“God, when he created the human species, wished their happiness; and made for them the provision which he has made, with that view, and for that purpose.”

— William Paley

Vol. I, Book II, Ch. V.
The Principles of Moral and Political Philosophy (1785)

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William Paley 15

Christian apologist, natural theologian, utilitarian 1743–1805

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“God made beer because he loves us and wants us to be happy.”

Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790) American author, printer, political theorist, politician, postmaster, scientist, inventor, civic activist, …

The quote, and its many variants, has been widely attributed to Franklin; however, there has never been an authoritative source for the quote, and research http://64.233.187.104/search?q=cache:4EV3RmSwk04J:listserv.dom.edu/cgi-bin/wa.exe%3FA2%3Dind0507%26L%3Dstumpers-l%26O%3DD%26P%3D31953+abbe+morellet+franklin+wine&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=3 indicates that it is very likely a misquotation of Franklin's words regarding wine: "Behold the rain which descends from heaven upon our vineyards; there it enters the roots of the vines, to be changed into wine; a constant proof that God loves us, and loves to see us happy." (see sourced section above for a more extensive quotation of this passage from a letter to André Morellet), written in 1779.
Misattributed

“The problem is this: Nature has assembled all these species on this planet. The human species is no more important than any other species on this planet. For some reason, man accorded himself a superior place in this scheme of things. He thinks that he is created for some grander purpose than, if I could give a crude example, the mosquito that is sucking his blood. What is responsible for this is the value system that we have created. And the value system has come out of the religious thinking of man. Man has created religion because it gives him a cover. This demand to fulfill himself, to seek something out there was made imperative because of this self-consciousness in you which occurred somewhere along the line of the evolutionary process. Man separated himself from the totality of nature.”

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“Seeking unceasingly for the First Cause of All,
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Man, in the unsearchable darkness, knoweth one thing:
that as he is, so was he made; and if the Essence
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is our conscient Reason and our desire of knowledge,
that was Nature's Purpose in the making of man.”

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“[A]ngels made no complaint about any of the creatures that were created during the six days of Creation, except about Man. This is because he was created in God's image and consists of Upper and Lower together. When the angels saw it, they were startled and bewildered. How would the pure, spiritual soul descend from its sublime degree, and come and dwell in the same abode with this filthy, beastly body? (…) The answer that came to them is is that there is already a tower filled abundantly, and empty of guests. To fill it with guests, we need the existence of this human, made of Upper and lower together (…) Know that this tower, filled abundantly, implies all the pleasure and the goodness for which He has created the creatures.”

Yehuda Ashlag (1886–1954) Orthodox Jewish Rabbi and Kabbalist

Assorted Themes, On Creation

“God, when he created the human species, wished their happiness; and made for them the provision which he has made, with that view, and for that purpose.”

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William Paley 15

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