QUOTES: Religion, Politcs, US, etc; by Voltaire, Twain

[BEFORE ANYONE GETS OFFENDED at anything that follows, remember, the whole idea of this blog is to look at differing opinions and different sources to help find what we believe to be true, knowing we have looked at all sides and are making an informed opinion. Religion is a social issue too - look how many wars are fought over it, and how many laws are made pertaining to it (many of them against the constitution, which states that we DON'T MAKE ANY LAWS PERTAINING TO RELIGION, which also means no laws AGAINST it. The government cannot pick a religion and push it on the people, nor can it take religion and its expression away from the people. Hear that? I think its our Constitution crumbling like rocks falling down a mountain during a quake or volcano. And i personally am against organized religion, and feel it should be between me and my concept of God; but I also believe in the USA and the ideals it was formed upon ... and this ain't them, boy.]

VOLTAIRE:
A clergyman is one who feels himself called upon to live without working [he lived in the 1700s and then, they didn't work AT ALL] at the expense of the rascals that work to live.

++++A multitude of laws in a country is like a great number of physicians, a sign of weakness and malady. +++++
[Think on that one a while. On its parallel to the US today, with Congress butting more into our lives and making more laws daily, as well as how it indicates a weak nation - for it does so in several ways. I never really thought about it before Voltaire, but now I'm sorta obsessed with it - after all, I was already steaming over the kinds of laws they've been passing, and the amount of them, etc]

A witty saying proves nothing. [especially from a politician or government official]

All sects are different because they come from MEN. Morality is everywhere the same, because it comes from GOD.

As long as people believe in absurdities, they will continue to commit atrocities.

As long as there are fools there will be religons. [keep in mind, Voltaire believed in God, ergo the "morality comes from God" vs manmade religious rules above]

I have never made but one prayer to God, a very short one - "O Lord, make my enemies ridiculous". And God granted it.

If God created us in his image, then we have more than reciprocated.
[I forget who said 'and then, man created God in his image']

If God did not exist it would be necessary to invent him. But all of nature cries aloud that He does exist, that there is a supreme intelligence, an immense power, an admirable order, and everything teaches us our own dependence on it. [see, he believes in God, just not in man-made religion, like me. Many snobs today who believe the same also believe they are the first intelligent generation to evolve such thinking, when in fact, it has ALWAYS existed.]

In general, the art of GOVERNMENT consists in taking as much money as possible from one part of the citizens to give it to the other.
[And before you think about welfare programs remember te wisdom that says that the real test of a civilization is how it cares for its needy; now think about the tens of millions spent on welfare -perhaps 20 bucks of your money, probably less, but i never figured it out for sure- and compare it to the hundreds of billions in corporate welfare, corporations being faceless entities and not real needy hungry sick people, and the bonuses that we paid this year to corporate ceos to reward them for their greed, stupidity, etc and reward them for sinking their companies! Bonuses are supposed to be earned for jobs well done. Oh, I'm so upset about this one I won't even make any sense trying to say everything I'm thinking all at once. You got the basic idea, and many of you know more than I do. so back to quotes:]

IT IS BETTER TO RISK SAVING A GUILTY MAN THAN TO RISK CONDEMNING AN INNOCENT ONE.

It is dangerous to be right in matters on which the established authorities are wrong.

It is forbidden to kill therefore all murderers are punished unless they kill in large numbers and to the sound of trumpets. [tho he spoke literally, we'll take that as a metaphor today]

It is lamentable that to become a good patriot one must become an enemy to the rest of mankind.

Judge a man by his questions rather than his anwers.

Men use thought only as authority for their injustice, and employ speech only to conceal their thoughts.

Of all religions, Christianity is the one that should inspire tolerance most, although, up til now, the Christians have been the most intolerant of them all. [Voltaire lived from the late 1694 to 17 78, so he certainly saw some of the worst of it]

ONLY NOW DID I BECOME THOROUGHLY ACQUAINTED WITH THE SEDUCER OF OUR PEOPLE. IT IS NOT THE INEQUALITY WHICH IS THE REAL MISFORTUNE, IT IS THE DEPENDENCE.

Prejudice is opinion without judgement.

The art of medicine consists in amusing the patient while nature cures the disease. [I recently found out that most infections clear up on their own, with only our own bodies fighting them, in about 10 days. Ever notice how long they tell you to take most antibiotics? Hm. Think there may be a correlation there? Sheez.]




MARK TWAIN:
Man is a figment of God's imagination. [not real controversial but i think its witty]

Of all the delights of this world man cares most for sexual intercourse, yet he has left it out of his heaven.

Religion consists of a set of things which the average man thinks he believes and wishes he was certain of.

The best cure for Christianity is reading the Bible.