“All religions fall far short of their own ideals.”

“The American states have gone far in assisting the progress of truth; but they have stopped short of perfection. They ought to have given every honest citizen an equal right to enjoy his religion and an equal title to all civil emoluments, without obliging him to tell his religion. Every interference of the civil power in regulating opinion, is an impious attempt to take the business of the Deity out of his own hands; and every preference given to any religious denomination, is so far slavery and bigotry.”

“So far as the religion of the day is concerned, it is a damned fake … Religion is all bunk.”

“For, so inconsistent is human nature, especially in the ideal, that not to undertake a thing at all seems better than to undertake and come short.”

“I'm a guy who tries to be successful in all that I do, and when you fall short, it hurts.”

“Prose is when all the lines except the last go on to the end. Poetry is when some of them fall short of it.”

“It is a fine thing to establish one's own religion in one's heart, not to be dependent on tradition and second-hand ideals. Life will seem to you, later, not a lesser, but a greater thing.”

“Aim higher in case you fall short.”

“Religion is always falling apart.”

“To devote your life to the good of all and to the happiness of all is religion. Whatever you do for your own sake is not religion.”