In common with other humanists, I believe that the only possible basis for a sound morality is mutual tolerance and […]
The… women on the early ALRA committee were similar in background and outlook. Most of them were active members of […]
From the outset IAS aimed to have an open approach to prospective adopters irrespective of their race, religion and creed, […]
We can only see a short distance ahead, but we can see plenty there that needs to be done. Alan […]
How strange is the lot of us mortals! Each of us is here for a brief sojourn; for what purpose […]
Every movement requires its handful of pioneers who are prepared to stand up and be counted — to be abused, […]
Dr Alice Vickery was a humanist, physician, and devoted champion of women’s reproductive rights. Her tombstone inscription remembers her as […]
Anna was not a religious person. As a humanist, she believed in the goodness of people and their ability to […]
By Mia Nathan Constantly having to combat irrational and dangerous thinking is strenuous and sometimes tedious, but not necessarily boring. […]
To say that “God moves in mysterious ways” is to put up a smokescreen of mystery behind which fantasy may […]
The good life is one inspired by love and guided by knowledge. Neither love without knowledge, nor knowledge without love […]
Bessie Braddock was a trade union activist and politician, who devoted her life to improving the lives of others. She […]
We are (of all the synonyms I most prefer to ‘humanist’) freethinkers. We are deprived of nothing. We have lost […]
Atheist Charles Southwell was imprisoned in Bristol Gaol for blasphemous libel in 1842. Southwell had written an article in his […]
The British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) began as the Birmingham Pregnancy Advisory Service, created to provide access to safe, legal, […]
The British Society for the Study of Sex Psychology was officially formed in April 1914, ‘for the consideration of problems […]
A mass working class movement for universal male suffrage Read more Chartist Ancestors and Women Chartists Chartism by David Avery […]
In all her work for the humanist movement, Constance Dowman said little and did much… She was one of the […]
David Pollock was a towering figure in the humanist movement. A longtime member, activist, trustee, and former Chair, he was […]
Derek Lennard was a longtime member and former chair of LGBT Humanists—then known as the Gay and Lesbian Humanist Group […]
I see this kind of love – the empathy that should be common to all living creatures – rather than […]
I lost religion in a breath; Heaven fled from me on the wings of Reason… Doris Lessing, Under My Skin: […]
No law can be effective which has not behind it the sanction of the people. Dorothy Thurtle, quoted by David […]
Humanism could (better) be honoured by reciting a list of the things one has enjoyed or found interesting, of the […]
The woman artist appears quickly to have grasped the fact that she cannot maintain an isolated and merely selfish point […]
Only victory will put an end to it all. But meantime let no one say: ‘We are not responsible.’ We […]
Elizabeth Swann was an active and devoted champion of liberal and progressive causes alongside her husband, Liberal MP Charles Swann. […]
… purely human and natural ethics, and not theology, was the source of this pioneer woman’s enthusiasm for justice, even […]
Her beautiful life, her truth, her unwearied charities, proceeded from her own heart. They were not inspired by any thought […]
Emilie Holyoake-Marsh, daughter of George Jacob Holyoake, was an activist for worker’s rights and women’s suffrage; an advocate of co-operation, […]
Oh what a tissue of inconsistencies are the dogmas in which we have been reared! Emma Martin, God’s Gifts and […]
Ernestine Mills, an enamelist, and her husband Dr. Herbert Henry Mills were both active members of the Ethical movement, and […]
Emancipation from every kind of bondage is my principle. I go for the recognition of human rights, without distinction of […]
I am willing and eager to surrender as much of my personal sovereignty as is necessary, in order to secure […]
Ethel Leach was a Liberal councillor, social reformer, justice of the peace, and the first female mayor of Great Yarmouth. […]
I had long put on one side the purist pacifist view that one should have nothing to do with a […]
This conference is resolved to strive for the achievement of peace, justice and tolerance in Ireland, and holds that outmoded […]
I wish to live because life has within it that which is good, that which is beautiful, and that which […]
I have devoted my time and fortune to laying the foundation of a society where affection shall form the only […]
A distinctively Edwardian rationalist radical, he himself agreed that he was a crank – ‘a small instrument that makes revolutions’. […]
This article appeared in The Secular Chronicle (Vol. V, No. 1), 2 January 1876. It marked the first issue edited […]
Much needs changing in the world of today, and humanists will be found in large numbers in the ranks of […]
We hold that only by making happiness for those around us, and by endeavoring, individually, to make the world a […]
‘Being Rational About Being Gay’ was a talk given by activist Antony Grey (Anthony Edgar Gartside Wright) for the Gay […]
‘Separate Development? Out of the closet, into the ghetto’ was a talk given by writer and activist Maureen Duffy on […]
Humanism is a philosophy of life based on a concern for humanity rather than a belief in god. Humanists believe […]
Truth needs the friendly grip of earnest men and women of every class. There is no distinction where it dwells. […]
I think that one of the most hopeful signs at the present day, and one for which this Movement can […]
George Broadhead was a humanist activist and gay rights campaigner, motivated by a twin commitment to humanism and human rights. […]
You can always appeal to common decency, which the vast majority of people believe in without the need to tie […]
Conscience is older than any existing Church or creed. George Peabody Gooch, Under Six Reigns (1958) George Peabody Gooch was […]
But in the more civilised communities, as in ancient Greece, there has always been a minority who, through some speculative […]
Godlessness is negative. It merely denies the existence of god. Atheism is positive. It asserts the condition that results from […]
Mr. Fysher was in many respects a remarkable man. His interests were wide, and whatever he took up he carried […]
The Conscience has eclipsed the Scriptures; Science has destroyed the belief in Divine Interposition; Democracy and Civism have shown men […]
Harford Montgomery Hyde was a Belfast-born barrister, politician, author, and humanist, who championed humane legal reforms and progressive social attitudes. […]
Hanna Sheehy-Skeffington was an activist, feminist, and humanist, who founded the Irish Women’s Franchise League, and was described by the […]
Life is a wonderful privilege. It imposes great duties. It demands the fulfilment of great tasks and the realisation of […]
Faith without works is not Christianity, and unbelief without any effort to help shoulder the consequences for mankind is not […]
Good writing excites me, and makes life worth living. Harold Pinter Harold Pinter was one of the 20th century’s most […]
That an institution or a practice is customary in no presumption of its goodness. Harriet Taylor Mill Harriet Taylor Mill […]
Harry Stopes-Roe was one of the most tireless and dedicated humanist campaigners of the 20th century. Son of the influential […]
Life would be far more truly envisaged if we dropped the silly phrases “men’s and women’s questions”; for indeed there […]
I have ever considered that the only religion useful to man consists exclusively of the practice of morality, and in […]
Our goal must be the good of the whole human society. Henry Noel Brailsford, Olives of Endless Age: being a […]
I felt flattered by the remark of a hostile journalist that I was “a compendium of the cranks,” by which […]
No one can be perfectly free till all are free; no one can be perfectly moral till all are moral; […]
The Humanist Housing Association began in January 1955, founded as the Ethical Union Housing Association to provide affordable homes for […]
Humanism is an attitude to life that has solidly practical implications… it implies a commitment to helping run the community […]
While there is much that we do not know, humans are responsible for what we are or will become. No […]
When we stand up for freedom of conscience, for the rights of the individual, for the rational approach and against […]
Humanists International was formed in 1952 as the International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU): a federation of the American Ethical […]
While much of the Humanist Heritage website looks back to the earlier years of the organised humanist movement, recent decades […]
When we are asked to believe that nothing but a supernatural ideal can inspire and sustain a life-time of complete […]
Belfast-born Jack McDowell was an activist, educator, politician, and atheist, whose humanism was evident in a lifetime of work for […]
If the concept of God has any validity or any use, it can only be to make us larger, freer, […]
The difference and variety of our human family more and more seems to me to be a wise provision that […]
The time has arrived for us humans to stop leaning on ideas for a creator god; we should get down […]
If the church was wrong, as of old, to trust to prayer in an epidemic, why shall she be right […]
It is impossible that Theology can throw any light upon either morality or jurisprudence. Jeremy Bentham Philosopher and jurist Jeremy […]
I believe in the absolute equality of the sexes, and I think they [women] should be in the enjoyment of […]
The big problem of today is how shall we adjust these tremendous new forces so that they can be harnessed […]
I think I was born a humanist. John D. Stewart, The Honest Ulsterman, May 1968 John D. Stewart was a […]
…the only efficient, the only decent prayer, is Action. John Galsworthy, ‘Philosophy of Life’ in Glimpses and Reflections (1937) Best […]
I will call no being good, who is not what I mean when I apply that epithet to my fellow-creatures; […]
Josephine Gowa was an active member of the Hampstead Ethical Institute (later Hampstead Humanist Society) for over three decades, many […]
What the sciences discover about the natural world and about the origins, nature and destiny of man is the truth […]
Can there be a more important human condition than dignity? Without it, we are bitter, downtrodden, unheard, humiliated, embarrassed and […]
… the responsibility for our ethical decisions is entirely ours and cannot be shifted to anybody else; neither to God, […]
Kensal Green, opened in 1833, was London’s first commercial cemetery, and the originator of the city’s ‘Magnificent Seven’. These suburban […]
Those who, like myself, are in communication with the advanced thought and thinkers throughout the world know that hundreds —nay, […]
But however little it conforms or tenders allegiance, no life worth having can be isolated from the lives of others. […]
It was the start of opening up society to be more caring and sensitive. One was battling for all men […]
Formed in the wake of the Gay News blasphemy trial, GALHA (now LGBT Humanists) came into being in 1979 as […]
Lift the heart to high endeavour! Fire the thought and nerve the will! Though the bonds be hard to sever, […]
Lillie Boileau was a devoted figure within the Ethical movement, and an active part of the fight for women’s suffrage. […]
It is essential to get it recognised that good and graceful living is sufficient in itself; further, that this is […]
We hold that only by making happiness for those around us, and by endeavoring, individually, to make the world a […]
Ludovic Kennedy was a writer, journalist, and broadcaster, known for his investigations into miscarriages of justice. A human rights campaigner, he […]
The international significance and reputation of Mohandas Gandhi is well-known, but his involvement with the burgeoning humanist movement during the […]
They weren’t just trying to sell something to parents, they were helping them to understand how to play with and […]
Is it not the duty of every person to promote the happiness of others as much as lies in their […]
Mary Sheepshanks was a humanist who saw her feminist, pacifist, and cosmopolitan beliefs as being natural expressions of her humanist […]
And how can woman be expected to co-operate unless she knows why she ought to be virtuous? Unless freedom strengthens […]
I will never voluntarily obey any law which is an outrage on human reason. Matilda Roalfe Matilda Roalfe was an […]
If the basic cause of an unsuccessful marriage is removable, conciliation is the proper procedure. If it is not removable, […]
I like life with its mysteries. I don’t need my imponderables filled in for me. Michael Manley quoted by Rachel […]
Millicent Mackenzie was a pioneering educationist and suffragist, who – alongside her husband, John Stuart Mackenzie – gave significant support […]
Belief in the power of man to choose his direction of change: this is the creed of the future, and […]
It is not because the believer in rational religion has not clear convictions that he will not shape them into […]
As for Mother Clap, she was present all the Time, except when she went out to fetch Liquors… The Company […]
…no child should be made ashamed or uncomfortable on account of his father’s opinions, or lack of opinions, on subjects […]
When Nigel Lawson said in 1992 that the National Health Service was the ‘closest thing the English have to a […]
The National Secular Society is a campaigning organisation, founded in 1866 to champion the principles of secularism and the separation […]
Humanism involves not just the deletion of God from moral thought, but the development of humanity on a rational and […]
Nina Spiller was a lifelong worker for women’s rights, who played an active role in the humanist movement for more […]
A brief history of humanism and secularism in Northern Ireland Organised humanism began in Northern Ireland in the 19th century, […]
I am a humanist, a rationalist. My mother said to me, some weeks before she died, that she would die ‘an unrepentant […]
Socialism emerged, in the early decades of the nineteenth century, as a humanist ideal of universal emancipation – the ideal […]
I have been the more bold in exposing my opinion because I believe it to be the dictates of truth […]
Humanists believe that this is our world, our responsibility, our possibility. If you agree, would anyone know? Peter Draper, ‘Values […]
On Woburn Walk is a plaque to George Jacob Holyoake (1817-1906), a writer, lecturer, and promoter of the Cooperative movement, […]
Humanists UK began as the Union of Ethical Societies in 1896, becoming the Ethical Union in 1920, the British Humanist […]
Indian social and religious reformer Rammohun Roy is sometimes referred to as the ‘father of modern India’: a progressive thinker, […]
I have no view but public good; certainly no desire to injure any one, but a passionate desire to do […]
Humanist ethics, as I understand them, are concerned with mankind. As humanists we believe in reason, but we also believe […]
There is no one who will deny the value and importance of truth, but how is it to be ascertained, […]
Rose Bush was a member of the South Place Ethical Society for over 50 years, and a driving force in […]
Ruth Homan was an educationist, women’s welfare campaigner, and one of the founding members of the West London Ethical Society […]
Universal rights are exactly that, universal, and one should not suddenly acquire different rights after a certain number of birthdays. […]
Man for man in larger sense does what heaven fails to do. Sara A. Underwood, quoted by Rufus K. Noyes […]
Without this mutual trust and dependability amongst people who differ radically, there cannot be political and religious freedom. H.J. Blackham […]
Sophie Bryant was an Anglo-Irish mathematician, feminist, suffragist, teacher, and promoter of moral education. She played a key role in […]
Under its successive names, adopted or given… is traceable a constant endeavour to study carefully, and keep abreast of, the […]
What is this ban on abortion? It is a sexual taboo, it is the terror that women should experiment and […]
I hold that a writer should not in any circumstances or for any cause surrender his duty to criticise and […]
I have no desire… to bring the religion or the laws of this country into contempt, although I am a […]
Against the militarist totalitarian state, I have striven. For the freedom of the human spirit to develop under the kindly […]
The actress turned campaigner and human rights activist Sylvia Scaffardi was a co-founder of The Council of Civil Liberties, along […]
I am a feminist, a rebel, and a suffragist – a believer, therefore, in sex-equality and militant action. I desire […]
There is no hope but us. There is no mercy but us. There is no justice. There is just us… […]
Not by the Creed but by the Deed. Motto of the Society for Ethical Culture of New York, founded in […]
The Humanitarian League is a Society of thinkers and workers, irrespective of class or creed, who have united for the […]
The Progressive League was an organisation dedicated to the advancement of scientific humanism, founded by author H.G. Wells and philosopher […]
I believe in the equality of man; and I believe that religious duties consist in doing justice, loving mercy and […]
I think that believing in the brotherhood of man is not just a matter of signing these letters, it is […]
Its main concern is with peace and security and with human welfare, in so far as they can be subserved […]
The basic human value is freedom, which means the right of a human being to live a human life. V.M. […]
If living does not give value, wisdom and meaning to life, then there is no sense in living at all. […]
Wales has long been a nation of nonconformists, with a history of challenging the power and influence of the established […]
The one thing in which I am interested wholly and completely is the getting to know something about human society […]
All moral and political wisdom should tend mainly to this, the just distribution of the physical means of happiness. William […]
The attempt to create communities where men and women alike share the full stature of humanity is an attempt to […]
Dare to be free. Slogan of the Women’s Freedom League The Women’s Freedom League (WFL) was a militant suffrage organisation, […]
Conscious morality cannot exist in any being except so far as it can look behind, before, and around; and can […]