Character Quote by Bertrand Russell

Man, being not only a religious, but also a social being, requires for the promotion of his rational happiness religious institutions, which, while they…

— Hosea Ballou

I see no clear reason why the doctrine of self-interest properly understood should turn men away from religious beliefs.

— Alexis de Tocqueville

It contributes greatly towards a man's moral and intellectual health, to be brought into habits of companionship with individuals unlike himself, who care little…

— Nathaniel Hawthorne

Man is kind enough when he is not excited by religion

— Mark Twain

I shall not fear to say that the doctrine of self-interest rightly understood seems to me of all the philosophic theories the most appropriate…

— Alexis de Tocqueville

Each man must live as an end in himself and follow his own rational self-interest.

— Ayn Rand

If a man needs a religion to conduct himself properly in this world, it is a sign that he has either a limited mind…

— Ninon de L'Enclos

Reason is not the sole basis of moral virtue in man. His social impulses are more deeply rooted than his rational life.

— Reinhold Niebuhr

Man is naturally a religious being. His heart instinctively seeks for God whether he reverences the sacred cow or prays to the sun or…

— Spencer W. Kimball

“It may seem seem cynical to see all religion as basically self-serving, and indeed the idea has been put pithily by a famous cynic.…

— Robert Wright

Never appeal to a man's 'better nature.' He may not have one. Invoking his self-interest gives you more leverage.

— Robert A. Heinlein

“If men were rational, they would take a more correct view of their own interest than they do at present; and if all men…

— Bertrand Russell