Humanism Quotes

E. M. Forster: “A humanist has four leading characteristics -- curiosity, a free mind, belief in good taste, and belief in the human race.”

This quote | Related Quotes: Curiosity Quotes, E. M. Forster Quotes, Humanism Quotes

John Lovejoy Elliott: “Those who belong to the orthodox faiths claim that the authority of their faith rests on revelation, and that revelation is given in the pages of books and accounts of miracles and wonders whose nature is supernatural. But those of us who have long discarded the belief in the supernatural still are in the presence of revelations which are the foundation of faith. We too have our revealed religion. We have looked upon the face of men and women that can be to us the symbols of that which is holy. We have heard words of sacred wisdom and truth spoken in the human voice. Out of the universe there have come to us these experience which, when accepted, give to us revelations, not of supernatural religion, but of a natural and inevitable faith in the spiritual powers that animate and dwell in the center of [a person's] being.”

This quote | Related Quotes: Humanism Quotes, John Lovejoy Elliott Quotes, Religion Quotes

Kurt Vonnegut: “I am a humanist, which means, in part, that I have tried to behave decently without any expectation of rewards or punishment after I'm dead.”

This quote | Related Quotes: Ethics Quotes, Good Quotes, Heaven Quotes, Hell Quotes, Humanism Quotes, Kurt Vonnegut Quotes

Shirley Chisholm: “In the end, anti-black, anti-female, and all forms of discrimination are equivalent to the same thing -- anti-humanism.”

This quote | Related Quotes: Feminism Quotes, Humanism Quotes, Racism Quotes, Shirley Chisholm Quotes

John Galsworthy: “Humanism is the creed of those who believe that in the circle of enwrapping mystery, men's fates are in their own hands, a faith that for modern man is becoming the only possible faith.”

This quote | Related Quotes: Faith Quotes, Humanism Quotes, Mystery Quotes

Algernon Black: “This is a call to the living,
To those who refuse to make peace with evil,
With the suffering and the waste of the world. This is a call to the human, not the perfect,
To those who know their own prejudices,
Who have no intention of becoming prisoners of their own limitations. This is a call to those who remember the dreams of their youth,
Who know what it means to share food and shelter,
The care of children and those who are troubled,
To reach beyond barriers of the past
Bringing people to communion. This is a call to the never ending spirit
Of the common man, his essential decency and integrity,
His unending capacity to suffer and endure,
To face death and destruction and to rise again
And build from the ruins of life. This is the greatest call of all
The call to a faith in people.”

This quote | Related Quotes: Algernon Black Quotes, Creed/Credo Quotes, Humanism Quotes

Marcus Aurelius: “Live a good life. If there are gods and they are just, then they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by. If there are gods, but unjust, then you should not want to worship them. If there are no gods, then you will be gone, but will have lived a noble life that will live on in the memories of your loved ones. I am not afraid.”

This quote | Related Quotes: Agnosticism/Atheism Quotes, Fulfillment Quotes, Good Quotes, Heaven Quotes, Hell Quotes, Humanism Quotes, Life Quotes, Marcus Aurelius Quotes, Virtue Quotes

Mohandas K. Gandhi: “Self-respect knows no considerations.”

This quote | Related Quotes: Human Rights Quotes, Humanism Quotes, Integrity/Individuality Quotes, Justice Quotes, Mohandas K. Gandhi Quotes, Self-Respect Quotes

John Lovejoy Elliott: “I have known many good people who did not believe in God. But I have never known a human being who was good who did not believe in people.” more

This quote | Related Quotes: Agnosticism/Atheism Quotes, Belief Quotes, Good Quotes, Humanism Quotes, John Lovejoy Elliott Quotes

Felix Adler: “The human race may be compared to a writer. At the outset a writer has often only a vague general notion of the plan of his work, and of the thought he intends to elaborate. As he proceeds, penetrating his material, laboring to express himself fitly, he lays a firmer grasp on his thought; he finds himself. So the human race is writing its story, finding itself, discovering its own underlying purpose, revising, recasting a tale pathetic often, yet none the less sublime.”

This quote | Related Quotes: Felix Adler Quotes, Humanism Quotes, Humanity Quotes, Purpose Quotes

Humanist Manifesto, 1933: “Humanism will affirm life rather than deny it, seek to elicit the possibilities of life, not flee from it, and endeavor to establish the conditions of satisfactory life for all, not merely for the few.”

This quote | Related Quotes: Humanism Quotes

John Dewey: “A humanistic religion, if it excludes our relation to nature, is pale and thin, as it is presumptuous, when it takes humanity as an object of worship.”

This quote | Related Quotes: Humanism Quotes, John Dewey Quotes

Jone Johnson Lewis: “The human condition is that we are individuals in relationship, and there are tensions between individuality and relatedness. A humanist spirituality is not one of complete dependence, nor of complete independence -- neither condition can be defended as primary. Rather, a humanist spirituality is one of interdependence.”

This quote | Related Quotes: Humanism Quotes, Integrity/Individuality Quotes, Interdependence Quotes, Jone Johnson Lewis Quotes, Relationships Quotes, Spirituality Quotes

John Dietrich: “Energy conveys to us the idea of motion and activity. Inside a living organism we see a source of power, which by some manner is released in terms of movement.... Life is energy... it is the creator or initiator of movement change, development. We are different from moment to moment because the life principle is at work with us.... The spirit of humanity, like the forces of nature, and like the physical life, is at bottom energy.... Spiritual life, therefore, is just as much a development out of what has gone before in the evolutionary process as physical life is; which means that the origin of spiritual life is from within.”

This quote | Related Quotes: Humanism Quotes, John Dietrich Quotes, Spirituality Quotes

Albert Schweitzer: “Ethics cannot be based upon our obligations toward [people], but they are complete and natural only when we feel this Reverence for Life and the desire to have compassion for and to help all creatures insofar as it is in our power. I think that this ethic will become more and more recognized because of its great naturalness and because it is the foundation of a true humanism toward which we must strive if our culture is to become truly ethical.”

This quote | Related Quotes: Albert Schweitzer Quotes, Duty Quotes, Ethics Quotes, Humanism Quotes, Life Quotes, Reverence for Life Quotes

A. Eustace Haydon : “Religion is a shared quest for the values of the good life, the age-long, groping effect of [humanity] to create the social order in which human powers may flower in joyous fulfillment.”

This quote | Related Quotes: A. Eustace Haydon Quotes, Community Quotes, Good Quotes, Humanism Quotes, Humanity Quotes, Religion Quotes

Walt Whitman: “The purpose of democracy -- supplanting old belief in the necessary absoluteness of establish'd dynastic rulership, temporal, ecclesiastical, and scholastic, as furnishing the only security against chaos, crime, and ignorance -- is, through many transmigrations, and amid endless ridicules, arguments, and ostensible failures, to illustrate, at all hazards, this doctrine or theory that man, properly train'd in sanest, highest freedom, may and must become a law, and series of laws, unto himself, surrounding and providing for, not only his own personal control, but all his relations to other individuals, and to the State; and that, while other theories, as in the past histories of nations, have proved wise enough, and indispensable perhaps for their conditions, this, as matters now stand in our civilized world, is the only scheme worth working from, as warranting results like those of Nature's laws, reliable, when once establish'd, to carry on themselves.”

This quote | Related Quotes: Democracy Quotes, Humanism Quotes, Humanity Quotes, Law Quotes, Walt Whitman Quotes

Arthur Dobrin: “A Humanist Code of Ethics:
Do no harm to the earth, she is your mother.
Being is more important than having.
Never promote yourself at another's expense.
Hold life sacred; treat it with reverence.
Allow each person the digity of his or her labor.
Open your home to the wayfarer.
Be ready to receive your deepest dreams;
sometimes they are the speech of unblighted conscience.
Always make restitutions to the ones you have harmed.
Never think less of yourself than you are.
Never think that you are more than another.”

This quote | Related Quotes: Arthur Dobrin Quotes, Creed/Credo Quotes, Ethics Quotes, Humanism Quotes, Reverence Quotes

Charles Francis Potter: “On Humanism”
Originally published in 1930
Language updated in 1994

“Old: God created the world and humanity.
New: The world and humanity evolved.

Old: Hell is a place of eternal torment for the wicked.
New: Suffering is the natural result of breaking the laws of right living.

Old: Heaven is the place where good people go when they die.
New: Doing right brings its own satisfaction.

Old: The chief end of humanity is to glorify God.
New: The chief end of humanity is to improve ourselves, as individuals and as the human race.

Old: Religion has to do with the supernatural.
New: Religion has to do with the natural; the so-called supernatural is only the not-yet-understood natural.

Old: Humankind is inherently evil and a worm of the dust.
New: Humankind is inherently good and has infinite possibilities.

Old: Humankind should submit to the will of God.
New: Humankind should not submit to injustice or suffering without protest and should endeavor to remove its causes.

Old: Salvation comes from outside humanity.
New: Improvement comes from within. No person or god can save another person.

Old: The ideas of sin, salvation, redemption, prayer, and worship are important.
New: These ideas are unimportant.

Old: The truth is to be found in one religion only.
New: There are truths in all religions and outside of religion.”

This quote | Related Quotes: Humanism Quotes

Walt Whitman: “In the faces of men and women I see God.”

This quote | Related Quotes: Humanism Quotes, Men Quotes, Religion Quotes, Walt Whitman Quotes, Women Quotes

Gloria Steinem: “This is no simple reform. It really is a revolution. Sex and race because they are easy and visible differences have been the primary ways of organizing human beings into superior and inferior groups and into the cheap labour in which this system still depends. We are talking about a society in which there will be no roles other than those chosen or those earned. We are really talking about humanism.”

This quote | Related Quotes: Equality Quotes, Feminism Quotes, Gloria Steinem Quotes, Humanism Quotes, Racism Quotes

Pearl S. Buck: “I feel no need for any other faith than my faith in the kindness of human beings. I am so absorbed in the wonder of earth and the life upon it that I cannot think of heaven and angels.”

This quote | Related Quotes: Belief Quotes, Earth Quotes, Faith Quotes, Heaven Quotes, Humanism Quotes, Kindness Quotes, Nature Quotes, Pearl S. Buck Quotes

Edward Ericson: “Ethical Humanism is primarily an attitude about human beings, their worth, and the significance of their lives. It is concerned with the nature and quality of living; the character and creativity of our relationships. Because of this concern, humanism spontaneously flowers into a spiritual movement in its own right.”

This quote | Related Quotes: Edward Ericson Quotes, Humanism Quotes, Relationships Quotes, Spirituality Quotes

A. Eustace Haydon: “The Humanist rarely loses the feeling of at-homeness in the universe. The Humanist is conscious of being an earth-child. There is a mystic glow in this sense of belonging. Memories of one's long ancestry still linger in muscle and nerve, in brain and germ cell. On moonlit nights, in the renewal of life in the springtime, before the glory of a sunset, in moments of swift insight, people feel the community of their own physical being with the body of mother earth. Rooted in millions of years of planetary history, the earthling has a secure feeling of being at home, and a consciousness of pride and dignity as a bearer of the heritage of the ages.”

This quote | Related Quotes: A. Eustace Haydon Quotes, Earth Quotes, Humanism Quotes

Robert G. Ingersoll: “If abuses are destroyed, we must destroy them. If slaves are freed, we must free them. If new truths are discovered, we must discover them. If the naked are clothed; if the hungry are fed; if justice is done; if labor is rewarded; if superstition is driven from the mind; if the defenseless are protected and if the right finally triumphs, all must be the work of people. The grand victories of the future must be won by humanity, and by humanity alone.” more

This quote | Related Quotes: Humanism Quotes, Robert G. Ingersoll Quotes

Emily Dickinson: “The Brain -- is wider than the Sky --
For -- put them side by side --
The one the other will contain
With ease -- and You -- beside --

The Brain is deeper than the sea --
For -- hold them -- Blue to Blue --
The one the other will absorb --
As Sponges -- Buckets -- do --

The Brain is just the weight of God --
For -- Heft them -- Pound for Pound --
And they will differ -- if they do --
As Syllable from Sound -- ”

This quote | Related Quotes: Emily Dickinson Quotes, Humanism Quotes, Imagination Quotes, Inclusion Quotes, Integrity/Individuality Quotes, Mind Quotes

Sir Julian Huxley: “Today the god hypothesis has ceased to be scientifically tenable ... and its abandonment often brings a deep sense of relief. Many people assert that this abandonment of the god hypothesis means the abandonment of all religion and all moral sanctions. This is simply not true. But it does mean, once our relief at jettisoning an outdated piece of ideological furniture is over, that we must construct some thing to take its place.” more

This quote | Related Quotes: Agnosticism/Atheism Quotes, Humanism Quotes, Religion Quotes, Sir Julian Huxley Quotes

Unknown: “Humanism is optimistic regarding human nature and confident in human reason and science as the best means of reaching the goal of human fulfillment in this world. Humanists affirm that humans are a product of the same evolutionary process that produced all other living organisms and that all ideas, knowledge, values, and social systems are based upon human experience. Humanists conclude that creative ability and personal responsibility are strongest when the mind is free from supernatural belief and operates in an atmosphere of freedom and democracy. - published in Free Mind, American Humanist Association.”

This quote | Related Quotes: Humanism Quotes, Responsibility Quotes, Unknown Quotes

Molleen Matsumura: “In my view, humanism relies on reason and compassion. Reason guides our attempt to understand the world about us. Both reason and compassion guide our efforts to apply that knowledge ethically, to understand other people, and have ethical relationships with other people.” more

This quote | Related Quotes: Humanism Quotes, Molleen Matsumura Quotes

Jerome Nathanson: “We believe that an ethical faith need not, and indeed cannot, be grounded in any one way. It is not that we are indifferent to questions about the ultimate nature and meaning of things. Far from it. It is that we believe the universe far too vast to be comprehended in its inner-most core or in its totality by any one person or by all people together. It is that we believe there is room for a great many differing interpretations of everything that is, and still may be. It is that we believe the justification of any religious faith, including an ethical faith, is not to be found in its grounding (important as this is for each of us individually), but in its consequences.”

This quote | Related Quotes: Diversity Quotes, Humanism Quotes, Jerome Nathanson Quotes, Religion Quotes, Religious Freedom Quotes

<< Human Rights | Home Page | Humanity >>
Quotes by Topic | Quotes by Author

This page last modified Fri May 11 10:19:25 2012 GMT

More Ads

Follow

Wisdom

Promote Your Page Too

Search This Site

Home
Newest Quotes
Quotes by Topic
Quotes by Author

_{Acceptance |

Achievement |

Action |

Advice |

Age |

Agnosticism/Atheism |

America |

Anger |

Anticipation |

Apathy |

Appreciation |

Argument |

Arrogance |

Art |

Attention |

Attitude |

Authority |

Autumn |

Awareness |

Beauty |

Beginning |

Belief |

Birth |

Blame |

Books |

Boredom |

Brevity |

Bushisms |

Busyness |

California |

Capitalism |

Cats |

Caution |

Ceremony |

Challenge |

Change/Growth |

Chaos |

Character |

Children |

Choice/Choosing |

Christianity |

Christmas |

Cities |

Civilization |

Commitment |

Common Sense |

Communication |

Community |

Compassion |

Compromise |

Computers |

Confidence |

Conflict |

Confusion |

Connections |

Conscience |

Conservatives |

Control |

Controversy |

Courage |

Courtesy |

Creation |

Creativity |

Creed/Credo |

Criticism |

Curiosity |

Cynicism |

Death |

Democracy |

Despair |

Destiny |

Difficulties |

Discovery |

Disobedience |

Dissent |

Diversity |

Dogs |

Doubt/Uncertainty |

Dreams |

Duty |

Earth |

Education |

Effectiveness |

Effort |

Elections |

Email Sigs |

Emotion |

Empathy |

Encouragement |

Ending |

Enemies |

Enthusiasm |

Envy |

Equality |

Ethics |

Evil |

Example |

Excellence |

Expectations |

Experience |

Extremism |

Facts |

Failure |

Faith |

Fame |

Family |

Fate |

Fathers |

Fear |

Feeling |

Feminism |

Forgiveness |

Freedom |

Friendship |

Frugality |

Fulfillment |

Future |

Garden |

Generosity |

Genius |

Giving |

Globalism |

Goals |

Good |

Government |

Grace |

Gratitude |

Greed |

Grief/Sorrow |

Guilt |

Habit |

Happiness |

Hatred |

Healing |

Health |

Heart |

Heaven |

Hell |

Hero |

History |

Holidays |

Honesty |

Hope |

Hospitality |

Housework |

Human Rights |

Humanism |

Humanity |

Humility |

Humor |

Hypocrisy |

Ideals |

Ideas |

Identity |

Ignorance |

Illusions |

Imagination |

Imitation |

Immortality |

Impermanence |

Inclusion |

Indifference |

Influence |

Injustice |

Insanity |

Inspiration |

Integrity/Individuality |

Intention |

Interdependence |

Intuition |

Joy |

Judgment |

Justice |

Kindness |

Knowledge |

Labor |

Language |

Law |

Lawyers |

Leadership |

Learning |

Liberals |

Life |

Limitations |

Listening |

Literature |

Logic |

Loneliness |

Love |

Luck |

Lying |

Majorities |

Management |

Marriage |

Material Possessions |

Mathematics |

Maturity |

Meaning |

Mediocrity |

Meditation |

Memory |

Men |

Mind |

Mindfulness |

Minorities |

Mistakes |

Moderation |

Money |

Mothers |

Music |

Mystery |

Myth |

Nature |

New Year |

News |

Niceness |

Nonviolence |

Now |

Observation |

Opinion |

Opportunity |

Optimism |

Order |

Organize |

Patience |

Patriotism |

Peace |

Perception |

Perfection |

Persistence |

Perspective |

Pessimism |

Philosophy |

Plans |

Poetry |

Politics |

Popularity |

Poverty |

Power |

Praise |

Prejudice |

Presence |

Problem Solving |

Procrastination |

Progress |

Public Schools |

Purpose |

Questions |

Quotations |

Racism |

Radicals |

Readiness |

Reality |

Reason |

Rebellion |

Reform |

Regret |

Relationships |

Religion |

Religious Freedom |

Reputation |

Respect |

Responsibility |

Reverence |

Reverence for Life |

Revolution |

Risk |

Roles |

Sacred |

Sacrifice |

Salvation |

Sanity |

Science |

Security |

Self-Respect |

Self-care |

Service |

Sharing |

Silence |

Simplicity |

Solidarity |

Solitude |

Spelling |

Spirituality |

Spring |

Status Quo |

Strength |

Stupidity |

Success |

Suffering |

Tact |

Talent |

Teamwork |

Texas |

Thanksgiving |

Thinking |

Time |

Tolerance |

Travel |

Trees |

Trust |

Truth |

Understanding |

Unitarian Universalism |

Unity |

Values |

Violence |

Virtue |

Vision |

War |

Washington |

Weakness |

Wealth |

Will |

Winning |

Winter |

Wisdom |

Women |

Wonder |

Work |

Worry |

Worship |

Worth |

Writing/Writers |

Youth |

Newest Quotes |
Quotes by Topic |
Quotes by Author}

Credits

Some parts of this site powered by Movable Type Pro.

Subscribe to this blog's feed