William Winwood Reade: Man

William Winwood Reade was British historian. Explore interesting quotes on man.
William Winwood Reade: 64   quotes 3   likes

“The first rational exposition of the relations of mankind to the mystery which shrouds the how and wherefore of man’s existence.”

William Winwood Reade

Sir Harry Johnston Liberia (1906), vol. 1, p. 257.
Criticism of The Martyrdom of Man

“One book that has influenced the writer very strongly is Winwood Reade's Martyrdom of Man…It is still an extraordinarily inspiring presentation of human history as one consistent process.”

William Winwood Reade

H. G. Wells The Outline of History (1920) p. vii.
Criticism of The Martyrdom of Man

Books , History , Reading

“All doctrines relating to the creation of the world, the government of man by superior beings, and his destiny after death, are conjectures which have been given out as facts, handed down with many adornments by tradition, and accepted by posterity as "revealed religion". They are theories more or less rational which uncivilised men have devised in order to explain the facts of life, and which civilised men believe that they believe.”

William Winwood Reade

Source: The Martyrdom of Man (1872), Chapter II, "Religion", p. 138.

Life , Death , Men , World

“As for the system of the Commune, which makes it impossible for a man to rise or fall, it is merely the old caste system revived; if it could be put into force, all industry would be disheartened, emulation would cease, and mankind would go to sleep.”

William Winwood Reade

Source: The Martyrdom of Man (1872), Chapter IV, "Intellect", p. 408.

Communication , Sleep

“If indeed there were a judgment-day, it would be for man to appear at the bar not as a criminal but as accuser.”

William Winwood Reade

Source: The Martyrdom of Man (1872), Chapter IV, "Intellect", p. 417.

Appearance

“As a single atom man is an enigma: as a whole he is a mathematical problem. As an individual he is a free agent, as a species the offspring of necessity.”

William Winwood Reade

Source: The Martyrdom of Man (1872), Chapter II, "Religion", pp. 143-4.

Mathematics , Problem

“Reade was an emancipating writer because he seemed to speak as man to man to resolve history into an intelligible pattern in which there was no need for miracles. Even if he was wrong, he was grown-up.”

William Winwood Reade

George Orwell Collected Essays, Journalism and Letters (1970) vol. 4, p. 147.
Criticism of The Martyrdom of Man

History , Intelligence , Reading