The trial of Charles B. Reynolds for blasphemy (1887)
Context: I want you to understand what has been done in the world to force men to think alike. It seems to me that if there is some infinite being who wants us to think alike he would have made us alike. Why did he not do so? Why did he make your brain so that you could not by any possibility be a Methodist? Why did he make yours so that you could not be a Catholic? And why did he make the brain of another so that he is an unbeliever — why the brain of another so that he became a Mohammedan — if he wanted us all to believe alike?
After all, maybe Nature is good enough and grand enough and broad enough to give us the diversity born of liberty. Maybe, after all, it would not be best for us all to be just the same. What a stupid world, if everybody said yes to everything that everybody else might say.
The most important thing in this world is liberty. More important than food or clothes — more important than gold or houses or lands — more important than art or science — more important than all religions, is the liberty of man.
“Political nationalism has become, for the European of our age the most important thing in the world, more important than civilization, humanity, decency, kindness, pity, more important than life itself.”
The Unseen Assassins https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.216538/page/n49 (1932), p. 48; in later variants, "pity" was misquoted as "piety" in the Naval War College Review, Vol. 10 (1957), p. 27, and some internet citations have compressed "has become, for the European of our age" to read "has become for our age".
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Norman Angell 44
British politician 1872–1967Related quotes
“There are more important things in life than winning or losing a game.”
Cited (earlier) in: American Women Composers (1979) AWC news. Volumes 2-3. p. 41
Beauty is Revolution (1980)
“International unity of the workers is more important than the national.”
Letter to Inessa Armand (20 November 1916) Collected Works, Vol. 35, pp. 246-247.
1910s
“People are more important than things.”
The Last Lecture (2008)
Variant: The questions are always more important than the answers."
“Gross National Happiness is more important than Gross National Product.”
Quoted in story of a king, a poor country, and a rich idea. Business Bhutan, Tashi Dorji https://web.archive.org/web/20190112132102/https://earthjournalism.net/stories/6468The (15 June 2012).
“The thing we must do intensely is be human together. People are more important than things.”
"Introduction" to New World or No World (1970)<!-- an anthology of environmental writing -->
General sources
Context: The thing we must do intensely is be human together. People are more important than things. We must get together. The best thing humans can have going for them is each other. We have each other. We must reject everything which humiliates us. Humans are not objects of consumption. We must develop an absolute priority of humans ahead of profit — any humans ahead of any profit. Then we will survive. … Together.