Quote#Freedom
What a state of society is this in which free-thinker is a term of…
Quote byWilliam Winwood Reade · 1838–1875
Commonly attributed — not confirmed in an authoritative edition. Cited on Wikiquote to: The Martyrdom of Man (1872), Chapter IV, "Intellect", p. 541.
English (original)
What a state of society is this in which free-thinker is a term of abuse, and in which doubt is regarded as sin?
— William Winwood Reade
More from William Winwood Reade
As a single atom man is an enigma: as a whole he is a mathematical problem. As an individual he is a free agent, as a species the offspring of necessity.
The essence of religion is inertia; the essence of science is change. It is the function of the one to preserve, it is the function of the other to improve. If, as in Egypt, they are firmly chained together, either science will advance, in …
Open the book of universal history at what period we may, it is always the India trade which is the cause of internal industry and foreign negotiation.
It may safely be asserted that the art of war will soon be reduced to a simple question of expenditure and credit, and that the largest purse will be the strongest arm.
It is a sure criterion of the civilisation of ancient Egypt that the soldiers did not carry arms except on duty, and that the private citizens did not carry them at all.
Doubt is the offspring of knowledge: the savage never doubts at all.