“The parents have a right to say that no teacher paid by their money shall rob their children of faith in God and send them back to their homes skeptical, or infidels, or agnostics, or atheists.”

If you want criticisms, read the dissenting opinions of the Court. That will give you criticisms.

Anglo-Saxon civilization has taught the individual to protect his own rights; American civilization will teach him to respect the rights of others.

Evolution is not truth; it is merely a hypothesis-it is millions of guesses strung together.

Principles are eternal.

Real estate is the best investment for small savings. More money is made from the rise in real estate values than from all other causes combined.

Never be afraid to stand with the minority when the minority is right, for the minority which is right will one day be the majority.

Selfish interest is one of the most common obstructions to the advance of truth.

I hope the two wings of the Democratic Party may flap together.

The way to develop self-confidence is to do the thing you fear and get a record of successful experiences behind you.

If that vital spark that we find in a grain of wheat can pass unchanged through countless deaths and resurrections, will the spirit of man be unable to pass from this body to another?

The essence of patriotism lies in a willingness to sacrifice for one’s country, just as true greatness finds expression, not in blessings enjoyed, but in good bestowed.

Behold a republic standing erect while empires all around are bowed beneath the weight of their own armaments – a republic whose flag is loved while other flags are only feared.

Burn down your cities and leave our farms, and your cities will spring up again as if by magic; but destroy our farms and the grass will grow in the streets of every city in the country.

Wars are sometimes waged to extend trade-the blood of many being shed to enrich a few.

Eloquent speech is not from lip to ear, but rather from heart to heart.

This nation is able to legislate for its own people on every question, without waiting for the aid or consent of any other nation on earth.

I’m an atheist. I’m not neutral about religion, I’m hostile to it. I think it is a positively bad idea, not just a false one. And I mean not just organized religion, but religious belief itself.

If there were no God, there would be no atheists.

We have had plenty of atheist presidents; they just wouldn’t admit it.

With respect to public acknowledgment of religious belief, it is entirely clear from our nation’s historical practices that the Establishment Clause permits this disregard of polytheists and believers in unconcerned deities, just as it permits the disregard of devout atheists.

If only I wasn’t an atheist, I could get away with anything. You’d just ask for forgiveness and then you’d be forgiven. It sounds much better than having to live with guilt.

All worry is atheism, because it is a want of trust in God.

God knows, I’m not the thing I should be, Nor am I even the thing I could be, But twenty times I rather would be An atheist clean, Than under gospel colours hid be Just for a screen.

An atheist may be simply one whose faith and love are concentrated on the impersonal aspects of God.