“If you want me to believe in God, you must make me touch him.”

— Denis Diderot

Portraying a fictional conversation of Nicholas Saunderson with a priest, in ' Lettre sur les aveugles [Letter about the Blind] (1749), as quoted in Diderot and the Encyclopædists (1897) by John Morley, p. 92. Publication of this work resulted in Diderot being arrested and imprisoned.

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Denis Diderot 106

French Enlightenment philosopher and encyclopædist 1713–1784

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“If you want to help me, and I know you do, believe in me. And do not help to criticize or break me, as some people do gladly, who are indifferent or hostile [towards me].... You must have faith in me. Believe me. And if you want to believe someone about me, believe an artist, someone like Mesdag or Blommers or Maris [one of Breitner's teachers, c. 1880], but not Kuyper and the likes of him.... and hear what they say and put more value on the talk 'finish better' and 'he is stubborn”

George Hendrik Breitner (1857–1923) Dutch painter and photographer

from people who, let's be honest, actually know nothing about art. (The Hague, 1881)
version in original Dutch (citaat van Breitner's brief, in het Nederlands:) Indien U mij wilt helpen en dat weet ik, geloof dan in mij. en helpt niet mee om mij af te breken, dat lieden die of onverschillig zijn of vijandig zoo gaarne doen... ...Gij moet vertrouwen in mij hebben. mij geloven. En als Ge iemand gelooven wilt over mij. geloof dan een schilder iemand als Mesdag of Blommers of Maris, maar geen de Kuyper en consorten... ...en hoor wat ze zeggen en hecht dan nog eenige waarde aan de praatjes van: 'meer af' en: 'hij is koppig' - van lui die goed beschouwd er toch eigentlijk niets van weten. (Den Haag, 1881)
Quote from Breitner's letter to A.P. van Stolk nr. 24, 11 October 1881, (location: The RKD in The Hague); as quoted by Helewise Berger in Van Gogh and Breitner in The Hague, her Master essay in Dutch - Modern Art Faculty of Philosophy University Utrecht, February 2008]], (translation from the original Dutch, Anne Porcelijn) p. 36.
this quote dates from Breitner's period in The Hague, after his Maecenas A.P. van Stolk withdrew his financial support. In his defense, Breitner cites a number of painters from the Hague School he is in contact with and who have already built up a certain reputation.
before 1890

“Hearing him say it now, that is was my birthday present, touched me in the last place I wanted him to touch me. My heart.”

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Source: We'll Always Have Summer

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“This man belongs to me now! You cannot touch him!”

Eagle Woman (1820–1888) American peace activist (born 1820, near Big Bend of the Missouri River [in what is now South Dakota], U.S.…

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Alternatively, "This Man belongs to me now! You cannot mutilate him nor touch him!" as quoted in [Joseph Agonito, Brave Hearts: Indian Women of the Plains, https://books.google.com/books?id=QZ7RDAAAQBAJ, 1 October 2016, TwoDot, 978-1-4930-1906-9]

“Very touching. Do you want me to imitate a violin?”

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Variant: Very touching," said a voice from the stairway. "Do you want me to imitate a violin?" - Damon
Source: The Fury

“Don't kneel to me, that is not right. You must kneel to God only, and thank him for the liberty you will hereafter enjoy.”

Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865) 16th President of the United States

After witnessing a man bow down to him. In Richmond, Virginia (April 4, 1865), as quoted in Incidents and Anecdotes of the Civil War https://archive.org/download/incidentsanecdot00port/incidentsanecdot00port.pdf (1885), by David Dixon Porter, p. 295
1860s, Tour of Richmond (1865)
Context: Don't kneel to me, that is not right. You must kneel to God only, and thank him for the liberty you will hereafter enjoy. I am but God's humble instrument; but you may rest assured that as long as I live no one shall put a shackle on your limbs; and you shall have all the rights which God has given to every other free citizen of this republic.