Noel

“Since Jimmy Carter, religious fundamentalists play a major role in elections. He was the first president who made a point of exhibiting himself as a born again Christian. That sparked a little light in the minds of political campaign managers: Pretend to be a religious fanatic and you can pick up a third of the vote right away. Nobody asked whether Lyndon Johnson went to church every day. Bill Clinton is probably about as religious as I am, meaning zero, but his managers made a point of making sure that every Sunday morning he was in the Baptist church singing hymns.”
― Noam Chomsky

“The fear of God is not the beginning of wisdom. The fear of God is the death of wisdom. Skepticism and doubt lead to study and investigation, and investigation is the beginning of wisdom.”
― Clarence Darrow, Why I Am an Agnostic and Other Essays

“Mendacity is a system that we live in," declares Brick. "Liquor is one way out an'death's the other.”
― Tennessee Williams, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

“Patriotism is the willingness to kill and be killed for trivial reasons”
― Bertrand Russell