Robert Green Ingersoll

He stands erect by bending over the fallen. He rises by lifting others.

— Robert Green Ingersoll

Anger blows out the lamp of the mind. In the examination of a great and important question, everyone should be serene, slow-pulsed and calm.

— Robert Green Ingersoll

Anger is a wind which blows out the lamp of the mind.

— Robert Green Ingersoll

The Church has always been willing to swap off treasures in heaven for cash down.

— Robert Green Ingersoll

Colleges are places where pebbles are polished and diamonds are dimmed.

— Robert Green Ingersoll

In nature there are neither rewards nor punishments; there are only consequences.

— Robert Green Ingersoll

The greatest test of courage on earth is to bear defeat without losing heart.

— Robert Green Ingersoll

Courage without conscience is a wild beast.

— Robert Green Ingersoll

It is a blessed thing that in every age some one has had the individuality enough and courage enough to stand by his own convictions.

— Robert Green Ingersoll

When the will defies fear, when duty throws the gauntlet down to fate, when honor scorns to compromise with death -- that is heroism.

— Robert Green Ingersoll

If I owe Smith ten dollars and God forgives me, that doesn't pay Smith.

— Robert Green Ingersoll

Happiness is the only good. The time to be happy is now. The place to be happy is here. The way to be happy is to make others so.

— Robert Green Ingersoll

Happiness is not a reward -- it is a consequence. Suffering is not a punishment -- it is a result.

— Robert Green Ingersoll

Hope is the only universal liar who never loses his reputation for veracity.

— Robert Green Ingersoll

Justice should remove the bandage from her eyes long enough to distinguish between the vicious and the unfortunate.

— Robert Green Ingersoll

Kindness is the sunshine in which virtue grows.

— Robert Green Ingersoll

Every man is dishonest who lives upon the labor of others, no matter if he occupies a throne.

— Robert Green Ingersoll

What light is to the eyes -- what air is to the lungs -- what love is to the heart, liberty is to the soul of man.

— Robert Green Ingersoll

The more liberty you give away the more you will have.

— Robert Green Ingersoll

Love is the only bow of life's dark cloud. It is the Morning and Evening Star. It shines upon the cradle of the babe, and sheds its radiance upon the quiet tomb. It is the Mother of Art, inspirer of poet, patriot, and philosopher. It is the air and light of every heart, builder of every home, kinder of every fire on every hearth, It was the first dream of immortality. It fills the world with melody. Love is the magician, the enchanter, that changes worthless things to joy, and makes right royal kings of common clay.

— Robert Green Ingersoll

I would rather live and love where death is king than have eternal life where love is not.

— Robert Green Ingersoll

In the republic of mediocrity, genius is dangerous.

— Robert Green Ingersoll

The superior man is the providence of the inferior. He is eyes for the blind, strength for the weak, and a shield for the defenseless.

— Robert Green Ingersoll

I am the inferior of any man whose rights I trample under foot.

— Robert Green Ingersoll

Reason, observation, and experience; the holy trinity of science.

— Robert Green Ingersoll

Let us put theology out of religion. Theology has always sent the worst to heaven, the best to hell.

— Robert Green Ingersoll

Surely there is grandeur in knowing that in the realm of thought, at least, you are without a chain; that you have the right to explore all heights and depth; that there are no walls nor fences, nor prohibited places, nor sacred corners in all the vast expanse of thought...

— Robert Green Ingersoll

The destroyer of weeds, thistles, and thorns is a benefactor whether he soweth grain or not.

— Robert Green Ingersoll

Love is the magician, the enchanter, that changes worthless things to joy, and makes right royal kings and queens of common clay. It is the perfume of that wondrous flower, the heart, and without that sacred passion, that divine swoon, we are less than beasts; but with it, earth is heaven, and we are gods.

— Robert Green Ingersoll