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Robert G. Ingersoll Biography

Robert G. Ingersoll, Lawyer
Born asRobert Green Ingersoll
Known asThe Great Agnostic
Occup.Lawyer
FromUSA
SpouseEva Parker Ingersoll
BornAugust 11, 1833
Dresden, New York, USA
DiedJuly 21, 1899
Dobbs Ferry, New York, USA
Aged65 years
Early Life and Education
Robert Green Ingersoll, affectionally called 'The Great Agnostic', was born on August 11, 1833, in Dresden, New York. His moms and dads were extreme abolitionists - that is, they were opposed to slavery. His father, Reverend John Ingersoll, was an outspoken social reformer and Presbyterian minister vulnerable to controversial positions that often strained his household's social standing.

Ingersoll's formal education was inconsistent due to the frequent relocation of their household. Being the child of a minister, he had exposure to religious teachings, but it left him with negative perceptions about arranged faith.

Legal and Political Career
After teaching school for a short period, Ingersoll decided to follow a law career. He moved to Illinois where he studied law and was confessed to the bar in 1854. He formed a collaboration with his sibling, Ebon, opening a law practice that saw him increase rapidly in Illinois' legal circuit.

Ingersoll's charm and oratory skills caught the attention of the political circuit, and by 1860 he had gained enough credibility to be designated as the state lawyer for Illinois' Third Congressional District, a position he handled to keep throughout the Civil War.

Being unable to serve in the military during the Civil War due to health concerns, he got his law firm to offer totally free legal suggestions to deserters. Once the war was over, his profession took a political turn. He served as Illinois' Attorney General from 1867 to 1869.

Robert G. Ingersoll and the Republican Party
Ingersoll was an active member of the Republican Party and was an essential figure in a lot of their political projects. He was best known for his speech choosing James G. Blaine for president at the 1876 Republican National Convention, making him the nickname 'The Plumed Knight'.

He was typically recommended as a prospect for the Presidency however his agnostic beliefs made him rather questionable, and specific sectors of society considered him unsuited for public workplace. Regardless of his devotion to the Republican Party, Ingersoll remained a civilian for the remainder of his life.

Oratory Career and Agnostic Beliefs
After leaving politics, Ingersoll started a successful oratory and writing profession, becoming one of America's most popular public speakers. He toured the country passionately arguing on numerous subjects, significantly Science, Women's rights, and most controversially, Religion.

Ingersoll was an agnostic who highly slammed faith and the institution of the church. He was a supporter of freethought-- a philosophical viewpoint that thinks viewpoints must be formed based upon factor, science, and reasoning rather than tradition, authority, or dogma. His controversial stands on the matter and his powerful oratory skills made him the title of "The Great Agnostic".

Personal Life and Death
Ingersoll married Eva Amelia Parker in 1862 and the couple had two daughters. Despite his questionable stance on faith, he was regarded as a caring married man who valued the bonds of love, family and relationship.

Robert G. Ingersoll died from heart failure on July 21, 1899. His life and works continue to be celebrated today, particularly within freethought, humanist, and atheist communities, who consider him an effective early voice promoting for suspicion, reason, and human-based principles.

Legacy
Ingersoll's legacy reflects an influential visionary who expected presently accepted informed views on a range of subjects. He championed progressive ideas for his time, consisting of females's rights, racial equality, contraception, and the separation of church and state, which are frequently held worths today. His strong opposition to superstition, pseudoscience, and religious intolerance marked him as an enthusiastic freethinker who left a long lasting influence on many people, exposing an undeviating dedication to reality, factor, and human self-respect.

Our collection contains 40 quotes who is written / told by Robert, under the main topics: Happiness - Nature - Education - Anger - Religion.

Related authors: Philo (Philosopher), Lawrence Taylor (Athlete), Ice T (Musician)

Frequently Asked Questions
  • Q: Robert Ingersoll's profession?
    A: Robert G. Ingersoll was a prominent American lawyer, a Civil War veteran, politician, and orator.
  • Q: Robert Ingersoll happiness
    A: Robert Ingersoll emphasized happiness and joy as critical aspects of human life and liberally expressed these ideas in his speeches and writings.
  • Q: Ingersoll meaning
    A: Ingersoll is an English-derived surname, which might mean 'someone from Ingersoll', a place name.
  • Q: At the tomb of Napoleon Robert G. Ingersoll summary
    A: In this 1882 lecture, Ingersoll honors Napoleon as a liberator who spread the ideals of the French Revolution, though he criticizes his later abuses of power.
  • Q: Ingersoll Rand
    A: Ingersoll Rand is an American multinational industrial manufacturing company, not directly associated with Robert G. Ingersoll.
  • Q: Robert Ingersoll we rise by lifting others
    A: This quote isn't attributed to Robert Ingersoll. It's most commonly associated with Robert Ingersoll, an American watchmaker, and philanthropist.
  • Q: How old was Robert G. Ingersoll?
    A: He became 65 years old
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40 Famous quotes by Robert G. Ingersoll

Small: Happiness is not a reward - it is a consequence. Suffering is not a punishment - it is a result
"Happiness is not a reward - it is a consequence. Suffering is not a punishment - it is a result"
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Small: In the republic of mediocrity, genius is dangerous
"In the republic of mediocrity, genius is dangerous"
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Small: Happiness is the only good. The time to be happy is now. The place to be happy is here. The way to be h
"Happiness is the only good. The time to be happy is now. The place to be happy is here. The way to be happy is to make others so"
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Small: Hope is the only universal liar who never loses his reputation for veracity
"Hope is the only universal liar who never loses his reputation for veracity"
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Small: Kindness is the sunshine in which virtue grows
"Kindness is the sunshine in which virtue grows"
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Small: Insolence is not logic epithets are the arguments of malice
"Insolence is not logic; epithets are the arguments of malice"
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Small: Anger is a wind which blows out the lamp of the mind
"Anger is a wind which blows out the lamp of the mind"
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Small: Give to every human being every right that you claim for yourself
"Give to every human being every right that you claim for yourself"
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Small: Ignorance is the soil in which belief in miracles grows
"Ignorance is the soil in which belief in miracles grows"
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Small: In the presence of eternity, the mountains are as transient as the clouds
"In the presence of eternity, the mountains are as transient as the clouds"
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Small: Justice should remove the bandage from her eyes long enough to distinguish between the vicious and the
"Justice should remove the bandage from her eyes long enough to distinguish between the vicious and the unfortunate"
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Small: Few rich men own their property their property owns them
"Few rich men own their property; their property owns them"
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Small: There can be but little liberty on earth while men worship a tyrant in heaven
"There can be but little liberty on earth while men worship a tyrant in heaven"
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Small: If I owe Smith ten dollars and God forgives me, that doesnt pay Smith
"If I owe Smith ten dollars and God forgives me, that doesn't pay Smith"
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Small: I will not attack your doctrines nor your creeds if they accord liberty to me. If they hold thought to
"I will not attack your doctrines nor your creeds if they accord liberty to me. If they hold thought to be dangerous - if they aver that doubt is a crime, then I attack them one and all, because they enslave the minds of men"
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Small: Few nations have been so poor as to have but one god. Gods were made so easily, and the raw material co
"Few nations have been so poor as to have but one god. Gods were made so easily, and the raw material cost so little, that generally the god market was fairly glutted and heaven crammed with these phantoms"
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Small: A fact never went into partnership with a miracle. Truth scorns the assistance of wonders. A fact will
"A fact never went into partnership with a miracle. Truth scorns the assistance of wonders. A fact will fit every other fact in the universe, and that is how you can tell whether it is or is not a fact. A lie will not fit anything except another lie"
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Small: The true civilization is where every man gives to every other every right that he claims for himself
"The true civilization is where every man gives to every other every right that he claims for himself"
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Small: It is a blessed thing that in every age some one has had the individuality enough and courage enough to
"It is a blessed thing that in every age some one has had the individuality enough and courage enough to stand by his own convictions"
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Small: In our era, the road to holiness necessarily passes through the world of action
"In our era, the road to holiness necessarily passes through the world of action"
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Small: What light is to the eyes - what air is to the lungs - what love is to the heart, liberty is to the sou
"What light is to the eyes - what air is to the lungs - what love is to the heart, liberty is to the soul of man"
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Small: An honest God is the noblest work of man
"An honest God is the noblest work of man"
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Small: Every man is dishonest who lives upon the labor of others, no matter if he occupies a throne
"Every man is dishonest who lives upon the labor of others, no matter if he occupies a throne"
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Small: The superior man is the providence of the inferior. He is eyes for the blind, strength for the weak, an
"The superior man is the providence of the inferior. He is eyes for the blind, strength for the weak, and a shield for the defenseless. He stands erect by bending above the fallen. He rises by lifting others"
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Small: In nature there are neither rewards nor punishments there are consequences
"In nature there are neither rewards nor punishments; there are consequences"
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Small: I would rather live and love where death is king than have eternal life where love is not
"I would rather live and love where death is king than have eternal life where love is not"
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Small: It is a thousand times better to have common sense without education than to have education without com
"It is a thousand times better to have common sense without education than to have education without common sense"
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Small: If a man would follow, today, the teachings of the Old Testament, he would be a criminal. If he would f
"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"
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Small: Tolerance is giving to every other human being every right that you claim for yourself
"Tolerance is giving to every other human being every right that you claim for yourself"
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Small: There is no slavery but ignorance
"There is no slavery but ignorance"
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Small: In the night of death, hope sees a star, and listening love can hear the rustle of a wing
"In the night of death, hope sees a star, and listening love can hear the rustle of a wing"
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Small: When the will defies fear, when duty throws the gauntlet down to fate, when honor scorns to compromise
"When the will defies fear, when duty throws the gauntlet down to fate, when honor scorns to compromise with death - that is heroism"
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Small: We need men with moral courage to speak and write their real thoughts, and to stand by their conviction
"We need men with moral courage to speak and write their real thoughts, and to stand by their convictions, even to the very death"
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Small: Religion can never reform mankind because religion is slavery
"Religion can never reform mankind because religion is slavery"
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Small: It is an old habit with theologians to beat the living with the bones of the dead
"It is an old habit with theologians to beat the living with the bones of the dead"
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Small: I am the inferior of any man whose rights I trample under foot
"I am the inferior of any man whose rights I trample under foot"
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Small: Colleges are places where pebbles are polished and diamonds are dimmed
"Colleges are places where pebbles are polished and diamonds are dimmed"
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Small: Hope is the only bee that makes honey without flowers
"Hope is the only bee that makes honey without flowers"
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Small: Let us put theology out of religion. Theology has always sent the worst to heaven, the best to hell
"Let us put theology out of religion. Theology has always sent the worst to heaven, the best to hell"
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Small: Courage without conscience is a wild beast
"Courage without conscience is a wild beast"
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