WIST Quotations

Pratchett, Terry -- Discworld No. 13, Small Gods (1992)

Dave — Fri, 17 Jul 2026 22:57:28 +0000

They were engaged in religion. You could tell by the knives (it’s not murder if you do it for a god).

Terry Pratchett (1948–2015) English author
Discworld No. 13, Small Gods (1992)

Randi, James -- (Attributed)

Dave — Mon, 02 Mar 2026 00:40:09 +0000

The first thing a cult does is tell you everyone else is lying.

James Randi (1928–2020) Canadian-American stage magician ("The Amazing Randi") and scientific skeptic. [b. Randall James Hamilton Zwinge]
(Attributed)

Very widely quoted and attributed to Randi. I cannot, however, find any evidence showing Randi actually said this, though it is plausible.

Hoffer, Eric -- True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements, Part 2, ch. 7, § 38 (2.7.38) (1951)

Dave — Tue, 27 Feb 2024 18:09:05 +0000

The fiercest fanatics are often selfish people who were forced, by innate shortcomings or external circumstances, to lose faith in their own selves. They separate the excellent instrument of their selfishness from their ineffectual selves and attach it to the service of some holy cause. And though it be a faith of love and humility they adopt, they can be neither loving nor humble.

Eric Hoffer (1902–1983) American writer, philosopher, longshoreman
True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements, Part 2, ch. 7, § 38 (2.7.38) (1951)

Gervais, Ricky -- Twitter (11 Sep 2012)

Dave — Fri, 19 Aug 2016 01:22:42 +0000

Your God is the best God.
In fact, he’s the only God.
All other Gods are ridiculous, made up rubbish.
Not yours though. Yours is real.

Ricky Gervais (b. 1961) English comedian, actor, director, writer
Twitter (11 Sep 2012)

Cadbury, Henry -- “My Personal Religion,” lecture, Harvard School of Divinity (1936)

Dave — Tue, 24 May 2016 13:52:37 +0000

I am often inclined to be envious of other people’s religion. They are so cocksure dogmatically that they act as though they are omniscient. Life has no doubts, its direction is determined, all evil is by hypothesis overruled by an all-wise God for good. I do not share this view of life, any more than I share the Christian Science views of disease, but I can see that it makes people enthusiastic, effective, self-forgetful and often fanatical and great bores.

Henry Joel Cadbury (1883–1974) American biblical scholar, Quaker historian, writer, activist
“My Personal Religion,” lecture, Harvard School of Divinity (1936)