The Little Book of Humanism Quotes

“The meaning of life is to live it, as wholly as we can, as abundantly as we can, as bravely as we can, here and now, sharing the experience with others, caring for others as we care for ourselves, and accepting our responsibility for leaving the world better than we found it. James Hemming”
― Andrew Copson, The Little Book of Humanism: Universal lessons on finding purpose, meaning and joy

“Be careful of your thoughts, for your thoughts become your words. Be careful of your words, for your words become your actions. Be careful of your actions, for your actions become your habits. Be careful of your habits, for your habits become your character. Be careful of your character, for your character becomes your destiny. Traditional Chinese, often attributed to Lao Tzu”
― Alice Roberts, The Little Book of Humanism: Universal lessons on finding purpose, meaning and joy

“No one – no matter how young – should ever be forced into following a religion or other tradition.”
― Andrew Copson, The Little Book of Humanism: Universal lessons on finding purpose, meaning and joy

“Only by walking hand in hand with nature, only by a reverent and loving study of the mysteries forever around us, is it possible to disabuse the mind of the narrow view, the contracted belief that time is now and eternity tomorrow. Eternity is today. The goldfinches and the tiny caterpillars, the brilliant sun, if looked at lovingly and thoughtfully, will lift the soul out of the smaller life of human care that is of selfish aims, bounded by seventy years, into the greater, the limitless life which has been going on over universal space from endless ages past, which is going on now, and which will forever and forever, in one form, or another, continue to proceed. Richard Jefferies”
― Andrew Copson, The Little Book of Humanism: Universal lessons on finding purpose, meaning and joy

“We only live once This is not a drill. There is no second life to come. Even the future in this one life is unpredictable and there are no guarantees about what will happen next. So it makes sense to enjoy life now.”
― Andrew Copson, The Little Book of Humanism: Universal lessons on finding purpose, meaning and joy

“Things need to end if they are to be enjoyable. Would you really want to live for ever? Often what people really want is not to live for ever but to live for as long as possible, in the best possible health, with friends around them, and with meaning. Luckily, we have the power to do something about that!”
― Andrew Copson, The Little Book of Humanism: Universal lessons on finding purpose, meaning and joy

“We might appreciate the art and architecture, music and literature that has emerged in religious contexts through time. But as ways of understanding the reality of the material universe, religious ideas themselves are out of date. The natural world is wonderful enough, without imagining a supernatural dimension to it.”
― Andrew Copson, The Little Book of Humanism: Universal lessons on finding purpose, meaning and joy

“It’s all a matter of ideas, and God is just one idea I don’t accept. It’s not important. I don’t even think about it. It’s just that I get so tired of Him getting credit for all the things the human race achieves through its own stubborn effort. Lorraine Hansberry”
― Andrew Copson, The Little Book of Humanism: Universal lessons on finding purpose, meaning and joy

“being good Is there one motto which we should follow our whole life? Surely it is the rule of reciprocity: Don’t do to others what you would not like yourself. Confucius”
― Andrew Copson, The Little Book of Humanism: Universal lessons on finding purpose, meaning and joy

“Feeling part of the universe can bring us closer to all other human beings as well. This spiritual experience came one evening as I stood looking over the green ocean towards the red sunset. A great calm came over me. I became lost in the beauty of the scene. My spirit reached out and became one with the spirit of the sea and sky. I was one with the universe beyond. I seemed to become one with all life. This experience had a profound effect on me. It came to me often when I was alone with Nature. It swept over me as I looked out to the stars at night. It was a continuous inspiration. I felt that I was more than an individual. The life of all time was within me and about me . . . I have no sense of a personal God. My philosophy is founded on the experience I described. I cannot be other than a world citizen, identifying with all peoples. Fenner Brockway”
― Andrew Copson, The Little Book of Humanism: Universal lessons on finding purpose, meaning and joy

“I don’t think I can improve on the formulation of the dramatist Terence: a former slave from Roman Africa, a Latin interpreter of Greek comedies, a writer from classical Europe who called himself Terence the African. He once wrote, ‘Homo sum, humani nihil a me alienum puto’ or ‘I am human, I think nothing human alien to me.’ Now there’s an identity worth holding on to. Kwame Anthony Appiah”
― Alice Roberts, The Little Book of Humanism: Universal lessons on finding purpose, meaning and joy

“Our entire bodies and brains are made of a few dollars’ worth of common elements: oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, carbon, enough calcium to whitewash a chicken coop, sufficient iron to make a two-inch nail, phosphorus to tip a good number of matches, enough sulphur to dust a flea-plagued dog, together with modest amounts of potassium, chlorine, magnesium and sodium. Assemble them all in the right proportion, build the whole into an intricate interacting system, and the result is our feeling, thinking, striving, imagining, creative selves. Such ordinary elements; such extraordinary results! James Hemming”
― Alice Roberts, The Little Book of Humanism: Universal lessons on finding purpose, meaning and joy