All time Quote by Andrew Dickson White
![“His [Turgot's] first important literary and scholastic effort was a treatise On the Existence of God. Few fragments of it remain, but we are helped to understand him when we learn that he asserted, and to the end of his life maintained, his belief in an Almighty Creator and Upholder of the…” quote by Andrew Dickson White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/9c1/andrew-dickson-white-24254_all-time_his-turgot-s-first-important-literary-an_1733504.jpg)
“His [Turgot's] first important literary and scholastic effort was a treatise On the Existence of God. Few fragments of it remain, but we are helped to understand him when we learn that he asserted, and to the end of his life maintained, his belief in an Almighty Creator and Upholder of the Universe. It did, indeed, at a later period suit the purposes of his enemies, exasperated by his tolerant spirit and his reforming plans, to proclaim him an atheist; but that sort of charge has been the commonest of missiles against troublesome thinkers in all times.”
About This Quote
Source Book: A History of the Warfare of Science with Theology in Christendom, 1896
Turgot's belief in a creator was later misrepresented as atheism, a common tactic against controversial thinkers.
In simple terms: Turgot was a believer, but enemies called him atheist.
Key Takeaway
Beware of mischaracterizations of beliefs.
Themes
philosophy
religion
misrepresentation
Mood
critical
reflective
Type
historical
analytical
When to use this quote
- academic debates
- historical analysis
- public discourse
Key Concepts
atheism
tolerance
intellectual conflict
Questions to Reflect On
- Why do opponents label thinkers as atheists?
- How does misrepresentation affect a thinker's legacy?
A Different Perspective
Mislabeling can oversimplify complex ideas.
![“I just took [my cancer diagnosis] as bad luck, basically. It did strike me almost immediately, my atheist sort of thing kicked in and I thought "ha, if I was a God-botherer, I'd be thinking, why me God? What have I done to deserve this?" and I thought at least I'm free of that, at least I can…” quote by Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/5c1/anonymous-1_atheist_i-just-took-my-cancer-diagnosis-as-bad-l_2963593.jpg)
![“The young man [Turgot] destined for an ecclesiastical career was placed within walls carefully designed to keep out all currents of new thought; his studies, his reading, his professors, his associates, all were combined to keep from him any results of observation or reflection save those…” quote by Andrew Dickson White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/5d4/andrew-dickson-white-24254_associates_the-young-man-turgot-destined-for-an-ecc_3146.jpg)
![“This whole theory [of John Law and Jean Terrasson], as dear to French financial schemers in the eighteenth century as to American "Greenbackers" in the nineteenth, had resulted, under the Orleans Regency and Louis XV, in ruin to France financially and morally, had culminated in the utter…” quote by Andrew Dickson White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/179/andrew-dickson-white-24254_century_this-whole-theory-of-john-law-and-jean-t_530736.jpg)
![“[Cornell University will be] an asylum for Science—where truth shall be sought for truth's sake, not stretched or cut exactly to fit Revealed Religion.” quote by Andrew Dickson White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/f23/andrew-dickson-white-24254_cornell_cornell-university-will-be-an-asylum-for_1362392.jpg)
![“I don't know whether we think in moving images or whether we think in still images. I have a suspicion that on our hard drive, our series within our brains, [exist] still photographs of very important moments in our lives. ... That we think in terms of still images and that what the photography is…” quote by Jon Snow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/598/jon-snow-40883_all-time_i-don-t-know-whether-we-think-in-moving_15093.jpg)
