Yet Another Effort, Frenchmen, If You Would Become Republicans
Philosophy in the Bedroom (1795)
[Conflict and Change in Cambodia, Kiernan, Ben and Hughes, Caroline, 2007, Routledge, 9780415385923], p. 54.
“Most kings and priests have been despotic, and all religions have been riddled with superstition.”
Source: Brave New World Revisited (1958), Chapter 6 (pp. 52-53)
“In a Constitutional Monarchy, the Government governs and the King reigns.”
During the political crisis of 1965.
This is from a letter written to Washington on 9 October 1789 by the synod of the Reformed Dutch Church of North America (image of the letter on the Library of Congress site here http://memory.loc.gov/mss/mgw/mgw2/038/0650049.jpg). Washington quoted the portion in bold in his reply.
Misattributed
Edicts of Ashoka (c. 257 BC)
Context: Beloved-of-the-Gods, King Piyadasi, honors both ascetics and the householders of all religions, and he honors them with gifts and honors of various kinds. But Beloved-of-the-Gods, King Piyadasi, does not value gifts and honors as much as he values this — that there should be growth in the essentials of all religions. Growth in essentials can be done in different ways, but all of them have as their root restraint in speech, that is, not praising one's own religion, or condemning the religion of others without good cause. And if there is cause for criticism, it should be done in a mild way. But it is better to honor other religions for this reason. By so doing, one's own religion benefits, and so do other religions, while doing otherwise harms one's own religion and the religions of others. Whoever praises his own religion, due to excessive devotion, and condemns others with the thought "Let me glorify my own religion," only harms his own religion. Therefore contact (between religions) is good. One should listen to and respect the doctrines professed by others. Beloved-of-the-Gods, King Piyadasi, desires that all should be well-learned in the good doctrines of other religions.
“I began to see that for some, religion was just a form of politics you couldn’t criticize.”
Source: My Life on the Road
Source: Faith vs. Fact (2015), p. xii
1800s, First Inaugural Address (1801)
Context: Sometimes it is said that man can not be trusted with the government of himself. Can he, then, be trusted with the government of others? Or have we found angels in the forms of kings to govern him? Let history answer this question.
