Human cruelty took the form of a pact with the deity. A solemn oath was made to kill everything, in which people forbade themselves any display of reason or compassion. A city or a land was devoted to destruction and it was believed an insult to God if one did not observe the abominable oath.
Ernest RenanTo be able to think freely, a man must be certain that no consequence will follow whatever he writes.
Ernest RenanMuslims are the first victims of Islam. To liberate a Muslim from his religion is the best service that one can render him!
Ernest RenanIn morals, truth is but little prized when it is a mere sentiment, and only attains its full value when realized in the world as fact.
Ernest RenanNever has any one been less a priest than Jesus, never a greater enemy of forms, which stifle religion under the pretext of protecting it. By this we are all his disciples and his successors; by this he has laid the eternal foundation-stone of true religion; and if religion is essential to humanity, he has by this deserved the Divine rank the world has accorded him.
Ernest Renan