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Quotations – Momentous, Memorable, Meaningful

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A place to share the words of others (or your own!) which have been impactful in your life, whether they're serious, poignant, humorous, or just something worth noting.

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Latest Activity: 4 hours ago

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I have been a quote collector and quote monger for at least as long as I've been an atheist and probably a good deal longer. My admiration for those who enjoy reputations as wordsmiths extends even further back, whether we're talking about John F. Kennedy's assertion: "We choose to go to the moon," George Santayana's warning: "Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it," or James T. Kirk's deft observation when faced with the dauntingly huge First Federation ship: "Not chess, Mr. Spock ... poker!"

The realm of atheist activism has had its own share of verbal craftsmen and women, from Madalyn Murray O'Hair's: "An atheist believes that a hospital should be built instead of a church." to Aron Ra's succinct: "If you can't show it, you don't know it."

Regardless of the topic, these are words which are capable of fomenting inspiration, reflection, and sometimes even action. They can educate and illuminate the human condition and allow us to better know ourselves. That said, here is an open invitation to share those words which have been particularly meaningful or impactful or timely or just special to you for one reason or another.

Let's share those words and have fun!

One bit of clerical business: please hold your quotes in the comment area below to 20 lines or 200 words. One comment should not so dominate the Home page of this group that no other comment is visible. That way, the briefer comments and quotes of all participants are more likely to be seen, read, and appreciated. If you have a long quote or commentary, create a post, please.

Discussion Forum

Ingersoll Day August 11th

Started by Joan Denoo. Last reply by Plinius on Sunday. 2 Replies 3 Likes

Robert Green Ingersoll (1833-1899)"When I became convinced that the universe is natural, that all the ghosts and gods are myths, there entered into my brain, into my soul, into every drop of my blood…Continue

Tags: fearless, joyous, freedom, Day, agnostic

On Emotion, Vulnerability, and a Flawed God

Started by Loren Miller. Last reply by Loren Miller Jul 2. 3 Replies 4 Likes

On 31 May, 2018, Joan Denoo posted a most excellent quote from David Hume: That quote was well deserving of a response, which is the following:The most preposterous notion that H. sapiens has ever…Continue

Tags: flawed, vulnerable, emotion, god

Sam Harris on Morality and the Christian God

Started by Loren Miller. Last reply by Loren Miller May 24. 2 Replies 2 Likes

The debate between Sam Harris and William Lane Craig at Notre Dame in 2011 was particularly notable for one particular rebuttal by Harris to Craig, well into the debate. Those 10 or so minutes…Continue

Big Bang vs Electric Universe, Lawrence Krauss' response

Started by Joan Denoo. Last reply by Loren Miller May 23. 2 Replies 4 Likes

I wrote to Lawrence Krauss during the discussion of Big Bang vs Electric Universe:"Thurs, 5:54 PM, Lawrence, I belong to Atheist Nexus and a rather ugly debate began about the Big Bang Theory. One…Continue

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Comment by Patricia on July 29, 2018 at 4:17pm: I gave up worrying about what people thought of me years ago. I just don't care.

Comment by Loren Miller on July 29, 2018 at 4:11pm: Joan, it's been my experience that people with a reasonable degree of self-confidence and self ownership aren't all that concerned about what other people think about them!

Comment by Joan Denoo on July 29, 2018 at 4:02pm: “You probably wouldn’t worry about what people think of you if you could know how seldom they do.”

~Olin Miller

You are not the center of the Universe!

Comment by Loren Miller on July 29, 2018 at 5:35am: If the gods listened to the prayers of men, all humankind would quickly perish since they constantly pray for many evils to befall one another.
-- Epicurus

Maybe that's why Yahweh's so screwed up: he's got contradictory prayer requests coming from all quarters, and it just pisses him off, so he ignores all of 'em!

Comment by Bertold Brautigan on July 28, 2018 at 1:36pm: >"do they relate to reality?"

Tricky question that. I'd say it depends on who BELIEVES them. (And the etymology of "believe" is a root word for "love.")

Comment by Joan Denoo on July 28, 2018 at 12:18pm

Comment by Joan Denoo on July 28, 2018 at 12:17pm: Loren, GREAT quote and comment!

Comment by Loren Miller on July 28, 2018 at 5:39am: If you have an apple and I have an apple and we exchange apples then you and I will still each have one apple. But if you have an idea and I have an idea and we exchange these ideas, then each of us will have two ideas.
-- George Bernard Shaw

The only questions then are: what are the qualities of those ideas, do they relate to reality, and how functional are they? Considering what gets pushed onto us by religion and politics, these are NOT trivial questions.

Comment by Loren Miller on July 27, 2018 at 7:53am: Once you've condoned faith in general, you've condoned any crazy shit done because of faith.
― Penn Jillette

And as we all know, there is a shit-ton of crazy shit done in the name of the stupid shit called faith.