows. - Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain)
7. Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by the rulers as useful. - Seneca the Younger
8. Philosophy is questions that may never be answered. Religion is answers that may never be questioned. - Anonymous
9. Not only is there no god, but try getting a plumber on weekends. - Woody Allen
10. 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. - Isaac Asimov
11. Belief in the supernatural reflects a failure of the imagination. - Edward Abbey
12. With or without religion, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion. - Steven Weinberg
13. I still say a church steeple with a lightning rod on top shows a lack of confidence. - Doug McLeod
14. The world holds two classes of men - intelligent men without religion, and religious men without intelligence. - Abu’l‐Ala al Ma’arri
15. Since the Bible and the church are obviously mistaken in telling us where we came from, how can we trust them to tell us where we are going? - Anonymous
16. I distrust those people who know so well what God wants them to do because I notice it always coincides with their own desires. - Susan B. Anthony
17. The invisible and the non-existent look very much alike. - Delos B. McKown
18. Two hands working can do more than a thousand clasped in prayer. - Anonymous
19. Atheism leaves a man to sense, to philosophy, to natural piety, to laws, to reputation; all of which may be guides to an outward moral virtue, even if religion vanished; but religious superstition dismounts all these and erects an absolute monarchy in the minds of men. - Francis Bacon
20. The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully. - Richard Dawkins
21. A God who kept tinkering with the universe was absurd; a God who interfered with human freedom and creativity was tyrant. If God is seen as a self in a world of his own, an ego that relates to a thought, a cause separate from its effect. he becomes a being, not Being itself. An omnipotent, all‐knowing tyrant is not so different from earthly dictators who make everything and everybody mere cogs in the machine which they controlled. An atheism that rejects such a God is amply justified. - Karen Armstrong
22. It is not as in the Bible, that God created man in his own image. But, on the contrary, man created God in his own image. - Ludwig Feuerbach
23. People ask me what I think about that woman priest thing. What, a woman priest? Women priests. Great, great. Now there’s priests of both sexes I don’t listen to. - Bill Hicks
24. All the biblical miracles will at last disappear with the progress of science. - Matthew Arnold
25. Blind faith is an ironic gift to return to the Creator of human intelligence. - Anonymous
26. Be thankful that you have a life, and forsake your vain and presumptuous desire for a second one. - Richard Dawkins
27. What can be asserted without proof can be dismissed without proof. - Christopher Hitchens
28. In Christianity neither morality nor religion come into contact with reality at any point. - Friedrich Nietzsche
29. It will yet be the proud boast of women that they never contributed a line to the Bible. - George W. Foote
30. On the first day, man created God. - Anonymous
31. I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours. - Stephen Roberts
32. You do not need the Bible to justify love, but no better tool has been invented to justify hate. - Richard A. Weatherwax
33. What’s “God”? Well, you know, when you want something really bad and you close your eyes and you wish for it? God’s the guy that ignores you. - Steve Buscemi (From the movie “The Island”)
34. As far as I can tell from studying the scriptures, all you do in heaven is pretty much just sit around all day and praise the Lord. I don’t know about you, but I think that after the first, oh, I don’t know, 50,000,000 years of that I’d start to get a little bored. - Rick Reynolds
35. Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day; teach a man to fish and he will eat for a lifetime; give a man religion and he will die praying for a fish. - Anonymous
36. Calling Atheism a religion is like calling bald a hair color. - Don Hirschberg
37. God should be executed for crimes against humanity. - Bryan Emmanuel Gutierrez
38. To say that atheism requires faith is as dim-witted as saying that disbelief in pixies or leprechauns takes faith. Even if Einstein himself told me there was an elf on my shoulder, I would still ask for proof and I wouldn’t be wrong to ask. - Geoff Mather
39. I do not fear death. I had been dead for billions and billions of years before I was born, and had not suffered the slightest inconvenience from it. - Mark Twain
40. Of all religions the Christian is without doubt the one which should inspire tolerance most, although up to now the Christians have been the most intolerant of all men. - Voltaire
41. And if there were a God, I think it very unlikely that He would have such an uneasy vanity as to be offended by those who doubt His existence. - Bertrand Russell
42. Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God? - Epicurus
43. I’m a polyatheist - there are many gods I don’t believe in. - Dan Fouts
44. If it turns out that there is a God, I don’t think that he’s evil. But the worst that you can say about him is that basically he’s an underachiever. - Woody Allen
45. A lie is a lie even if everyone believes it. The truth is the truth even if nobody believes it. - David Stevens
46. Men rarely (if ever) manage to dream up a God superior to themselves. Most Gods have the manners and morals of a spoiled child. - Robert A Heinlein
47. I refuse to prove that I exist,” says God, “for proof denies faith, and without faith I am nothing. - Douglas Adams
48. It ain’t the parts of the Bible that I can’t understand that bother me, it is the parts that I do understand. - Mark Twain
49. He that will not reason is a bigot; he that cannot reason is a fool; he that dares not reason is a slave. - William Drummond
50. Remember, Jesus would rather constantly shame gays than let orphans have a family. - Steven Colbert
51. Which is it, is man one of God’s blunders or is God one of man’s? - Friedrich Nietzsche
52. Religion does three things quite effectively: Divides people, Controls people, Deludes people. - Carlespie Mary Alice McKinney
53. Religion has caused more misery to all of mankind in every stage of human history than any other single idea. - Anonymous
54. When a man is freed of religion, he has a better chance to live a normal and wholesome life. - Sigmund Freud
55. They felt that science would be corrosive to religious belief and they were worried about it. Damn it, I think they were right. It is corrosive to religious belief and it’s a good thing. - Steven Weinberg
56. Take from the church the miraculous, the supernatural, the incomprehensible, the unreasonable, the impossible, the unknowable, the absurd, and nothing but a vacuum remains. - Robert G. Ingersoll
57. History teaches us that no other cause has brought more death than the word of god. - Giulian Buzila
58. Atheism is a non-prophet organization. - George Carlin
59. We are all atheists about most of the gods that societies have ever believed in. Some of us just go one god further. - Richard Dawkins
60. A believer states everything must have a creator but fail to say how he was created. - Anonymous
61. “There are no atheists in foxholes” isn’t an argument against atheism, it’s an argument against foxholes. - James Morrow
62. People will then often say, ‘But surely it’s better to remain an Agnostic just in case?’ This, to me, suggests such a level of silliness and muddle that I usually edge out of the conversation rather than get sucked into it. (If it turns out that I’ve been wrong all along, and there is in fact a god, and if it further turned out that this kind of legalistic, cross-your-fingers-behind-your-back, Clintonian hair-splitting impressed him, then I think I would choose not to worship him anyway.) - Douglas Adams
63. Properly read, the bible is the most potent force for Atheism ever conceived. - Isaac Asimov
64. If all the Christians who have called other Christians “not really a Christian” were to vanish, there’d be no Christians left. - Anonymous
65. An atheist is a man who has no invisible means of support. - John Buchan
66. Gods dont kill people. People with Gods kill people. - David Viaene
67. If God were suddenly condemned to live the life which He has inflicted upon men, He would kill Himself. - Alexandre Dumas
68. Atheism is nothing more than the noises reasonable people make when in the presence of religious dogma. - Sam Harris
69. I don’t believe in God because I don’t believe in Mother Goose - Clarence Darrow
70. No philosophy, no religion, has ever brought so glad a message to the world as this good news of Atheism. - Annie Wood Besant
71. I refuse to believe in a god who is the primary cause of conflict in the world, preaches racism, sexism, homophobia, and ignorance, and then sends me to hell if I’m ‘bad’. - Mike Fuhrman
72. Faith does not give you the answers, it just stops you asking the questions. - Frater Ravus
73. Believing there is no God gives me more room for belief in family, people, love, truth, beauty, sex, Jell-o, and all the other things I can prove and that make this life the best life I will ever have. - Penn Jillette
74. Absolute faith corrupts as absolutely as absolute power but absolute power is corrupt only in the hands of the absolutely faithful. - Anonymous
75. Gods are fragile things; they may be killed by a whiff of science or a dose of common sense. - Chapman Cohen
76. The inspiration of the bible depends on the ignorance of the person who reads it. - Robert G. Ingersoll
77. When one person suffers from a delusion, it is called insanity. When many people suffer from a delusion, it is called religion. - Robert Pirsig
78. I wonder who got the shit job of scouring the planet for the 15000 species of butterfly or the 8800 species of ant they eventually took on board Noah’s Ark. But at least we got that magical rainbow for all their trouble. - Azura Skye
79. I have no need for religion, I have a conscience. - Anonymous
80. Man has always required an explanation for all of those things in the world he did not understand. If an explanation was not available, he created one. - Jim Crawford
81. I am against religion because it teaches us to be satisfied with not understanding the world. - Richard Dawkins
82. What has been Christianity’s fruits? Superstition, Bigotry and Persecution. - James Madison
83. The characters and events depicted in the damn bible are fictitious. Any similarity to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. - Penn and Teller
84. If god is the alpha and the omega. The begining and the end, knows what has passed and what is to come, like it states in the bible, why do people pray and think it will make any difference. - Mark Fairclough
85. The finality of death is the coldest truth one must face. Religion makes the perfect distraction. - Anonymous
86. Religion is the opiate of the masses. - Karl Marx
87. If God created the world, then who created god? and who created whoever created god? So somewhere along the line something had to just be there. So why can’t we just skip the idea of god and go straight to earth? - Ryan Hanson
88. If we expect God to subscribe to one religion at the exclusion of all the others, then we should expect damnation as a matter of chance. This should give Christians pause when expounding their religious beliefs, but it does not. - Sam Harris
89. Atheists will celebrate life, while you’re in church celebrating death. - Anonymous
90. Animals do not have gods, they are smarter than that. - Ronnie Snow
91. I have observed that the world has suffered far less from ignorance than from pretensions to knowledge. It is not skeptics or explorers but fanatics and ideologues who menace decency and progress. No agnostic ever burned anyone at the stake or tortured a pagan, a heretic, or an unbeliever. - Daniel Boorstin
92. I have never seen the slightest scientific proof of the religious ideas of heaven and hell, of future life for individuals, or of a personal God. So far as religion of the day is concerned, it is a damned fake… Religion is all bunk. - Thomas Edison
93. Fundamentalism, of any type, due to its prerequisite lack of intelligent thought, could prove to be the worst weapon of mass destruction, of all. - David J. Constable
94. To really be free, You need to be free in the mind. - Alexander Loutsis
95. Most religions prophecy the end of the world and then consistently work together to ensure that these prophecies come true. - Anonymous
96. Jesus hardly made the greatest sacrifice. He knew he would be resurrected anyway. - Anonymous
97. Religion is like a virus that affects the behaviour of its host in such a way as to propagate itself further. - Jack Pritchard
98. Religions are like pills, which must be swallowed whole without chewing. - Thomas Hobbs
99. Today’s religion will be the future’s mythology. Both believed at one time by many; but proved wrong by the clever. - Steven Crocker
100. The Bible - A Fairytale book of rules brainwashing millions. Obliviously used to help create war, kill, hate, judge and discriminate. - Anonymous
101. Why can’t we see that a garden is beautiful without having to believe that there are fairies at the bottom of it too? - Douglas Adams

 

[Legomyeggo]

Incoming religious shitstorm.

 

[Halifirien]

Cool compilation. I especially like the Richard Dawkins quotes.

 

[Raesvelg]

Incoming religious shitstorm.

Good, good. History was getting boring, with an insufficient number of qualified debaters on the opposite side.

 

[Alyada]

Cool compilation. I especially like the Richard Dawkins quotes.

Richard Dawkins is the man. I just read one of his books and it was good.

 

[Halifirien]

Which book? I recently finished The God Delusion and enjoyed it a lot. I've got to get more of his stuff at some point. I'd really like to read Climbing Mt. Improbable or The Blind Watchmaker.

 

[smalls]

starting on a side note,since the nature of the post screams go off topic and it is mentioned a few times: why is it "racism" and "homophobia" it seems like it should be reversed, racephobia and homoist seem more appropriate. also it seems like homophobia should be a fear of things that are the same. but i digress

more on topic why do atheist claim to not be bound by religion when clearly they are obsessed with it. most of these people have very little comprehension of religion, made clear by their unanimous conclusion that religion is inherently evil.

also the creator of this list seem to have been confused as many of these people are not atheists and are not talking about atheism. i especially like the quote by colbert who is actually mocking these people.

 

[RaidrX]

lolReligion.

 

[Halifirien]

most of these people have very little comprehension of religion, made clear by their unanimous conclusion that religion is inherently evil.

Not evil. Just kinda silly and mucho irrational.

 

[Raesvelg]

Not evil. Just kinda silly and mucho irrational.

Aye, I'm about as atheistic and anti-religion as humanly possible, and I wouldn't necessarily classify religion as "evil". Misguided, archaic, foolish, dehumanizing, any of those will apply quite nicely. Religion isn't really evil, though religions can be.

I question the need for an external source of morality, and of the need for an originator of the universe.

 

[Tyrath]

Is there a link this comes from? Wanna send it to my friend but its kinda big to copypasta ;

 

[smalls]

http://www.bspcn.com/2008/08/25/101-atheist-quotes/

 

[Tyrath]

Thanks

 

[Trippyhippy]

starting on a side note,since the nature of the post screams go off topic and it is mentioned a few times: why is it "racism" and "homophobia" it seems like it should be reversed, racephobia and homoist seem more appropriate. also it seems like homophobia should be a fear of things that are the same. but i digress

Racism is appropriately named. The suffix -ism denotes a distinctive system of beliefs, myth, doctrine or theory that guides a social movement, institution, class or group. A racephobia would be a fear of races. Racists aren't scared of certain ethnicities, they simply hate them and believe them to be a lower form of life.

I think Homophobia is appropriately named as well. The only way it could be more descriptive is if it was homosexualphobia. People that don't like gay people, for the most part, are simply scared that all gay people are out to have sex with them. They are scared of what they think gay people will do to them. Homoist would mean basically the same thing as homosexual. also, homophobia does basically mean fear of things that are the same. More to the point, it means scared of sexual intercourse with someone that is the same as you.

more on topic why do atheist claim to not be bound by religion when clearly they are obsessed with it. most of these people have very little comprehension of religion, made clear by their unanimous conclusion that religion is inherently evil.

You say that we are "clearly obsessed with it, but give no example as to how and offer no proof of any kind to back up your tactless abrasive words.

I however say I have a better understanding of religion (christianity, satanism, Hindu, Muslim etc.) than most religious people. The reason I say that is because unlike most religious people, I studied all religions instead of just the one I was born into because I was trying to figure out my beliefs instead of just believing what I was told.

You name a religion and I will explain how said religion is "evil". And since you have 2 atheists posting before me about how they don't think it's all evil, that makes your statement false because you used the word unanimous.

also the creator of this list seem to have been confused as many of these people are not atheists and are not talking about atheism.

Which one did you see that was not one or the other?

i especially like the quote by Colbert who is actually mocking these people.

by saying "Remember, Jesus would rather constantly shame gays than let orphans have a family." you think Colbert is mocking atheists?

You should try and back up what you say if you are going to make outrageous unsubstantiated claims.

Explain yourself.

 

[alanon]

Aye, I'm about as atheistic and anti-religion as humanly possible, and I wouldn't necessarily classify religion as "evil". Misguided, archaic, foolish, dehumanizing, any of those will apply quite nicely. Religion isn't really evil, though religions can be.

I'm glad you seperated the two. I wouldn't say that I am anti-religon, but I am not far from it and have decided it is not for me. I do however believe in God. I think it's an important distinction and a seperation more people need to make. I wish the religious nut job fucko's would realize just how much damage they are doing. I have several friends that have gone atheist for no other reason than because they have been told by morons that God 'hates' them or what they do. God doesn't hate them, just some of his 'followers' are seriously fucked in the head. Man, that shit pisses me off. Turn your back on religion, not God.

 

[smalls]

Racism is appropriately named. The suffix -ism denotes a distinctive system of beliefs, myth, doctrine or theory that guides a social movement, institution, class or group. A racephobia would be a fear of races. Racists aren't scared of certain ethnicities, they simply hate them and believe them to be a lower form of life.

I think Homophobia is appropriately named as well. The only way it could be more descriptive is if it was homosexualphobia. People that don't like gay people, for the most part, are simply scared that all gay people are out to have sex with them. They are scared of what they think gay people will do to them. Homoist would mean basically the same thing as homosexual. also, homophobia does basically mean fear of things that are the same. More to the point, it means scared of sexual intercourse with someone that is the same as you.

i knew it would be only a matter of time before you posted.

this part was really more of a joke. although, i think some people who are lumped in with racists would more appropriately be represented as someone who is afraid of certain ethnicities. and i dont think many people are afraid of gay people being out to have sex with them. maybe disgusted by it.

You say that we are "clearly obsessed with it, but give no example as to how and offer no proof of any kind to back up your tactless abrasive words.

I however say I have a better understanding of religion (christianity, satanism, Hindu, Muslim etc.) than most religious people. The reason I say that is because unlike most religious people, I studied all religions instead of just the one I was born into because I was trying to figure out my beliefs instead of just believing what I was told.

You name a religion and I will explain how said religion is "evil". And since you have 2 atheists posting before me about how they don't think it's all evil, that makes your statement false because you used the word unanimous.

no examples? the entire first post is an example. you make a great example yourself. also when you counted the atheist who think religion is evil you missed a few of the quoted people.

Which one did you see that was not one or the other?



by saying "Remember, Jesus would rather constantly shame gays than let orphans have a family." you think Colbert is mocking atheists?

You should try and back up what you say if you are going to make outrageous unsubstantiated claims.

Explain yourself.

susan b. anthony technically was not an atheist and her quote doesnt say anything about a disbelief in god, only a distrust in humans

colbert is definitely not an atheist and the statement is an obvious joke.

mark twain wasnt an atheist and none of his quotes are about a disbelief in god

of course this really depends on how you define atheist but i see it as a disbelief in god. im sure there are more i really dont want to read all 101 again.

 

[Daveman]

Your claim that atheists are obsessed with religion is incorrect, the vast majority of atheists do not talk about their (lack of) beliefs, they see no purpose to say what they don't believe in. But since atheism is NOT a religion, they don't go to a church(or equivalent), they don't spread their word, and make no impression at all. The number of atheists who go around bashing religion left and right are probably proportionally the same as Christians who try to ban evolution from being taught in schools.

Don't mistake the vocal few for the group at large.

 

[Trippyhippy]

no examples? the entire first post is an example. you make a great example yourself.

Maybe you are confused about what the word "example" means. The only thing you said that was even close to an example was the "by their unanimous conclusion that religion is inherently evil" bit. But like I said in my last post, that is obviously quite wrong as 2 atheists posted in disagreement with that statement between your post and mine.

Further more, I am hardly an example of how anything you said is true in any way.

also when you counted the atheist who think religion is evil you missed a few of the quoted people.

I still only count Raesvelg and Hali as being the only "2 atheists posting before me about how they don't think it's all evil". Who else posted that religion isn't all evil in this thread?

susan b. anthony technically was not an atheist and her quote doesnt say anything about a disbelief in god, only a distrust in humans

Not true. Here is an explanation. Of course, I can present the information, but I can't make you care. (or read it for that matter)

colbert is definitely not an atheist and the statement is an obvious joke.

I agree. Which is why I wonder why you thought he was ridiculing atheists since it was an obvious joke at the expense of christians.

mark twain wasnt an atheist and none of his quotes are about a disbelief in god

If you would like to deny that Mark Twain had anything more than contempt for religion, go right ahead. That doesn't make you right, it only makes you stubborn.

of course this really depends on how you define atheist but i see it as a disbelief in god. im sure there are more i really dont want to read all 101 again.

Atheism, as an explicit position, can be either the affirmation of the nonexistence of gods, or the rejection of theism.

Not my definition, but the actual definition.

Also, admitting to being an atheist had very harsh consequences until the last 30 years or so. To do such a thing when Mark Twain was alive would have been occupational suicide. For Susan B. Anthony, it would have meant the end of her struggle.

I would explain myself better if I thought you cared about or understood what I am trying to say, but I find that to be the least likely scenario, so I'll end it here before it becomes tl;dr.

 

[Miruyasha]

Atheism isn't about bashing God or Christians. As Trippy said, the literal definition is an affirmation of the nonexistance of Gods, be they Christian, Hindu, Muslim, Taoist, Buddhist or any religions deity. I myself don't believe in any form of celestial, ethereal being, but that doesn't mean I'm bashing God(s). It merely means I don't believe in my life being controlled or monitored by another force.

 

[mysticalone]

Turn your back on religion, not God.

AMEN!

everyone believes what they want. personally i have been through too much and seen enough (good or bad) in my 37 years to not think there is a higher being (whether you call him god or w/e else). i just feel those who do not believe are too young or have not had anything happen yet to make them think otherwise. Just my opinion.