Thomas Hobbes Quotes

A heretic, my dear sir, is a fellow who disagrees with you regarding something neither of you knows anything about.

Belief is a very peculiar thing: we tend to put more store in a belief we like than a fact we hate.

No religion can be built on force.

A heretic can be tolerated. But a heresy cannot.

It appears to be in the nature of religion itself to be prejudiced against those who are different.

To know a person's religion we need not listen to his profession of faith but must find his brand of intolerance.

Orthodoxy is my doxy - heterodoxy is another man's doxy.

In the forefront of science, there is not much difference between religion and science. People harbor beliefs. That's what happens when people believe something religiously.

One person's religion is another person's cult.

He who departs from consensus is not an infidel.

In matters of religion it is very easy to deceive a man, and very hard to undeceive him.

There would never have been an infidel had there never been a priest.

If religion is about truth, why is it so afraid of error?

People almost invariably arrive at their beliefs not on the basis of proof but on the basis of what they find attractive.

… heresy no longer shocks us; at least, it no longer convulses us like something trying to tear the soul of our souls away from us.... And that is why we have no trouble in being kind to heretics, and no repugnance in rubbing shoulders with them.

Where orthodoxy is optional, orthodoxy will sooner or later be proscribed.

The opposite of faith is not doubt: It is certainty. It is madness. You can tell you have created God in your own image when it turns out that he or she hates all the same people you do.

Keeping religion immune from criticism is both unwarranted and dangerous.

The philosopher has never killed any priests, whereas the priest has killed a great many philosophers.

The story of the decadence of the cathedral as a moral power, a spiritual energizer in civilization, is the sad but inevitable story of dogmatism. It is the story of the struggle of free thought with bigotry, religion making common cause with the wrong side.

A belief may be larger than a fact.

Trust and belief are two prime considerations. You must not allow yourself to be opinionated.

A heresy can spring only from a system that is in full vigor.

It is always more difficult to fight against faith than against knowledge.

Generally speaking, the errors in religion are dangerous; those in philosophy only ridiculous.