Quotes about religion
A collection of quotes on the topic of god, christ, religion, people.
Best quotes about religion

„Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind.“
— Albert Einstein German-born physicist and founder of the theory of relativity 1879 - 1955
Source: Attributed in posthumous publications, Einstein and the Poet (1983), p. 94
Context: Religion and science go together. As I've said before, science without religion is lame and religion without science is blind. They are interdependent and have a common goal—the search for truth. Hence it is absurd for religion to proscribe Galileo or Darwin or other scientists. And it is equally absurd when scientists say that there is no God. The real scientist has faith, which does not mean that he must subscribe to a creed. Without religion there is no charity. The soul given to each of us is moved by the same living spirit that moves the universe.

„Music is the only religion that delivers the goods.“
— Frank Zappa American musician, songwriter, composer, and record and film producer 1940 - 1993

„Science and religion are not at odds. Science is simply too young to understand.“
— Dan Brown, book Angels & Demons
Source: Angels & Demons

„Human decency is not derived from religion. It precedes it.“
— Christopher Hitchens British American author and journalist 1949 - 2011
Source: god is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything

„There is no conflict between science and religion.“
— Georges Lemaître Belgian scientist and priest 1894 - 1966
New York Times, February 19, 1933 http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9A02E7DA1539E033A2575AC1A9649C946294D6CF&nytmobile=0&legacy=true

„I would believe only in a God that knows how to dance.“
— Friedrich Nietzsche, book Thus Spoke Zarathustra
Variant: I would only believe in a god who could dance.
Source: Thus Spoke Zarathustra

„When I do good I feel good, when I do bad I feel bad, and that's my religion.“
— Abraham Lincoln 16th President of the United States 1809 - 1865
Quoted in 3:439 Herndon's Lincoln (1890), p. 439 http://books.google.com/books?id=rywOAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA439&dq=%22when+i+do+good+i+feel+good%22: Inasmuch as he was so often a candidate for public office Mr. Lincoln said as little about his religious code as possible, especially if he failed to coincide with the orthodox world. In illustration of his religious code I once heard him say that it was like that of an old man named Glenn, in Indiana, whom he heard speak at a church meeting, and who said: "When I do good I feel good, when I do bad I feel bad, and that's my religion."
Posthumous attributions

„Natural science wants man to learn, religion wants him to act.“
— Max Planck German theoretical physicist 1858 - 1947
Religion and Natural Science (1937)

„Each religion has got their own way of making you feel like a victim.“
— Timothy Leary American psychologist 1920 - 1996
Timothy Leary's Last Trip (1997)
Context: Each religion has got their own way of making you feel like a victim. The Christians say "you are a sinner", and you better just zip up your trousers and give the money to the pope and we'll give you a room up in the hotel in the sky.
All quotes about religion
Total 4406 quotes religion, filter:
— Sukavich Rangsitpol Thai politician 1935
The Reason and the objective of Education Reform

— Carl Sagan, book Pale Blue Dot
Source: Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space (1994), p. 8, Supplemental image at randi.org http://www.randi.org/images/122801-BlueDot.jpg

— Emma Goldman, book Anarchism and Other Essays
Variant: Anarchism, then, really stands for the liberation of the human mind from the dominion of religion; the liberation of the human body from the dominion of property; liberation from the shackles and restraint of government.
Source: Anarchism and Other Essays

„The only religion I respect is Islam. The only prophet I admire is the Prophet Muhammad.“
— Adolf Hitler Führer and Reich Chancellor of Germany, Leader of the Nazi Party 1889 - 1945
Found in George Michael's 2006 book, The Enemy of My Enemy, and also in Jake Neuman's 2015 book, Islam Sharia Law and Jihad are Treason.
Source: 1 https://books.google.com/books?id=RvLtAAAAMAAJ&q=%22the+only+religion+i+respect+is+islam%22
Source: 2 https://books.google.com/books?id=HjKKCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA203&dq="the+only+religion+i+respect+is+islam"
Misattributed

— Irena Sendler Polish resistance fighter and Holocaust rescuer 1910 - 2008
As quoted in "Holocaust heroine's survival tale" by Adam Easton in BBC News (3 March 2005) http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4314145.stm
— Chuba Okadigbo Nigerian politician 1941 - 2003
Source: Fani-Kayode urges Buhari to take Okadigbo’s advice, Ifreke Inyang, 23 October 2017, Daily Post, Nigeria, 18 April 2018 http://dailypost.ng/2017/10/23/fani-kayode-urges-buhari-take-okadigbos-advice/,
— Sita Ram Goel Indian activist 1921 - 2003
Freedom of expression - Secular Theocracy Versus Liberal Democracy (1998)

— Jonathan Edwards Christian preacher, philosopher, and theologian 1703 - 1758
No. 68.
Seventy Resolutions (1722-1723)

— Cristoforo Colombo Explorer, navigator, and colonizer 1451 - 1506
Letter to Doña Juana de Torres (October 2015)

— Jeff Buckley American singer, guitarist and songwriter 1966 - 1997
B-Side Magazine, October/November 1994
From Interviews

— Nathuram Godse Assassin of Mahatma Gandhi 1910 - 1949
Nathuram Godse: Why I Assassinated Gandhi (1993)

— John Wooden American basketball coach 1910 - 2010
Source: Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections On and Off the Court

— Temple Grandin USA-american doctor of animal science, author, and autism activist 1947
Source: Thinking in Pictures: My Life with Autism

— George Lincoln Rockwell American politician, founder of the American Nazi Party 1918 - 1967
White Self-Hate: Master-Stroke Of The Enemy
1962, White Self-Hate: Master-Stroke Of The Enemy

— Jonathan Edwards Christian preacher, philosopher, and theologian 1703 - 1758
Letter to Deborah Hatheway (1741), in Letters and Personal Writings (1998), edited by George S. Claghorn, Vol. 16.
— Anton LaVey, book The Satanic Bible
As quoted in the Introduction by Burton H. Wolfe
The Satanic Bible (1969)

— Periyar E. V. Ramasamy Tamil politician and social reformer 1879 - 1973
Veeramani, Collected Works of Periyar, p. 511.
Untouchability

„The farther men get from God, the farther they advance into the knowledge of religions.“
— Emil M. Cioran, book The Trouble With Being Born
The Trouble With Being Born (1973)

— Joseph Goebbels Nazi politician and Propaganda Minister 1897 - 1945
Dated 16 October 1928
Diary excerpts

— Louis Riel Canadian politician 1844 - 1885
I have got those words in my head, those words of J. B. Bruno and the late Archbishop Bourget.
Address to Grand Jury (1885)

— Sitting Bull Hunkpapa Lakota medicine man and holy man 1831 - 1890
Sitting Bull: The Collected Speeches, p. 75
Sourced quotes
— Ali, book Nahj al-Balagha
Nahj al-Balagha

„The world is divided into men who have wit and no religion and men who have religion and no wit.“
— Avicenna medieval Persian polymath, physician, and philosopher 980 - 1037
This was declared without citation to have been attributed to Avicenna in A Rationalist Encyclopaedia : A Book of Reference on Religion, Philosophy, Ethics, and Science (1950), by Joseph McCabe, p. 43; it was also later wrongly attributed to Averroes in The Atheist World (1991) by Madalyn Murray O'Hair, p. 46. It actually originates as a statement by the atheist Al-Maʿarri, earlier translated into English in A Short History of Freethought Ancient and Modern (1906) by John Mackinnon Robertson, Vol. I, Ch. VIII : Freethought under Islam, p. 269, in the form: "The world holds two classes of men ; intelligent men without religion, and religious men without intelligence."
Misattributed

„I hold nothing as an article of my Religion, but what the highest evidence forced me to embrace.“
— John Toland, book Christianity not Mysterious
Christianity not Mysterious (1696), Preface

— Werner Heisenberg German theoretical physicist 1901 - 1976
Werner Heisenberg as quoted in Quirks of the Quantum Mind, p. 175, ICRL Press, ISBN 1936033062

— Paramahansa Yogananda Yogi, a guru of Kriya Yoga and founder of Self-Realization Fellowship 1893 - 1952
The Second Coming of Christ: The Resurrection of the Christ Within You, (2004) by Yogananda

— Anthony Hopkins Welsh stage and television actor 1937
"Sir Anthony Hopkins: I couldn't be an atheist". https://www.catholicherald.co.uk/news/2011/02/11/sir-anthony-hopkins-i-couldnt-be-an-atheist/ (February 11, 2011)

— Eugene Cernan United States Navy officer and former NASA astronaut 1934 - 2017
In the Shadow of the Moon http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_the_Shadow_of_the_Moon

— Adam Weishaupt German philosopher and founder of the Order of Illuminati 1748 - 1830
"Greeting to the newly integrated illuminatos dirigentes", in Nachtrag von weitern Originalschriften vol. 2 (1787) p. 45.

— Muhammad Arabian religious leader and the founder of Islam 570 - 632
Sahih Muslim, Book 001, Number 0142
Sunni Hadith
Context: It is narrated on the authority of 'Abdullah b. Umar that the Messenger of Allah observed: O womenfolk, you should give charity and ask much forgiveness for I saw you in bulk amongst the dwellers of Hell. A wise lady among them said: Why is it, Messenger of Allah, that our folk is in bulk in Hell? Upon this the Holy Prophet observed: You curse too much and are ungrateful to your spouses. I have seen none lacking in common sense and failing in religion but (at the same time) robbing the wisdom of the wise, besides you. Upon this the woman remarked: What is wrong with our common sense and with religion? He (the Holy Prophet) observed: Your lack of common sense (can be well judged from the fact) that the evidence of two women is equal to one man, that is a proof of the lack of common sense, and you spend some nights (and days) in which you do not offer prayer and in the month of Ramadan (during the days) you do not observe fast, that is a failing in religion. This hadith has been narrated on the authority of Abu Tahir with this chain of transmitters.

„Those who use religion for their own benefit are detestable.“
— Mustafa Kemal Atatürk Turkish army officer, revolutionary, and the first President of Turkey 1881 - 1938
As quoted in Kemalizm, Laiklik ve Demokrasi [Kemalism, Laicism and Democracy] (1994) by Ahmet Taner Kışlalı
Context: Religion is an important institution. A nation without religion cannot survive. Yet it is also very important to note that religion is a link between Allah and the individual believer. The brokerage of the pious cannot be permitted. Those who use religion for their own benefit are detestable. We are against such a situation and will not allow it. Those who use religion in such a manner have fooled our people; it is against just such people that we have fought and will continue to fight. Know that whatever conforms to reason, logic, and the advantages and needs of our people conforms equally to Islam. If our religion did not conform to reason and logic, it would not be the perfect religion, the final religion.

— Haile Selassie Emperor of Ethiopia 1892 - 1975
Interview in The Voice of Ethiopia (5 April 1948).
Context: The progress of science can be said to be harmful to religion only in so far as it is used for evil aims and not because it claims a priority over religion in its revelation to man. It is important that spiritual advancement must keep pace with material advancement. When this comes to be realized man's journey toward higher and more lasting values will show more marked progress while the evil in him recedes into the background. Knowing that material and spiritual progress are essential to man, we must ceaselessly work for the equal attainment of both. Only then shall we be able to acquire that absolute inner calm so necessary to our well-being.
It is only when a people strike an even balance between scientific progress and spiritual and moral advancement that it can be said to possess a wholly perfect and complete personality and not a lopsided one.

— Paul Dirac theoretical physicist 1902 - 1984
Remarks made during the Fifth Solvay International Conference (October 1927), as quoted in Physics and Beyond: Encounters and Conversations (1971) by Werner Heisenberg, pp. 85-86; these comments prompted the famous remark later in the day by Wolfgang Pauli: "Well, our friend Dirac, too, has a religion, and its guiding principle is "God does not exist and Dirac is His prophet." Variant translations and paraphrases of that comment are listed in the "Quotes about Dirac" section below.
Context: If we are honest — and scientists have to be — we must admit that religion is a jumble of false assertions, with no basis in reality. The very idea of God is a product of the human imagination. It is quite understandable why primitive people, who were so much more exposed to the overpowering forces of nature than we are today, should have personified these forces in fear and trembling. But nowadays, when we understand so many natural processes, we have no need for such solutions. I can't for the life of me see how the postulate of an Almighty God helps us in any way. What I do see is that this assumption leads to such unproductive questions as why God allows so much misery and injustice, the exploitation of the poor by the rich and all the other horrors He might have prevented. If religion is still being taught, it is by no means because its ideas still convince us, but simply because some of us want to keep the lower classes quiet. Quiet people are much easier to govern than clamorous and dissatisfied ones. They are also much easier to exploit. Religion is a kind of opium that allows a nation to lull itself into wishful dreams and so forget the injustices that are being perpetrated against the people. Hence the close alliance between those two great political forces, the State and the Church. Both need the illusion that a kindly God rewards — in heaven if not on earth — all those who have not risen up against injustice, who have done their duty quietly and uncomplainingly. That is precisely why the honest assertion that God is a mere product of the human imagination is branded as the worst of all mortal sins.

— Ludwig von Mises, book Socialism
Socialism (1922), Epilogue (1947)
Context: When people were committed to the idea that in the field of religion only one plan must be adopted, bloody wars resulted. With the acknowledgment of the principle of religious freedom these wars ceased. The market economy safeguards peaceful economic co-operation because it does not use force upon the economic plans of the citizens. If one master plan is to be substituted for the plans of each citizen, endless fighting must emerge. Those who disagree with the dictator's plan have no other means to carry on than to defeat the despot by force of arms.

„This is one of the most intricate problems of religion.“
— Averroes, book On the Harmony of Religions and Philosophy
Part 3: Of Fate And Predestination; Opening sentence
On the Harmony of Religions and Philosophy
Context: This is one of the most intricate problems of religion. For if you look into the traditional arguments () about this problem you will find them contradictory; such also being the case with arguments of reason. The contradiction in the arguments of the first kind is found in the Qur'an and the Hadith.

— Claude Debussy French composer 1862 - 1918
As quoted in Claude Debussy: His Life and Works (1933) by Léon Vallas, p. 225
Variant translation: Before the passing sky, in long hours of contemplation of its magnificent and ever-changing beauty, I am seized by an incomparable emotion. The whole expanse of nature is reflected in my own sincere and feeble soul. Around me the branches of trees reach out toward the firmament, here are sweet-scented flowers smiling in the meadow, here the soft earth is carpeted with sweet herbs. … Nature invites its ephemeral and trembling travelers to experience these wonderful and disturbing spectacles — that is what I call prayer.
As quoted in The Life of the Creative Spirit (2001) by H. Charles Romesburg, p. 240
Context: I do not practise religion in accordance with the sacred rites. I have made mysterious Nature my religion. I do not believe that a man is any nearer to God for being clad in priestly garments, nor that one place in a town is better adapted to meditation than another. When I gaze at a sunset sky and spend hours contemplating its marvelous ever-changing beauty, an extraordinary emotion overwhelms me. Nature in all its vastness is truthfully reflected in my sincere though feeble soul. Around me are the trees stretching up their branches to the skies, the perfumed flowers gladdening the meadow, the gentle grass-carpetted earth, … and my hands unconsciously assume an attitude of adoration. … To feel the supreme and moving beauty of the spectacle to which Nature invites her ephemeral guests! … that is what I call prayer.

— Alfred Freddy Krupa Croatian contemporary painter, master draughtsman, book artist and art teacher, the pioneer of the New Ink Art movement 1971
Overcoming a Personal Holocaust, Alfred Freddy Krupa (in the article by Ante Vranković), Life As A Human (Canada), 2019
2010s
— Unknown author

— Richard Dawkins, book The God Delusion
Heart Of The Matter: God Under The Microscope | BBC (1996)
Variant: [... ] one of the truly bad effects of religion is that it teaches us that it is a virtue to be satisfied with not understanding.
Source: The God Delusion

— Anne Frank victim of the Holocaust and author of a diary 1929 - 1945
Source: The Diary of a Young Girl

„Are there any religions on your list that include the slaughter of noblemen as a holy duty?“
— Brandon Sanderson American fantasy writer 1975
Kelsier, Chapter 10
Source: Mistborn: The Final Empire (2006)
Context: [.. ] overthrowing the Final Empire seems like a good start. Are there any religions on your list that include the slaughter of noblemen as a holy duty?

„Religion is like a pair of shoes….. Find one that fits for you, but don't make me wear your shoes.“
— George Carlin American stand-up comedian 1937 - 2008

— Hans Küng Swiss Catholic priest, theologian and author 1928
Address at the opening of the Exhibit on the World's Religions at Santa Clara University (31 March 2005) http://www.scu.edu/ethics/practicing/focusareas/global_ethics/laughlin-lectures/kung-world-religions.html
Address at the opening of the Exhibit on the World's Religions at Santa Clara University (31 March 2005) note: Elaborations and extensions of this declaration occur in Küng's later writings, including: There will be no peace among the nations without peace among the religions. There will be no peace among the religions without dialogue among the religions. There will be no dialogue among the religions without global ethical standards. There will therefore be no survival of this globe without a global ethic.
Source: Christianity: Essence, History, Future

„"Religion is the opiate of the masses.""I did masses of opiates religiously.“
— Carrie Fisher, book Postcards from the Edge
Source: Postcards from the Edge

— Richard Dawkins English ethologist, evolutionary biologist and author 1941
The Root of All Evil? (January 2006)

— Jimmy Carter American politician, 39th president of the United States (in office from 1977 to 1981) 1924

— William Booth British Methodist preacher 1829 - 1912
Variant: I consider that the chief dangers which confront the coming century will be.... religion without the Holy Ghost, Christianity without Christ, forgiveness without repentance, salvation without regeneration, politics without God and heaven without hell.

— W.E.B. Du Bois American sociologist, historian, activist and writer 1868 - 1963
Source: The Autobiography of W.E.B. Du Bois: A Soliloquy on Viewing My Life from the Last Decade of Its First Century
— William Barclay Church of Scotland minister and academic 1907 - 1978
Source: Many Witnesses, One Lord

„Immorality, no less than morality, has at all times found support in religion.“
— Sigmund Freud, book The Future of an Illusion
Source: 1920s, The Future of an Illusion (1927), Ch. 7

— Jimmy Carter, book A Call to Action: Women, Religion, Violence, and Power
Source: A Call to Action: Women, Religion, Violence, and Power

„The greatest religion is to be true to your own nature. Have faith in yourselves!“
— Swami Vivekananda Indian Hindu monk and phylosopher 1863 - 1902
Pearls of Wisdom

— Muhammad Ali African American boxer, philanthropist and activist 1942 - 2016
Source: Muhammad Ali: His Life and Times

„Believe me, the library is the temple of God. Education is the most sacred religion of all.“
— Gene Simmons Israeli-born American rock bass guitarist, singer-songwriter, record producer, entrepreneur, and actor 1949

— James A. Michener American author 1907 - 1997
As quoted in Good Advice (1982) by William Safire and Leonard Safir. Original appearance in Holiday magazine, March 1956, pp. 40-51.

„Properly read, it is the most potent force for atheism ever conceived.“
— Isaac Asimov American writer and professor of biochemistry at Boston University, known for his works of science fiction and popular … 1920 - 1992
As quoted in Notes for a Memoir : On Isaac Asimov, Life, and Writing (2006) by Janet Jeppson Asimov, p. 58
General sources
Variant: Properly read, the Bible is the most potent force for atheism ever conceived.
Context: If you suspect that my interest in the Bible is going to inspire me with sudden enthusiasm for Judaism and make me a convert of mountain‐moving fervor and that I shall suddenly grow long earlocks and learn Hebrew and go about denouncing the heathen — you little know the effect of the Bible on me. Properly read, it is the most potent force for atheism ever conceived.

— Elizabeth Cady Stanton Suffragist and Women's Rights activist 1815 - 1902
Letter to Susan B. Anthony (1860-06-14).
Context: Women's degradation is in man's idea of his sexual rights. Our religion, laws, customs, are all founded on the belief that woman was made for man. Come what will, my whole soul rejoices in the truth that I have uttered.

— Fulton J. Sheen Catholic bishop and television presenter 1895 - 1979
Source: Seven Words of Jesus and Mary: Lessons from Cana and Calvary

— John Locke, book An Essay Concerning Human Understanding
Book IV, Ch. 18
An Essay Concerning Human Understanding (1689)

— John Ruskin, book Modern Painters
Volume III, part IV, chapter XVI (1856).
Modern Painters (1843-1860)

„The more powerful and original a mind, the more it will incline towards the religion of solitude.“
— Aldous Huxley English writer 1894 - 1963
Proper Studies (1927)
— Sita Ram Goel Indian activist 1921 - 2003
History of Hindu-Christian Encounters (1996)

— Pat Robertson American media mogul, executive chairman, and a former Southern Baptist minister 1930
http://mediamatters.org/research/200804110003
„Banks are the temples of America. This is a holy war. Our economy is our religion.“
— Giannina Braschi, book United States of Banana
United States of Banana (2011)

— Roger Scruton English philosopher 1944 - 2020
"Conservatism and the Conservatory," https://www.nationalreview.com/nrd/articles/427945/conservatism-and-conservatory, National Review (December 2015).

— Jane Goodall British primatologist, ethologist, and anthropologist 1934
Source: Reason for Hope: a Spiritual Journey (2000), p. 189

— Pat Robertson American media mogul, executive chairman, and a former Southern Baptist minister 1930
— Haidakhan Babaji teacher in northern India
24 December 1981
The Teachings of Babaji

— Piet Mondrian Peintre Néerlandais 1872 - 1944
Quote in Mondrian's letter to Rudolf Steiner, c. 1921-23; as cited in Abstract Painting, Michel Seuphor, Dell Publishing Co 1964, p. 83-85
1920's

— Malala Yousafzai Pakistani children's education activist 1997
Nobel Peace Prize Winner Speech (October 10, 2014)
— Sita Ram Goel Indian activist 1921 - 2003
How I became a Hindu (1982)

„If Islam is this "religion of peace", why is everyone so scared?“
— Tommy Robinson English right-wing activist 1982
Commenting on the refusal of British newspapers to reprint the Charlie Hebdo cartoons — Tommy Robinson Discusses Life Before and After the EDL w/ NOTA (24 February 2015) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tp50xJR8gxM&feature=youtu.be&t=1h28m35s
2015

„Being broke is against my religion.“
— 50 Cent American rapper, actor, businessman, investor and television producer 1975
Ryder Music
Song lyrics, The Massacre (2005)