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, Inventor
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
It is indolence… Indolence and love of ease; a want of all laudable ambition, of taste for good company, or of inclination to take the trouble of being agreeable, which make men clergymen. A clergyman has nothing to do but be slovenly and selfish; read the newspaper, watch the weather, and quarrel with his wife. His curate does all the work and the business of his own life is to dine.
—Jane Austen (1775–1817) English Novelist
Though the church has many critics, it has no rivals.
—Unknown
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 Bible knows nothing of solitary religion.
—John Wesley (1703–91) British Methodist Leader, Preacher, Theologian
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
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 Pastor, Author, Editor
We sing in a church, why can we not dance there?
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) Irish Playwright
Nearly all the evils in the Church have arisen from bishops desiring power more than light. They want authority, not outlook.
—John Ruskin (1819–1900) English Writer, Art Critic
The first time I sang in the church choir; two hundred people changed their religion.
—Fred Allen (1894–1956) American Comedian, Radio Personality
Many come to bring their clothes to church rather than themselves.
—Thomas Fuller (1608–61) English Cleric, Historian
An instinctive taste teaches men to build their churches with spire steeples which point as with a silent finger to the sky and stars.
—Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772–1834) English Poet, Literary Critic, Philosopher
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
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
Churchgoers are like coals in a fire. When they cling together, they keep the flame aglow; when they separate, they die out.
—Billy Graham (1918–91) American Baptist Religious Leader
We praise Him, we bless Him, we adore Him, we glorify Him, and we wonder who is that baritone across the aisle and that pretty woman on our right who smells of apple blossoms. Our bowels stir and our cod itches and we amend our prayers for the spiritual life with the hope that it will not be too spiritual.
—John Cheever (1912–82) American Novelist, Short-story Writer
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
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
The priesthood is a marriage. People often start by falling in love, and they go on for years without realizing that love must change into some other love which is so unlike it that it can hardly be recognized as love at all.
—Iris Murdoch (1919–99) British Novelist, Playwright, Philosopher
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
Church attendance is as vital to a disciple as a transfusion of rich, healthy blood to a sick man.
—Dwight L. Moody (1837–99) Christian Religious Leader, Publisher
Yes, I see the Church as the body of Christ. But, oh! How we have blemished and scarred that body through social neglect and through fear of being nonconformists.
—Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–68) American Civil Rights Leader, Clergyman
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
The Pope is an idol whose hands are tied and whose feet are kissed.
—Voltaire (1694–1778) French Philosopher, Author
I have, alas, only one illusion left, and that is the Archbishop of Canterbury.
—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
Sign in lot: Church parking only. We will not forgive those who trespass against us.
—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
The parson knows enough who knows a Duke.
—William Cowper (1731–1800) English Anglican Poet, Hymn writer
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