Fresh quotes to go through the day

"Believe nothing, O monks, merely because you have been told it ... or because it is traditional, or because you yourselves have imagined it. Do not believe what your teacher tells you merely out of respect for the teacher. But whatsoever, after due examination and analysis, you find to be conducive to the good, the benefit, the welfare of all beings -- that doctrine believe and cling to, and take it as your guide"

Something very close to what the Buddha said

"Every pulpit is a pillory, in which stands a hired culprit, defending the justice of his own imprisonment"

Robert Green Ingersoll

"A tyrant must put on the appearance of uncommon devotion to religion. Subjects are less apprehensive of illegal treatment from a ruler whom they consider god-fearing and pious. On the other hand, they do less easily move against him, believing that he has the gods on his side"

Aristotle

"I cannot be angry at God, in whom I do not believe"

Simone de Beauvoir

"As for myself, I do not believe that such a person as Jesus Christ ever existed; but as the people are inclined to superstition, it is proper not to oppose them"

"I am surrounded by priests who repeat incessantly that their kingdom is not of this world, and yet they lay their hands on everything they can get"

"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich"

Napoleon Bonaparte