Thoughts of Atheism or Atheist Quotes in English Images

The text provides a comprehensive anthology of significant and thought-provoking quotes from prominent atheists, each offering unique insights into their views on faith, religion, and the broader human experience. These quotes collectively convey a prevailing sentiment of skepticism towards traditional religious beliefs, challenging the foundational premises of various faith systems. Many of the statements urge individuals to engage in critical thinking and to examine the principles that underpin their worldviews.

Here’s a list of notable quotes about atheism, with explanations and examples to help clarify their meanings:


1. "I don’t believe in God, and I am not an atheist." — Albert Camus

  • Meaning: Camus suggests that belief in God doesn’t need to define one’s identity, and one’s morality or sense of meaning can come from within, rather than religious belief.

  • Example: Someone who feels a deep connection to life and purpose but doesn’t adhere to religious beliefs might find meaning through their personal values or relationships rather than a deity.


2. "Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by rulers as useful." — Seneca

  • Meaning: This quote suggests that religious belief often varies based on perspective. The public may believe it to be true, intellectuals might question it, and leaders may use it to guide or control society.

  • Example: A leader might use religious principles in speeches to unite or influence their people, even if they don’t personally hold those beliefs.


3. "I am against religion because it teaches us to be satisfied with not understanding the world." — Richard Dawkins

  • Meaning: Dawkins argues that religion can discourage scientific curiosity by offering supernatural explanations rather than encouraging exploration of the natural world.

  • Example: Someone might choose to study physics and biology rather than accepting religious explanations, preferring to understand the universe through science.


4. "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?" — Epicurus

  • Meaning: This quote raises the "problem of evil," questioning how an all-powerful, benevolent God can allow suffering and evil to exist in the world.

  • Example: A person reflecting on natural disasters may struggle with the concept of a benevolent deity when so much suffering occurs without human cause.


5. "An atheist loves himself and his fellow men instead of a god." — Anton Chekhov

  • Meaning: Chekhov suggests that atheists find their love, purpose, and values in human relationships and personal ethics rather than devotion to a deity.

  • Example: A secular person might find meaning in helping others, creating art, or exploring the world without feeling the need to reference or worship a god.


6. "For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring." — Carl Sagan

  • Meaning: Sagan values truth and scientific understanding over comforting beliefs that may lack evidence.

  • Example: Someone may find it more fulfilling to understand the vastness of space through astronomy rather than attributing its mysteries to a divine being.


7. "You could say that I am an atheist, because I believe that the universe is governed by reason." — Carl Sagan

  • Meaning: Sagan believes that the universe operates according to rational, scientific principles rather than supernatural forces.

  • Example: Someone studying the laws of physics or evolution may feel that scientific explanations are sufficient to understand life and existence without needing divine intervention.


8. "A man’s ethical behavior should be based on sympathy, education, and social ties; no religious basis is necessary." — Albert Einstein

  • Meaning: Einstein argues that morality and ethics come from empathy, education, and relationships rather than from religious rules or beliefs.

  • Example: A person may choose to act compassionately toward others because they value human connection, not because they fear divine punishment or seek religious approval.


9. "Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence." — Carl Sagan

  • Meaning: Sagan suggests that claims about supernatural or extraordinary events require strong evidence before they should be believed.

  • Example: A person might doubt miraculous claims of healing or resurrection unless there is significant proof beyond anecdotal or second-hand stories.


10. "To you, I’m an atheist. To God, I’m the loyal opposition." — Woody Allen

  • Meaning: Allen humorously implies that, if a god exists, he questions or challenges that god rather than blindly following or worshiping.

  • Example: Someone might question the existence of a deity by critically thinking about moral contradictions in religious texts instead of simply accepting them as absolute truths.


11. "I do not pretend to know what many ignorant men are sure of." — Clarence Darrow

  • Meaning: Darrow criticizes blind faith, implying that those who claim to know the existence or will of a god may lack evidence or be overconfident in their beliefs.

  • Example: A person skeptical of religious doctrine might feel it’s more honest to say, “I don’t know,” rather than accepting claims about the divine without evidence.


12. "Atheism is a non-prophet organization." — George Carlin

  • Meaning: Carlin humorously plays on the words "non-profit" and "non-prophet" to highlight that atheism doesn’t follow religious prophets or teachers.

  • Example: An atheist who values rational thinking may laugh at this line, appreciating the lighthearted take on the absence of religious figures in secular beliefs.


13. "Properly read, the Bible is the most potent force for atheism ever conceived." — Isaac Asimov

  • Meaning: Asimov suggests that reading the Bible critically can lead to disbelief, as one might find contradictions or morally questionable passages.

  • Example: A person might question their religious upbringing after reading certain Bible passages and struggling with their meanings or implications.


14. "Belief in God is an act of faith. Faith is not a virtue; it is gullibility." — Robert A. Heinlein

  • Meaning: Heinlein suggests that faith is about accepting things without evidence, and he criticizes this as being overly trusting rather than virtuous.

  • Example: Someone may choose to believe in scientific evidence over faith-based beliefs, seeing questioning as a sign of intelligence rather than disrespect.


15. "If there is a God, atheism must seem to Him as less of an insult than religion." — Edmond de Goncourt

  • Meaning: Goncourt implies that, if a god exists, they might respect honest skepticism more than blind faith, which may sometimes lead to harmful actions.

  • Example: A secular person might feel they’re acting more authentically by questioning rather than blindly following religious doctrines.


16. "It is far better to be an honest atheist than a hypocritical Christian." — Unknown

  • Meaning: This quote suggests that honesty about one’s beliefs, even if non-religious, is more admirable than pretending to follow a faith one doesn’t truly believe in.

  • Example: Someone may feel more at peace admitting their doubts about religion instead of going through the motions for the sake of appearances.


17. "Question with boldness even the existence of a god." — Thomas Jefferson

  • Meaning: Jefferson encourages critical thinking and questioning of all beliefs, even foundational ones like the existence of God.

  • Example: A person raised religious might take time to explore other philosophies and question their beliefs to develop a genuine understanding of their values.


18. "An atheist doesn’t have to be someone who thinks he has a proof that there can’t be a god. He only has to be someone who believes that the evidence on the God question is at a similar level to the evidence on the werewolf question." — John McCarthy

  • Meaning: McCarthy argues that atheism doesn’t require a belief that God doesn’t exist but rather a lack of belief due to insufficient evidence.

  • Example: A person who sees no concrete evidence for God may choose to remain skeptical, just as they would be about mythical creatures without proof.


19. "Religion is excellent stuff for keeping common people quiet. Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich." — Napoleon Bonaparte

  • Meaning: Napoleon suggests that religion can be used to maintain social order by encouraging acceptance of hardship rather than challenging authority.

  • Example: A historical observer might note how, in the past, religious beliefs were sometimes used to prevent people from questioning unjust systems.


20. "I would rather live my life as if there is no God and find out there is, than live my life as if there is a God and find out there isn’t." — Albert Einstein

  • Meaning: Einstein expresses a preference for living honestly according to what he believes is true rather than relying on religious belief just in case.

  • Example: A person might focus on leading a good life based on ethical principles rather than acting out of fear of divine punishment.


These quotes explore various perspectives on atheism, from encouraging critical thought and honesty to emphasizing the importance of evidence-based belief. They show how atheism often prioritizes rationality, ethics, and personal integrity.

Prominent themes emerge throughout this collection, notably the paramount importance of reason as a guiding principle in human life. The quotes advocate for the value of scientific inquiry as a means of understanding the natural world, positioning empirical evidence and rational thought as superior to reliance on faith or revelation. Additionally, they emphasize the inherent human capacity for morality that exists independently of divine command, arguing that ethical behavior does not necessitate religious justification.

These reflections not only serve as a catalyst for inspiring meaningful discussions about diverse belief systems but also encourage individuals to question established dogmas that may lack rational foundations. By doing so, the quotes foster a deeper exploration of atheism, its philosophical underpinnings, and its implications in contemporary society. Ultimately, this collection aims to enrich the dialogue surrounding beliefs, encouraging a more nuanced understanding of atheism and its role in shaping modern thought and cultural dynamics.

Thought of the day on Atheism

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 Thoughts

Ask a deeply religious Christian if he'd rather live next to a bearded Muslim that may or may not be plotting a terror attack, or an atheist that may or may not show him how to set u a wireless network in his house.  On the scale of Prejudice, atheists didn't seem so bad lately.

- Scott Adams

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

What I see in Nature is a magnificent structure that we can comprehend only very imperfectly, and that must fill a thinking person with a feeling of “humility.” This is a genuinely religious feeling that has nothing to do with mysticism.

- Albert Einstein

God, equally with gods, angels, demons, spirits, and other small spiritual fry, is a human product, arising inevitably from a certain kind of ignorance and a certain degree of helplessness with respect to man's external environment.

Julian Huxley

I do not see how it is possible for an intelligent human being to conclude that the Song of Solomon is the work of God, and that the tragedy of Lear was the work of an uninspired man.

Robert Ingersoll

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

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

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

There are two things which make it impossible to believe that this world is the successful work of an all-wise, all-good, and at the same time, all-powerful being; firstly, the misery which abounds in it everywhere; and secondly, the obvious imperfection of its highest product, man, who is a burlesque of what he should be.

- Arthur Schopenhauer

Shake off all the fears of servile prejudices, under which weak minds are servilely crouched. Fix reason firmly in her seat, and call on her tribunal for every fact, every opinion.  Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason than that of blindfolded fear.

- Thomas Jefferson

Atheist Sayings List in English

I believe in God, only I spell it Nature.

- Famous Atheist Quotes by Frank Lloyd Wright

I believe in God, only I spell it Nature.

- Frank Lloyd Wright Quotation

Our ignorance is God; what we know is science. 

- Robert G. Ingersoll

Our ignorance is God; what we know is science.

- A Quotation From Robert G. Ingersoll

The constant assertion of belief is an indication of fear. 

- Jiddu Krishnamurti

The constant assertion of belief is an indication of fear.

- Jiddu Krishnamurti

To really be free, You need to be free in the mind.

- Alexander Loutsis

To really be free, You need to be free in the mind.

- Alexander Loutsis

Religion deserves no more respect than a pile of garbage. 

- H. L. Mencken

Religion deserves no more respect than a pile of garbage.

- H. L. Mencken

There is Auschwitz, and so there cannot be God. 

- Primo Levi, Auschwitz survivor

There is Auschwitz, and so there cannot be God.

- Primo Levi, Auschwitz survivor

Faith means not wanting to know what is true.

- Friedrich Nietzsche

Faith means not wanting to know what is true.

- Friedrich Nietzsche

Those who believe absurdities will commit atrocities.

- Voltaire

Convictions are more dangerous enemies of truth than lies.

- Friedrich Nietzsche

An atheist is a man who has no invisible means of support.

- John Buchan

Religion is excellent stuff for keeping common people quiet.

- Napoleon Bonaparte

If God has made us in his image, we have returned him the favor.

- Voltaire

The death of a child is the greatest reason to doubt the existence of God.

- Fyodor Dostoyevsky

The invisible and the non-existent look very much alike.

- Delos B. McKown

If I thought the Jews killed God, I’d worship the Jews.

- Bill Hicks

Lighthouses are more helpful than churches.

- Benjamin Franklin

The Bible is one of the most genocidal books in history.

- Noam Chomsky

I don’t believe in God because I don’t believe in Mother Goose.

- Clarence Darrow

Beliefs are what divide people. Doubt unites them.

- Peter Ustinov

I once wanted to become an atheist, but I gave up - they have no holidays.

- Henny Youngman

Tradition becomes our security, and when the mind is secure it is in decay.

- Jiddu Krishnamurti

What can be asserted without proof can be dismissed without proof.

- Christopher Hitchens

If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him.

- Voltaire

If God really existed, it would be necessary to abolish him.

- Mikhail Bakunin

To you I'm an atheist; to God, I'm the Loyal Opposition.

- Woody Allen

Calling Atheism a religion is like calling bald a hair color.

- Don Hirschberg

God should be executed for crimes against humanity.

- Bryan Emmanuel Gutierrez

God's only excuse is that He does not exist.

- Stendhal

Belief in the supernatural reflects a failure of the imagination.

- Edward Abbey

Atheism is a non-prophet organization.

- George Carlin

The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose.

- William Shakespeare

A dream is a scripture, and many scriptures are nothing but dreams.

- Umberto Eco

Which is it, is man one of God’s blunders or is God one of man’s?

- Friedrich Nietzsche

What has been [Christianity’s] fruits? Superstition, Bigotry and Persecution.

- James Madison

History teaches us that no other cause has brought more death than the word of god.

- Giulian Buzila

In Christianity neither morality nor religion come into contact with reality at any point.

- Friedrich Nietzsche

A believer is a bird in a cage, a freethinker is an eagle parting the clouds with tireless wing.

- Robert G. Ingersoll

Who needs Satan when you have a God like this?

- Robert M. Price

God made me an atheist. Who are you to question his wisdom.

- Unknown

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

- Bertrand Russell

The inspiration of the bible depends on the ignorance of the person who reads it.

- Robert G. Ingersoll

If revealed religions have revealed anything it is that they are usually wrong.

- Francis Crick

When a man is freed of religion, he has a better chance to live a normal and wholesome life.

- Sigmund Freud

Properly read, the bible is the most potent force for Atheism ever conceived.

- Isaac Asimov

Religion, to me, is a bureaucracy between man and God that I don’t need.

- Bill Maher

Religion does three things quite effectively: Divides people, Controls people, Deludes people.

- Carlespie Mary Alice McKinney

I still say a church steeple with a lightning rod on top shows a lack of confidence.

- Doug McLeod

A man is accepted into a church for what he believes and he is turned out for what he knows.

- Mark Twain

There was a time when religion ruled the world. It was known as the Dark Ages.

- Ruth Hurmence Green

All the biblical miracles will at last disappear with the progress of science.

- Matthew Arnold

Remember, Jesus would rather constantly shame gays than let orphans have a family.

- Steven Colbert

It will yet be the proud boast of women that they never contributed a line to the Bible.

- George W. Foote

Maybe the atheist cannot find God for the same reason a thief cannot find a policeman.

- Laurence J. Peter

I don't know if God exists, but it would be better for His reputation if He didn't .

- Jules Renard

Religion, like poetry, is simply a concerted effort to deny the most obvious realities.

- H. L. Mencken

It is the final proof of god's omnipotence that he need not exist in order to save us.

- Peter De Vries

Nothing can be more contrary to religion and the clergy than reason and common sense.

- Voltaire

You’re basically killing each other to see who’s got the better imaginary friend.

- Richard Jeni

Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by the rulers as useful.

- Seneca the Younger

A lie is a lie even if everyone believes it. The truth is the truth even if nobody believes it.

- David Stevens

I refuse to prove that I exist,” says God, “for proof denies faith, and without faith I am nothing.

- Douglas Adams

Isn’t killing people in the name of God a pretty good definition of insanity?

- Arthur C. Clarke

You do not need the Bible to justify love, but no better tool has been invented to justify hate.

- Richard A. Weatherwax

Gods are fragile things; they may be killed by a whiff of science or a dose of common sense.

- Chapman Cohen

If there were gods, how could I endure not to be a god? Therefore there are no gods.

- Friedrich Nietzsche

I believe in God, only I spell it Nature.

- Frank Lloyd Wright

Not only is there no god, but try getting a plumber on weekends.

- Woody Allen

The way to see by Faith is to shut the eye of Reason.

- Benjamin Franklin

The way to see by Faith is to shut the eye of Reason.

- Benjamin Franklin Download or Share

If there were no God, there would be no Atheists.

If there were no God, there would be no Atheists.

- G. K. Chesterton Download or Share

An atheist is a man who has no invisible means of support.

- John Buchan

I always admired atheists. I think it takes a lot of faith.

- Diane Frolov and Andrew Schneider

Religion is the impotence of the human mind to deal with occurrences it cannot understand.

Karl Marx

Faith does not give you the answers, it just stops you asking the questions.

- Frater Ravus Download or Share

Animals do not have gods, they are smarter than that.

Ronnie Snow

The worst moment for the atheist is when he is really thankful and has nobody to thank.

Dante Gabriel Rossetti

No philosophy, no religion, has ever brought so glad a message to the world as this good news of Atheism.

- Famous Atheism Quotes by Annie Wood Besant

I have too much respect for the idea of God to make it responsible for such an absurd world.

- Georges Duhamel

Nobody talks so constantly about God as those who insist that there is no God.

- Heywood Broun

Gods dont kill people. People with Gods kill people.

- David Viaene

Where knowledge ends, religion begins.

Benjamin Disraeli

Today’s religion will be the future’s mythology. Both believed at one time by many; but proved wrong by the clever.

- Steven Crocker Download or Share

Religion is the opiate of the masses.

Karl Marx Download or Share

I'm a born-again atheist.

- Gore Vidal Download or Share

I'm still an atheist, thank God.

- Luis Bunuel Download or Share

Atheist Quotes List

If God were suddenly condemned to live the life which He has inflicted upon men, He would kill Himself.

- Alexandre Dumas

I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.

- Mohandas Gandhi

Atheism is nothing more than the noises reasonable people make when in the presence of religious dogma.

- Sam Harris

If people are good only because they fear punishment, and hope for reward, then we are a sorry lot indeed.

- Albert Einstein

Men never commit evil so fully and joyfully as when they do it for religious convictions.

- Blaise Pascal

I am against religion because it teaches us to be satisfied with not understanding the world.

- Richard Dawkins

Religion is an illusion and it derives its strength from the fact that it falls in with our instinctual desires.

- Sigmund Freud

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 *

I reverse the phrase of Voltaire, and say that if God really existed, it would be necessary to abolish him.

- Mikhail Bakunin

Most sermons sound to me like commercials-but I can’t make out whether god is the sponser or the product.

- Mignon McLaughlin

To surrender to ignorance and call it God has always been premature, and it remains premature today.

- Isaac Asimov

If I should go out of church whenever I hear a false sentiment, I could never stay there five minutes.

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

I think flying planes into a building was a faith-based initiative. I think religion is a neurological disorder.

- Bill Maher

All religions are equally sublime to the ignorant, useful to the politician, and ridiculous to the philosopher.

- Lucretius

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

How can I believe in God when just last week I got my tongue caught in the roller of an electric typewriter?

- Woody Allen

Be thankful that you have a life, and forsake your vain and presumptuous desire for a second one.

- Richard Dawkins

We are all atheists about most of gods that societies have ever believed in.  Some of us just go one god further.

- Richard Dawkins

The foolish reject what they see and not what they think; the wise reject what they think and not what they see.

- Huang Po

How can I believe in God when just last week I got my tongue caught in the roller of an electric typewriter?

- Woody Allen

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

“There are no atheists in foxholes” isn’t an argument against atheism, it’s an argument against foxholes.

- James Morrow

There can be no Creator, simply because his grief at the fate of his creation would be inconceivable and unendurable.

- Elias Canetti

There’s a phrase we live by in America: “In God We Trust”. It’s right there where Jesus would want it: on our money.

- Steven Colbert

It was easier for me to think of a world without a creator than of a creator loaded with all the contradictions of the world.

- Simone de Beauvoir

Black holes would seem to suggest that God not only plays dice, but also sometimes throws them where they cannot be seen.

- Stephen Hawking

The opposite of the religious fanatic is not the fanatical atheist but the gentle cynic who cares not whether there is a god or not.

- Eric Hoffer

When one person suffers from a delusion, it is called insanity. When many people suffer from a delusion it is called religion.

- Robert Pirsig

Man is, and always has been, a maker of gods. It has been the most serious and significant occupation of his sojourn in the world.

- John Burroughs

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

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

We could call order by the name of God, but it would be an impersonal God. There’s not much personal about the laws of physics.

- Stephen Hawking

Religion is about turning untested belief into unshakeable truth through the power of institutions and the passage of time.

- Richard Dawkins

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

Beliefs are dangerous. Beliefs allow the mind to stop functioning. A non-functioning mind is clinically dead. Believe in nothing.

- Maynard James Keenan

The way to see by faith is to shut the eye of reason: The Morning Daylight appears plainer when you put out your Candle.

- Benjamin Franklin

I find the whole business of religion profoundly interesting. But it does mystify me that otherwise intelligent people take it seriously.

- Douglas Adams

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

The day will come when the mystical generation of Jesus…will be classed with the fable of the generation of Minerva in the brain of Jupiter.

- Thomas Jefferson

The Bible is not my book nor Christianity my profession. I could never give assent to the long, complicated statements of Christian dogma.

- Abraham Lincoln

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

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

I say quite deliberately that the Christian religion, as organized in its churches, has been and still is the principal enemy of moral progress in the world.

- Bertrand Russell

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

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

Atheism in its negation of gods is at the same time the strongest affirmation of man, and through man, the eternal yea to life, purpose, and beauty.

- Emma Goldman

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

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

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

The most henious and the must cruel crimes of which history has record have been committed under the cover of religion or equally noble motives.

- Mohandas Gandhi

Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people.

- Karl Marx

Faith is the great cop-out, the great excuse to evade the need to think and evaluate evidence. Faith is belief in spite of, even perhaps because of, the lack of evidence.

- Richard Dawkins

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

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

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

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

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

If there really is a God who created the entire universe with all of its glories, and He decides to deliver a message to humanity, He will not use, as His messenger, a person on cable TV with a bad hairstyle.

- Dave Barry

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

You've got your phenomenon on one hand.  Concrete and knowable. On the other hand you've got the incomprehensible.  You call it God, but to me, God or no, it remains just that, the unknowable.

- Robin Green and Mitchell Burgess

I'm completely in favor of the separation of Church and State. My idea is that these two institutions screw us up enough on their own, so both of them together is certain death.

- George Carlin

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

When I told the people of Northern Ireland that I was an atheist, a woman in the audience stood up and said, " Yes, but is it the God of the Catholics or the God of the Protestants in whom you don't believe?"

- Quentin Crisp

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. The happiness of credulity is a cheap and dangerous quality.

- George Bernard Shaw

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

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

I do not believe in a personal 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 do not believe in the creed professed by the Jewish Church, by the Roman Church, by the Greek Church, by the Turkish Church, by the Protestant Church, nor by any Church that I know of. My own mind is my own Church.

- Thomas Paine