45 Quotes About Secular Ethic

How do we reach a state of moral enlightenment? We must be aware of our own personal shortcomings and flaws. But to achieve the highest possible level of morality, we must also question authority and society’s norms. This is the essence of secular-ethics quotes. Here you will find the best quotes from people who have been there, done that, and have something to say about it Read more

And obviously, this category is ideal for readers of all types who want to expand their understanding on what it means to be moral without having any religious or spiritual ties.

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About once or twice every month I engage in public debates with those whose pressing need it is to woo and to win the approval of supernatural beings. Very often, when I give my view that there is no supernatural dimension, and certainly not one that is only or especially available to the faithful, and that the natural world is wonderful enough–and even miraculous enough if you insist– I attract pitying looks and anxious questions. How, in that case, I am asked, do I find meaning and purpose in life? How does a mere and gross materialist, with no expectation of a life to come, decide what, if anything, is worth caring about? Depending on my mood, I sometimes but not always refrain from pointing out what a breathtakingly insulting and patronizing question this is. (It is on a par with the equally subtle inquiry: Since you don't believe in our god, what stops you from stealing and lying and raping and killing to your heart's content?) Just as the answer to the latter question is: self-respect and the desire for the respect of others–while in the meantime it is precisely those who think they have divine permission who are truly capable of any atrocity–so the answer to the first question falls into two parts. A life that partakes even a little of friendship, love, irony, humor, parenthood, literature, and music, and the chance to take part in battles for the liberation of others cannot be called 'meaningless' except if the person living it is also an existentialist and elects to call it so. It could be that all existence is a pointless joke, but it is not in fact possible to live one's everyday life as if this were so. Whereas if one sought to define meaninglessness and futility, the idea that a human life should be expended in the guilty, fearful, self-obsessed propitiation of supernatural nonentities… but there, there. Enough. Christopher Hitchens
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I have gained this by philosophy … I do without being ordered what some are constrained to do by their fear of the law. Aristotle
Good gods are scarce because the majority of gods are...
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Good gods are scarce because the majority of gods are created by evil men Bangambiki Habyarimana
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Why do religious believers hate unbelievers? The feel threatened by them, they feel besieged by them. Religions consider themselves as separate tribes in their own rights and feel like unbelievers will one day overrun their strongholds Bangambiki Habyarimana
Every word that comes after
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Every word that comes after "And the Lord told me... “is a pious lie Bangambiki Habyarimana
Some people are so stiff and inhumane as the dogma's...
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Some people are so stiff and inhumane as the dogma's they believe in Bangambiki Habyarimana
Give me something to worship whatever.” Cries the human soul
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Give me something to worship whatever.” Cries the human soul Bangambiki Habyarimana
Spiritual leaders, priests and prophets are lamps burning in the...
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Spiritual leaders, priests and prophets are lamps burning in the dark, seeking meaning for humanity. Bangambiki Habyarimana
Science cannot disprove god. Science studies the things that are....
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Science cannot disprove god. Science studies the things that are. The eternal question is who or what made them to be Bangambiki Habyarimana
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Why doesn't the pope convert to Calvinism? Why doesn't the Dalai Lama, convert to Christianity, why doesn't Billy Graham convert to Islam, Why doesn't the Ayatollahs convert to Buddhism, Why isn't Buddhism swept away? Religious leaders know that all religions are equal; they know that no one of them has the monopoly to the knowledge of God. They know that each religion is trying to find the hidden God and that no one religion can claim to have found him beyond doubt. That's why they remain where they are and respect each other. Bangambiki Habyarimana
Can really anybody put his hand on his heart and...
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Can really anybody put his hand on his heart and profess to know beyond doubt what happens on the other side of this life? Bangambiki Habyarimana
There is nothing behind the curtains of religions, people put...
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There is nothing behind the curtains of religions, people put there whatever their imaginations can fathom Bangambiki Habyarimana
Once you believe that god is not a private property...
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Once you believe that god is not a private property of anybody, you are on your way to becoming a new messiah. Maybe your own if not the world's Bangambiki Habyarimana
Theology is like assuming that there is a black cat...
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Theology is like assuming that there is a black cat in a dark room where in fact there is no black cat, and endeavoring to study the cat's properties and how it may have evolved from its ancestors. Bangambiki Habyarimana
The eyes of god are upon you, I mean the...
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The eyes of god are upon you, I mean the eyes of society. We are prisoners of societies in which we live Bangambiki Habyarimana
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You take away my golden dreams and my visions of paradise, in its place you wake me up and hand me your reasons and facts and crude reality. You have ruined my life. If I commit murder or hang myself, let the god I used to pray to repay you in full. Bangambiki Habyarimana
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If you believe that God is good and that He loves you without regard to whom you are or what you do, you will worship Him wholeheartedly. You will praise him with thanksgiving. If you believe He is angry against you, you will come to him with fear and trying to appease his anger. And you don't know when His anger will be over. Such a god keeps you in a perpetual psychological anguish. That is the typical kind of god we usually worship. That is the typical god approved by authority. . Bangambiki Habyarimana
Each mind conceives god in its own way. There may...
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Each mind conceives god in its own way. There may be as many variation of the god figure as there are people in the world Bangambiki Habyarimana
God has not yet revealed himself to no one in...
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God has not yet revealed himself to no one in no unclear terms. Religions are attempts to find him on that level they are all equal Bangambiki Habyarimana
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What is needed is not that a religion be true, meaning that what it claims exist beyond the ink it is written with in a holy book. That is hard to prove. What is important is that a religion be a good system to help us mere mortal deal with our short and troubled life in the universe. Whether what we hope for in the afterlife materializes or not is not important, what is important is that we believe it will materialize and that gives us hope. . Bangambiki Habyarimana
Much terror in religion is not the will of god,...
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Much terror in religion is not the will of god, it is created by power hungry clerics who thirst for absolute power and claim it for god. God does not seek power, he is already powerful. Bangambiki Habyarimana
No one knows what god thinks of anything. He only...
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No one knows what god thinks of anything. He only knows and no one can claim to penetrate into his mysteries. Those who do that are liars and must be avoided at all costs Bangambiki Habyarimana
It's utter arrogance to think that we can know what...
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It's utter arrogance to think that we can know what god ought to be or do. If we don't understand we must continue our search or recognize our ignorance Bangambiki Habyarimana
All religions are
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All religions are "revealed" and "inspired". After all nothing happens without the "will" of god. Bangambiki Habyarimana
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Don't create unbelief or doubt in people's minds. When you do so you ruin their lives and you have nothing to give them in its place. It's ok if people delude themselves those delusions keep their day running. Bangambiki Habyarimana
An atheist is a disappointed true believer he is an...
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An atheist is a disappointed true believer he is an angry and hungry soul who has failed to find a real god to whom he can anchor his hope Bangambiki Habyarimana
All religions are man-made God has not yet revealed himself...
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All religions are man-made God has not yet revealed himself beyond doubt to anybody. Bangambiki Habyarimana
When you have doubts about God, the right position to...
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When you have doubts about God, the right position to take is agnosticism, atheism is outright arrogance Bangambiki Habyarimana
The more time you invest into studying religion, the more...
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The more time you invest into studying religion, the more likely you are to disbelieve in the gods Bangambiki Habyarimana
Religion is a theory about everything that needs to be...
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Religion is a theory about everything that needs to be proved only after death those who prove or disprove it never come back to us to tell the story Bangambiki Habyarimana
All religions are guesswork
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All religions are guesswork Bangambiki Habyarimana
My gut instinct is that these heavens and hells exist...
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My gut instinct is that these heavens and hells exist nowhere else except in our hearts and minds Bangambiki Habyarimana
Don’t curse the gods you will feel shame when you...
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Don’t curse the gods you will feel shame when you have to call on them for help Bangambiki Habyarimana
God is powerful. Even those who claim not to believe...
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God is powerful. Even those who claim not to believe in him fear him. Though their mouths may confess to disbelieve in him, their hearts yearn for him. Bangambiki Habyarimana
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All atheists will go to heaven. If god exists, not believing in him does not take him away and he cannot justly condemn those who seek him earnestly and cannot find him. He would even reward their earnest search for him. Bangambiki Habyarimana
He is an atheist anyone who does not believe in...
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He is an atheist anyone who does not believe in my god and the wrath of god is upon him; I am in my right to meet that wrath on him, " thunders the fanatic Bangambiki Habyarimana
You can't have it both ways. Either you believe in...
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You can't have it both ways. Either you believe in my god or you go to hell Bangambiki Habyarimana
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Atheists are the most honest of the human race. These people are unable to live a double life; they are unable to lie to themselves. Of course it's an evolutionary handicap, and if that handicap was widespread, our species would run the risk of extinction Bangambiki Habyarimana
An atheist is someone who is disappointed in his search...
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An atheist is someone who is disappointed in his search of god. He is a man who strongly needed god but couldn't find him. Atheism is a cry of despair Bangambiki Habyarimana
I know what is going on in the heart of...
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I know what is going on in the heart of an atheist. Deep anguish that there is nothing beyond, nothing to live for, nothing to give him hope. I know because I endured the same predicament. Bangambiki Habyarimana
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After losing faith, even an atheist feels a yawning void in his soul that needs filling; there is nothing imaginable that he can fill with it. It was all along meant to be filled with the sacred, with the unknown and unknowable power. That's the curse or blessing of humanity Bangambiki Habyarimana
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Without a Uniform Civil Code, labelling India be Secular nation is just a illusion. Uniform Civil Code is necessary for India so that t same laws r valid for every citizen without taking religion into consideration. Vikram Singh Slathia
43
[It] is nevertheless better than the theological concept, of deriving morality from a divine, all-perfect will, not merely because we do not intuit this perfection, but can derive it solely from our concepts, of which morality is the foremost one, but because if we do not do this (which, if we did, would be a crude circle in explanation), the concept of his will that is left over to us, the attributes of the desire for glory and domination, bound up with frightful representations of power and vengeance, would have to make a foundation for a system of morals that is directly opposed to morality. Immanuel Kant
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In charity to all mankind, bearing no malice or ill will to any human being, and even compassionating those who hold in bondage their fellow men, not knowing what they do. John Quincy Adams