I Wouldn't Change A Thing

I've been in love with the library lately. It's such a great place, full of resources to enhance your mind and life. I'm afraid that with all the budget issues, libraries might soon be on the edge of the cliff. I surely hope this is not the case, as education is the great equalizer. Institutionalized education isn't the appropriate system for everyone. Some people would rather pursue an independent education, and the library is a great place for people with that preference to go.

Anyways, I'm not using this entry as a plea to keep the libraries a vibrant place. I checked out a book titled, "The Atheist's Bible" before my road trip to Denver. I originally wanted to borrow Richard Dawkins' "The God Delusion," but the two copies at the Plymouth library were checked out. Located near where "The God Delusion" would be was "The Atheist's Bible," so I grabbed it and thought I'd check it out on my way to Denver. The book is simply a collection of quotes about religion. Some quotes are serious and others very humorous. I took notes on some that I liked and I thought I'd share them. At points I got lazy and didn't mark good quotes, so this is not a list of the best from the book.

"They say God is everywhere, and yet we always think of him as somewhat of a recluse."

-Emily Dickinson.

"A tyrant...should always show a particular zeal in the cult of the gods. People are less afraid of being treated unjustly by those of this sort, that is if they think that the ruler is god-fearing and pays some regard to the gods; and they are less ready to conspire against him, if they feel that gods themselves are his friends."

-Aristotle.

"You can't convince a believer of anything; for their belief is not based on evidence, it's based on a deep-seated need to believe."

-Carl Sagan.

"I get letters constantly from people saying, "Oh, God will look after it." But he never has in the past, I don't know why they think he will in the future."

-Bertrand Russell.

"If God listened to the prayers of men, all men would have quickly perished; for they are for ever praying for evil against one another."

-Epicurus.

"The Way to see by faith is to shut the Eye of Reason."

-Benjamin Franklin.

"In science it often happens that scientists say, "You know that's a really good argument; my position is mistaken," and then they actually change their minds and you never hear that old view from them again. They really do it. It doesn't happen as often as it should, because scientists are human and change is sometimes painful. But it happens every day. I cannot recall the last time something like that has happened in politics or religion."

-Carl Sagan.

"If absolute power corrupts absolutely, where does that leave God?"

-George Daacon.

"Travler: God has been mighty good to your fields, Mr. Farmer.

Farmer: You should have seen how he treated them when I wasn't around."

-Anonymous.

"When I was a young boy, my father taught me that to be a good Catholic, I had to confess at church if I ever had impure thoughts about a girl. That very evening I had to rush to confess my sins. And the next night, and the next. After a week, I decided religion wasn't for me."

-Fidel Castro.

"Morality is of the highest importance-but for us, not for God."

-Albert Einstein.

"It was of course, a lie what you read about my religious convictions, a lie which is being systematically repeated. I do not believe in a person God and I have never denied this but have expressed it clearly. If something is in me which can be called religious then it is the unbounded admiration for the structure of the world so far as our science can reveal it."

-Albert Einstein.

"I believe in God, only I call it nature."

-Frank Lloyd Wright.

"So far as I can remember, there is not one word in the Gospel in praise of intelligence."

-Bertrand Russell

"What is it the Bible teaches us?-rapine, cruelty, and murder. What is it the Testament teaches us?-to believe that the almighty committed debauchery with a woman engaged to be married, and the belief that this debauchery is called faith."

-Thomas Paine.

"If we believe absurdities, we shall commit atrocities."

-Voltaire.

"If someone were to prove to me-right this minute-that God, in all his luminousness, exists, it wouldn't change a single aspect of my behavior."

-Luis Buñuel.