The diary and photos of Chris Beach. I'm into windsurfing, coding, badminton, drawing and composing music using computers and synths.

"When I was a kid I used to pray every night for a new bicycle. Then I realised that the Lord doesn't work that way so I stole one and asked Him to forgive me." Emo Philips


atheist quotes

These quotes have been collected from various sources - newsgroups, books and your submissions, which are very welcome. To add a quote, fill the form at the bottom of this page.

top quotes (total: 5365)

author quote quality?
Stephen Roberts 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 366 votes6%6087 votes94%
Seneca the Younger 4 b.c.- 65 a.d. Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by the rulers as useful. 233 votes6%3628 votes94%
Richard Jeni You're basically killing each other to see who's got the better imaginary friend 169 votes6%2603 votes94%
Blaise Pascal Men never commit evil so fully and joyfully as when they do it for religious convictions 250 votes8%2758 votes92%
Emo Philips When I was a kid I used to pray every night for a new bicycle. Then I realised that the Lord doesn't work that way so I stole one and asked Him to forgive me. 469 votes13%3120 votes87%
Epicurus 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? 281 votes10%2567 votes90%
Bertrand Russell 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 184 votes8%2189 votes92%
George Bernard Shaw 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 202 votes9%2161 votes91%
unknown Don't pray in my school, and I won't think in your church 403 votes14%2536 votes86%
Doug McLeod I still say a church steeple with a lightning rod on top shows a lack of confidence 343 votes13%2332 votes87%
Unknown Philosophy is questions that may never be answered. Religion is answers that may never be questioned. 242 votes11%2042 votes89%
Unknown Two hands working can do more than a thousand clasped in prayer 103 votes6%1626 votes94%
Gene Roddenberry 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 136 votes7%1703 votes93%
Richard Lederer (Anguished English) There once was a time when all people believed in God and the church ruled. This time was called the Dark Ages. 225 votes11%1854 votes89%
Steven Weinberg 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. 134 votes8%1625 votes92%
George Carlin Religion has actually convinced people that there's an invisible man -- living in the sky -- who watches everything you do, every minute of every day. And the invisible man has a special list of ten things he does not want you to do.. And if you do any... [more] 112 votes7%1514 votes93%
Carl Sagan 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. 198 votes10%1704 votes90%
Unknown George Bush says he speaks to god every day, and christians love him for it. If George Bush said he spoke to god through his hair dryer, they would think he was mad. I fail to see how the addition of a hair dryer makes it any more absurd. 57 votes4%1328 votes96%
Ferdinand Magellan The church says the earth is flat, but I know that it is round, for I have seen the shadow on the moon, and I have more faith in a shadow than in the church 172 votes10%1481 votes90%
Delos B. McKown The invisible and the non-existent look very much alike 151 votes10%1413 votes90%
Aldous Huxley "Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored." 36 votes3%1102 votes97%
Albert Einstein 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 121 votes8%1319 votes92%
unknown 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 78 votes6%1193 votes94%
Marie Man created God in his image : intolerant, sexist, homophobic and violent. 70 votes6%1119 votes94%
Napoleon Bonaparte Religion is excellent stuff for keeping common people quiet 131 votes10%1239 votes90%
Galileo Galilei I do not think it is necessary to believe that the same God who has given us our senses, reason, and intelligence wished us to abandon their use, giving us by some other means the information that we could gain through them 105 votes8%1138 votes92%
Carl Sagan Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence 104 votes9%1116 votes91%
Unknown Blind faith is an ironic gift to return to the Creator of human intelligence. 177 votes12%1272 votes88%
Voltaire Those who believe absurdities will commit atrocities 46 votes5%921 votes95%
Bumper sticker You keep believing, I'll keep evolving 190 votes13%1252 votes87%
Carlespie Mary Alice McKinney Religion does three things quite effectively: Divides people, Controls people, Deludes people. 44 votes5%902 votes95%
Robert A. Heinlein Men rarely (if ever) manage to dream up a God superior to themselves. Most Gods have the manners and morals of a spoiled child. 81 votes8%990 votes92%
John Adams, 2nd President of the United States The Government of the United States is in no sense founded on the Christian religion. 146 votes11%1138 votes89%
Thomas Jefferson I have examined all the known superstitions of the world, and I do not find in our particular superstition of Christianity one redeeming feature. They are all alike founded on fables and mythology. 71 votes7%948 votes93%
William Drummond He that will not reason is a bigot; he that cannot reason is a fool; he that dares not reason is a slave 57 votes6%895 votes94%
Giulian Buzila History teaches us that no other cause has brought more death than the word of god. 40 votes4%850 votes96%
unknown People who don't like their beliefs being laughed at shouldn't have such funny beliefs 222 votes15%1270 votes85%
Robert G. Ingersoll As people become more intelligent they care less for preachers and more for teachers 98 votes9%990 votes91%
Friedrich Nietzsche Which is it, is man one of God's blunders or is God one of man's? 118 votes10%1037 votes90%
Benjamin Franklin The way to see by faith is to shut the eye of reason 71 votes7%916 votes93%
Justin Brown An Atheist believes that a hospital should be built instead of a church. An Atheist believes that deed must be done instead of a prayer said. An Atheist strives for involvement in life and not escape into death. He wants disease conquered, poverty vanishe 128 votes11%1050 votes89%
Gustaf Lindborg The sailor does not pray for wind, he learns to sail 138 votes11%1063 votes89%
Justin Brown If the Bible is mistaken in telling us where we came from, how can we trust it to tell us where we're going? 85 votes8%939 votes92%
Coral Yoshi So you really think that God would plant a bunch of bones in the earth to test your faith? Either you're in denial or God has some serious self-esteem issues. 52 votes6%856 votes94%
H. L. Mencken We must respect the other fellow's religion, but only in the sense and to the extent that we respect his theory that his wife is beautiful and his children smart 153 votes12%1084 votes88%
Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama, 1988 We must conduct research and then accept the results. If they don't stand up to experimentation, Buddha's own words must be rejected. 60 votes7%856 votes93%
Russian Proverb Pray to God, fine; but keep rowing to shore. 65 votes7%859 votes93%
Arthur C. Clarke I would defend the liberty of consenting adult creationists to practice whatever intellectual perversions they like in the privacy of their own homes; but it is also necessary to protect the young and innocent. 63 votes7%835 votes93%
Terry Pratchett The presence of those seeking the truth is infinitely to be preferred to the presence of those who think they've found it. 57 votes7%815 votes93%
Mark Twain The easy confidence with which I know another man's religion is folly teaches me to suspect that my own is also 96 votes10%910 votes90%
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recently added quotes

author quote quality?
Ivan Ratoyevsky Just because something is "spiritual" does not automatically mean it involves or includes or pertains to a god or organized religious belief system.new entry 0 votes0%one vote100%
jazz Ivan's statement on the steady state is a delight, given that it accepts that there have been many universes. do those religionist who read and comment on these pages believe that their deity/deities have made all of these , even the ones that last no ... [more]new entry 0 votes0%0 votes0%
jazz I'm going to assume that the religionist will claim that, for all our scientific credentials, we must be classed as stupid, after all, we still believe in dinosaursnew entry 0 votes0%0 votes0%
jazz Perhaps "spirituality" is just that strict moral sensibility that makes us do good without thought of future rewardnew entry 0 votes0%0 votes0%
Ivan Ratoyevsky Jazz, Dinosaur's did exist as we have the hard fossil evidence & a fossil record covering millions of years. But no millions of years evidence for god. new entry 0 votes0%2 votes100%
Ivan Ratoyevsky They worship a naked dead man nailed to a cross by hands & feet, blood pouring down his face from a crown of thorns. If that's NOT weird I don't know what is. It still looks like some weird sadomasochistic cult to me. new entry 0 votes0%one vote100%
Jazz Indeed, some of them whipped themelves, starved, and peirced their flesh with thorns, are these the acts of men in full control of their faculties? new entry 0 votes0%2 votes100%
Anthony W. Allsop (Genesis) Full control of their faculties? Most of 'em weren't in full control of their bladders!!new entry 0 votes0%2 votes100%
Mahesh Hinduism is probably the best religion for atheists. God broke six out of the ten commandments to save his creations on earth. We should all follow His ways.new entry 0 votes0%0 votes0%
Mahesh God passed His message to mankind through a village idiot and he passed it on to bullshitters. Bulshitters passed on the message to suckers. Suckers passed on the message to arseholes, who in turn started killing each other in the name of God. new entry 0 votes0%2 votes100%
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