WIST Quotations

Ingersoll, Robert Green -- Essay (1881-11) “The Christian Religion,” “Part 2” North American Review, Vol. 133, No. 300

Dave — Fri, 15 May 2026 18:38:51 +0000

For me, it is hard to see the plan or design in earthquakes and pestilences. It is somewhat difficult to discern the design or the benevolence in so making the world that billions of animals live only on the agonies of others. The justice of God is not visible to me in the history of this world. When I think of the suffering and death, of the poverty and crime, of the cruelty and malice, of the heartlessness of this “design” and “plan,” where beak and claw and tooth tear and rend the quivering flesh of weakness and despair, I cannot convince myself that it is the result of infinite wisdom, benevolence, and justice.

Robert Green Ingersoll (1833-1899) American lawyer, freethinker, orator
Essay (1881-11) “The Christian Religion,” “Part 2” North American Review, Vol. 133, No. 300
(Source)

Collected in Allen Thorndike Rice (ed.), The Christian Religion, ch. 3 (1882).

Bierce, Ambrose -- “Adam’s Apple,” “Devil’s Dictionary” column, San Francisco Wasp (1881-05-05)

Dave — Tue, 10 Feb 2026 22:11:01 +0000

ADAM’S APPLE, n. A protuberance on the throat of a man, thoughtfully provided by Nature to keep the rope in place.

Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914?) American writer and journalist
“Adam’s Apple,” “Devil’s Dictionary” column, San Francisco Wasp (1881-05-05)
(Source)

Not collected in later books.

Ingersoll, Robert Green -- Lecture (1872-01-29), “The Gods,” Fairbury Hall, Fairbury, Illinois

Dave — Sat, 03 Jan 2026 19:10:53 +0000

A devout clergyman sought every opportunity to impress upon the mind of his son the fact, that God takes care of all his creatures; that the falling sparrow attracts his attention, and that his loving kindness is over all his works.
Happening, one day, to see a crane wading in quest of food, the good man pointed out to his son the perfect adaptation of the crane to get his living in that manner. “See,” said he, “how his legs are formed for wading! What a long slender bill he has! Observe how nicely he folds his feet when putting them in or drawing them out of the water! He does not cause the slightest ripple. He is thus enabled to approach the fish without giving them any notice of his arrival.”
“My son,” said he, “it is impossible to look at that bird without recognizing the design, as well as the goodness of God, in thus providing the means of subsistence.”
“Yes,” replied the boy, “I think I see the goodness of God, at least so far as the crane is concerned; but after all, father, don’t you think the arrangement a little tough on the fish?”

Robert Green Ingersoll (1833-1899) American lawyer, freethinker, orator
Lecture (1872-01-29), “The Gods,” Fairbury Hall, Fairbury, Illinois
(Source)

First given on the 135th birthday of Thomas Paine. Collected in The Gods and Other Lectures (1876).

Twain, Mark -- Letters from the Earth, “The Damned Human Race,” sec. 5 “The Lowest Animal” (1962) [ed. DeVoto]

Dave — Mon, 25 Mar 2024 21:15:04 +0000

Man seems to be a rickety poor sort of a thing, any way you take him; a kind of British Museum of infirmities and inferiorities. He is always undergoing repairs. A machine that was as unreliable as he is would have no market.

Mark Twain (1835-1910) American writer [pseud. of Samuel Clemens]
Letters from the Earth, “The Damned Human Race,” sec. 5 “The Lowest Animal” (1962) [ed. DeVoto]
(Source)

Franklin, Benjamin -- Letter to the Abbé Morallet, Postscript (1779)

Dave — Thu, 12 Nov 2020 21:15:15 +0000

To confirm still more your piety and gratitude to Divine Providence, reflect upon the situation which it has given to the elbow. You see in animals, who are intended to drink the waters that flow upon the earth, that if they have long legs, they have also a long neck, so that they can get at their drink without kneeling down. But man, who was destined to drink wine, is framed in a manner that he may rise the glass to his mouth. If the elbow had been placed nearer the hand, the part in advance would have been too short to bring the glass up to the mouth; and if it had been nearer the shoulder, that part would have been so long that when it attempted to carry the wine to the mouth it would have overshot the mark, and gone beyond the head; thus, either way, we should have been in the case of Tantalus. But from the actual situation of the elbow, we are enabled to drink at our ease, the glass going directly to the mouth. Let us, then, with glass in hand, adore this benevolent wisdom; — let us adore and drink!

Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) American statesman, scientist, philosopher, aphorist
Letter to the Abbé Morallet, Postscript (1779)
(Source)

De Botton, Alain -- The Consolations of Philosophy, ch. 1 “Consolations for Unpopularity,” sec. 4 (2000)

Dave — Thu, 07 Sep 2017 15:45:11 +0000

There may be no good reason for things to be the way they are.

Alain de Botton (b. 1969) Swiss-British author
The Consolations of Philosophy, ch. 1 “Consolations for Unpopularity,” sec. 4 (2000)
(Source)

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- Journal (1820-12)

Dave — Wed, 13 Jan 2016 15:56:55 +0000

The human soul, the world, the universe are laboring on to their magnificent consummation. We are not fashioned thus marvelously for nought.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
Journal (1820-12)

Lewis, C.S. -- Letter to Alan Griffiths (20 Dec 1946)

Dave — Wed, 12 Aug 2015 15:31:01 +0000

I still think the argument from design the weakest possible ground for Theism, and what may be called the argument from un-design the strongest for Atheism.

C. S. Lewis (1898-1963) English writer, literary scholar, lay theologian [Clive Staples Lewis]
Letter to Alan Griffiths (20 Dec 1946)
(Source)

Lucretius -- De Rerum Natura [On the Nature of Things], Book 5, l. 198-9

Dave — Thu, 06 Aug 2015 13:27:45 +0000

By no means is the natural order of things fashioned for us by a divine agency: so greatly do the imperfections with which it has been endowed stand out.

[Nequaquam nobis divinitus esse paratam
naturam rerum: tanta stat praedita culpa]

Lucretius (c. 100-c. 55 BC) Roman poet [Titus Luretius Carus]
De Rerum Natura [On the Nature of Things], Book 5, l. 198-9

Adams, Douglas -- Last Chance to See, ch. 2 (1990)

Dave — Mon, 13 Jul 2015 13:28:19 +0000

For all my rational Western intellect and education, I was for the moment overwhelmed by a primitive sense of living in a world ordered by a malign and perverted god, and it coloured my view of everything that afternoon — even the coconuts. The villagers sold us some and split them open for us. They are almost perfectly designed. You first make a hole and drink the milk, and then you split open the nut with a machete and slice off a segment of the shell, which forms a perfect implement for scooping out the coconut flesh inside. What makes you wonder about the nature of this god character is that he creates something that is so perfectly designed to be of benefit to human beings and then hangs it twenty feet above their heads on a tree with no branches.

Douglas Adams (1952-2001) English author, humorist, screenwriter
Last Chance to See, ch. 2 (1990)