The Following are a selection of famous quotes on the subject of religion and atheism, some of which are from surprising sources.

“Is god willing to prevent evil but not able? Then he is not omnipotent
Is he able but not willing? Then he is malevolent.
Is god both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil.
Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?”

"Why should I fear death? If I am then death is not. If death is then I am not. Why should I fear that which cannot exist when I do?"

[Epicurus] 341 – 271 BCE

"God is an essence we know nothing of – until this awful blasphemy is gotten rid of there will never be any liberal science in the world."

[John Adams,] American President 1797 -1801

"The clergy believe that any power confided in me will be exerted in opposition to their schemes, and they believe rightly."

[Thomas Jefferson] 1801 – 1809

"I have seldom met an intelligent person who’s views were not narrowed and distorted by religion."

[James Buchanan] 1857 – 1861

"My earlier views on the un-soundness of the Christian scheme of salvation have become clearer and stronger with advancing years."

[Abraham Lincoln] 1861 – 1865

"A man's ethical behavior should be based effectually on sympathy, education, and social ties and needs; no religious basis is necessary. Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after death."

[Albert Einstein] New York Times Magazine, 9 November 1930

"I have little confidence in any enterprise or business or investment that promises dividends only after the death of the stockholders."

[Robert G. Ingersoll]

"So far as I can remember, there is not one word in the Gospels in praise of intelligence."

[Bertrand Russell]

"Pray: To ask the laws of the universe to be annulled on behalf of a single petitioner, Confessedly unworthy."

[Ambrose Bierce]

"We are the universe experiencing itself. That's why we're here."

[Carl Sagan]

"When I told the people of Northern Ireland that I was an atheist, a woman in the audience stood up and said, "Yes, but is it the God of the Catholics or the God of the Protestants in whom you don't believe"?

[Quentin Crisp]

"To assert that the earth revolves around the sun is as erroneous as to claim that Jesus was not born of a virgin."

[Cardinal Bellarmine] 1615, during the trial of Galileo

"If a man would follow, today, the teachings of the Old Testament, he would be a criminal. If he would follow strictly the teachings of the New, he would be insane."

[Robert G. Ingersoll]

"The invisible and the non-existent look very much alike."

[ Delos McKown]

"I am an agnostic; I do not pretend to know what many ignorant men are sure of."

[Clarence Darrow]

"Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction."

[Blaise Pascal]

"Faith: Belief without evidence in what is told by one who speaks without knowledge, of things without parallel."

[Ambrose Bierce]

"You keep accusing me of blasphemy all of the time, But I cannot be convicted of a victimless crime."

[Dan Barker]- Friendly Neighborhood Atheist

"A thing is not necessarily true because a man dies for it."

"Man is quite insane. He wouldn't know how to create a maggot and he creates Gods by the dozen."

[Oscar Wilde]

"Christian Fundamentalism: The doctrine that there is an absolutely powerful, infinitely knowledgeable, universe spanning entity that is deeply and personally concerned about my sex life."

"Beware when you take on the Church of God . Others have tried and have bitten the dust."

[Bishop Desmond Tutu. Speech, April 1987]

"To surrender to ignorance and call it God has always been premature, and it remains premature today."

[Isaac Asimov]

"I have never seen the slightest scientific proof of the religious theories of heaven and hell, of future life for individuals, or of a personal God."

[ Thomas Edison ]

"Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away."

[Philip K. Dick ]

Eskimo: "If I did not know about God and sin, would I go to hell?"
Priest: "No, not if you did not know."
Eskimo: "Then why did you tell me?"

[Annie Dillard, "Pilgrim at Tinker Creek"]

"Human beings never think for themselves, they find it too uncomfortable. For the most part, members of our species simply repeat what they are told--and become upset if they are exposed to any different view. The characteristic human trait is not awareness but conformity, and the characteristic result is religious warfare. Other animals fight for territory or food; but, uniquely in the animal kingdom, human beings fight for their 'beliefs.' The reason is that beliefs guide behavior, which has evolutionary importance among human beings. But at a time when our behavior may well lead us to extinction, I see no reason to assume we have any awareness at all. We are stubborn, self-destructive conformists. Any other view of our species is just a self-congratulatory delusion."

[Michael Crichton in The Lost World ]

"My young son asked me what happens after we die. I told him we get buried under a bunch of dirt and worms eat our bodies. I guess I should have told him the truth--that most of us go to Hell and burn eternally--but I didn't want to upset him."

"If a kid asks where rain comes from, I think a cute thing to tell him is 'God is crying.' And if he asks why God is crying, another cute thing to tell him is 'Probably because of something you did.'"

[Jack Handey ]

"I do not pretend to be able to prove that there is no God. I equally cannot prove that Satan is a fiction. The Christian god may exist; so may the gods of Olympus , or of ancient Egypt , or of Babylon . But no one of these hypotheses is more probable than any other: they lie outside the region of even probable knowledge, and therefore there is no reason to consider any of them."

[Bertrand Russell]

"Theologian: An uncommon individual who, though possessing finite abilities, has been called by God himself who, though possessing infinite abilities, requires the assistance of the former in explaining Himself to the rest of us."

[Translation: if God existed, theologians would be out of work.]"

"The biblical concepts of sin and salvation are an integral part of Christian doctrine. Christianity first creates a problem (sin) and then offers a "solution" (salvation). This is not unlike the protection racket; you either buy "protection"--or else!"

"Jesus' last words on the cross, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" hardly seem like the words of a man who planned it that way. It doesn't take Sherlock Holmes to figure there is something wrong here."

["Rev." Donald Morgan]

"It will yet be the proud boast of women that they never contributed a line to the Bible."

[George W. Foote]

"The Bible is the greatest hoax in all history. The leading characters of the Old Testament would today be in the penitentiary and those of the New would be under observation in psychopathic wards."

[Charles Smith] (1887-1964) U.S. attorney, author

"Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false,and by rulers as useful."

[Seneca the Younger] (4? B.C. - 65 A.D