Be neither intimate nor distant with the clergy.
—Irish Proverb
Where God builds a church the devil builds a chapel.
—Martin Luther (1483–1546) German Protestant Theologian
We sing in a church, why can we not dance there?
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) Irish Playwright
The question confronting the Church today is not any longer whether the man in the street can grasp a religious message, but how to employ the communications media so as to let him have the full impact of the Gospel message.
—Pope John Paul II (1920–2005) Polish Catholic Religious Leader
I do not believe in the creed professed by the Jewish Church, by the Roman Church, by the Greek Church, by the Turkish Church, by the Protestant Church, nor by any church that I know of. My own mind is my own church.
—Thomas Paine (1737–1809) American Nationalist, Author, Pamphleteer, Radical, Inventor
Archbishop—A Christian ecclesiastic of a rank superior to that attained by Christ.
—H. L. Mencken (1880–1956) American Journalist, Literary Critic
I don’t go to church. Kneeling bags my nylons.
—Billy Wilder (1906–2002) American Filmmaker
A group touring Westminster Abbey in London heard the guide list the famous people buried within its walls. During a momentary silence a little old lady’s voice blurted out loud and clear, “Anybody been saved here lately?”
—Unknown
Church is the only place where someone speaks to me and I do not have to answer back.
—Charles de Gaulle (1890–1970) French General, Statesman
And of all plagues with which mankind are cursed, ecclesiastic tyranny’s the worst.
—Daniel Defoe (1659–1731) English Writer, Journalist, Pamphleteer
Here, the churches seemed to shrink away into eroding corners. They seem to have ceased to be essential parts of American life. They no longer give life. It is the huge buildings of commerce and trade which now align the people to attention. These in their massive manner of steel and stone say, Come unto me all ye who labor, and we will give you work.
—Sean O’Casey (1880–1964) Irish Dramatist, Memoirist
But a priest’s life is not supposed to be well-rounded; it is supposed to be one-pointed—a compass, not a weathercock.
—Aldous Huxley (1894–1963) English Humanist, Pacifist, Essayist, Short Story Writer, Satirist
I never weary of great churches. It is my favorite kind of mountain scenery. Mankind was never so happily inspired as when it made a cathedral.
—Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–94) Scottish Novelist
Though the church has many critics, it has no rivals.
—Unknown
The parson knows enough who knows a Duke.
—William Cowper (1731–1800) English Anglican Poet, Hymn writer
There is not in the universe a more ridiculous, nor a more contemptible animal, than a proud clergyman.
—Henry Fielding (1707–54) English Novelist, Dramatist
The Pope is an idol whose hands are tied and whose feet are kissed.
—Voltaire (1694–1778) French Philosopher, Author
Mass ought to be in Latin, unless you could do it in Greek or Chinese. In fact, any abracadabra that no bloody member of the public or half-educated ape of a clargimint could think he understood.
—Ezra Pound (1885-1972) American Poet, Translator, Critic
If church prelates, past or present, had even an inkling of physiology they’d realize that what they term this inner ugliness creates and nourishes the hearing ear, the seeing eye, the active mind, and energetic body of man and woman, in the same way that dirt and dung at the roots give the plant its delicate leaves and the full-blown rose.
—Sean O’Casey (1880–1964) Irish Dramatist, Memoirist
How can a bishop marry? How can he flirt? The most he can say is “I will see you in the vestry after service.”
—Sydney Smith (1771–1845) English Clergyman, Essayist, Wit
What is wrong with priests and popes is that instead of being apostles and saints, they are nothing but empirics who say “I know” instead of “I am learning,” and pray for credulity and inertia as wise men pray for skepticism and activity.
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) Irish Playwright
She say, Celie, tell the truth, have you ever found God in church? I never did. I just found a bunch of folks hoping for him to show. Any God I ever felt in church I brought in with me. And I think all the other folks did too. They come to church to share God, not find God.
—Alice Walker (b.1944) American Novelist, Activist
One hundred religious persons knit into a unity by careful organizations do not constitute a church any more than eleven dead men make a football team. The first requisite is life, always.
—A. W. Tozer (1897–1963) American Christian Pastor, Preacher, Author, Editor
A church is a place in which gentlemen who have never been to heaven brag about it to persons who will never get there.
—H. L. Mencken (1880–1956) American Journalist, Literary Critic
He was of the faith chiefly in the sense that the church he currently did not attend was Catholic.
—Kingsley Amis (1922–95) English Novelist, Poet
The old cathedrals are good, but the great blue dome that hangs over everything is better.
—Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881) Scottish Historian, Essayist
The first time I sang in the church choir; two hundred people changed their religion.
—Fred Allen (1894–1956) American Humorist, Radio Personality
Many come to bring their clothes to church rather than themselves.
—Thomas Fuller (1608–61) English Cleric, Historian
The Church has always been willing to swap off treasures in heaven for cash down.
—Robert G. Ingersoll (1833–99) American Lawyer, Orator, Agnostic
The act of bell ringing is symbolic of all proselytizing religions. It implies the pointless interference with the quiet of other people.
—Ezra Pound (1885-1972) American Poet, Translator, Critic