Gerrard Winstanley (1609–1676) English Protestant religious reformer, political philosopher, and activist
The True Levellers Standard Advanced (1649)
Frost snorted. “I certainly do—if he has observed it with his own eyes and ears, or gets it from a source known to be credible. A fact doesn’t have to be understood to be true. Sure, any reasonable mind wants explanations, but it’s silly to reject facts that don’t fit your philosophy.”
Elsewhen (pp. 161-162)
Short fiction, Off the Main Sequence (2005)
Gerrard Winstanley (1609–1676) English Protestant religious reformer, political philosopher, and activist
The True Levellers Standard Advanced (1649)
Joseph Chamberlain (1836–1914) British businessman, politician, and statesman
Speech in Liverpool (27 October 1903), quoted in The Times (28 October 1903), p. 6.
1900s
Ricky Gervais (1961) English comedian, actor, director, producer, musician, writer, and former radio presenter
"Ricky Gervais: Why I’m an Atheist," WSJ, 2010 http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2010/12/19/a-holiday-message-from-ricky-gervais-why-im-an-atheist/
Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey (1764–1845) Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
Letter to Lady Grenville (27 October 1813), quoted in E. A. Smith, Lord Grey. 1764-1845 (Alan Sutton, 1996), p. 174.
1810s
David Hume book An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding
Section 10 : Of Miracles Pt. 2
An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding (1748)
Isaac Newton (1643–1727) British physicist and mathematician and founder of modern classical physics
Isaac Newton, cited in The Watchtower magazine, 1977, 4/15.
Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862) 1817-1862 American poet, essayist, naturalist, and abolitionist
Letter to Harrison Blake (20 May 1860); published in Familiar Letters (1865)
Context: Men and boys are learning all kinds of trades but how to make men of themselves. They learn to make houses; but they are not so well housed, they are not so contented in their houses, as the woodchucks in their holes. What is the use of a house if you haven't got a tolerable planet to put it on? — If you cannot tolerate the planet that it is on? Grade the ground first. If a man believes and expects great things of himself, it makes no odds where you put him, or what you show him … he will be surrounded by grandeur. He is in the condition of a healthy and hungry man, who says to himself, — How sweet this crust is!