Quote#Nature
Now, if the ignorance of nature gave birth to Gods, the knowledge of…
Quote byBaron d'Holbach · 1723–1789
Commonly attributed — not confirmed in an authoritative edition. Cited on Wikiquote to: La Système de la nature; quoted in The Law of Reason, published by J. Thompson, p. 40..
English (original)
Now, if the ignorance of nature gave birth to Gods, the knowledge of nature is calculated to destroy them.
— Baron d'Holbach
More from Baron d'Holbach
All children are born Atheists; they have no idea of God.
Savage and furious nations, perpetually at war, adore, under diverse names, some God, conformable to their ideas, that is to say, cruel, carnivorous, selfish, blood-thirsty.
It is thus superstition infatuates man from his infancy, fills him with vanity, and enslaves him with fanaticism.
When we examine the opinions of men, we find that nothing is more uncommon, than common sense; or, in other words, they lack judgment to discover plain truths, or to reject absurdities, and palpable contradictions.
If the ignorance of nature gave birth to such a variety of gods, the knowledge of this nature is calculated to destroy them.
Pascal proves nothing in favour of Religion, unless that a man of genius may be foolish on some subjects, and is but a child, when he is weak enough to listen to his prejudices.