It cannot be doubted that theistic belief is a comfort and a solace to those who hold it, and that the loss of it is a very painful loss. It cannot be doubted, at least, by many of us in this generation, who either profess it now, or received it in our childhood and have parted from it since with such searching trouble as only cradle-faiths can cause. We have seen the spring sun shine out of an empty heaven, to light up a soulless earth; we have felt with utter loneliness that the Great Companion is dead.
William Kingdon CliffordOur lives our guided by that general conception of the course of things which has been created by society for social purposes.
William Kingdon CliffordThe scientific discovery appears first as the hypothesis of an analogy; and science tends to become independent of the hypothesis.
William Kingdon CliffordWhen an action is once done, it is right or wrong for ever; no accidental failure of its good or evil fruits can possibly alter that.
William Kingdon Clifford