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Albert Einstein (1879-1955)
How strange is the lot of us mortals! Each of us is here for a brief sojourn; for what purpose […]
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Alice Jenkins (1886-1967)
Every movement requires its handful of pioneers who are prepared to stand up and be counted — to be abused, […]
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Aneurin Bevan (1897-1960)
He was a great humanist whose religion lay in loving his fellow men and trying to serve them. These are […]
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Anna Lo (1950–2024)
Anna was not a religious person. As a humanist, she believed in the goodness of people and their ability to […]
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Aphra Behn (1640-1689)
…that perfect Tranquility of Life, which is no where to be found, but in retreat, a faithful Friend and a […]
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Barbara Wootton (1897-1988)
It is in fact a strength, not a weakness, of a secular morality that it must stand upon its own […]
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Belfast Ethical Society
This Society has for its object the promotion of right conduct on a purely natural and human basis and the […]
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Bessie Braddock (1899-1970)
Bessie Braddock was a trade union activist and politician, who devoted her life to improving the lives of others. She […]
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Bessie Mabbs (1873-1953)
Bessie Mabbs was a teacher, school principal, and active member of the Union of Ethical Societies (now Humanists UK), chairing […]
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Bill Barbour (1920-2009)
William Pirrie Barbour was a classicist, codebreaker, teacher, and activist. A rationalist and humanist, Barbour championed integrated education in his […]
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Bill Bynner (1900-1984)
Bill Bynner was a humanist, socialist, and civil servant. As the editor of South Place Ethical Society‘s Ethical Record wrote […]
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Bill Sefton (1915–2001)
To summarise why I have become a rationalist is a difficult task for one not educated in formal writing, but […]
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Blackfriars Rotunda
In the absence of a better—the palladium of what liberty we have… the birthplace of mind, and the focus of […]
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British Society for the Study of Sex Psychology
The British Society for the Study of Sex Psychology was officially formed in April 1914, ‘for the consideration of problems […]
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Charles Bradlaugh (1833-1891)
Charles Bradlaugh was a leading freethinker, secularist, and founder of the National Secular Society. His efforts to take his seat […]
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Charles Bradlaugh’s Struggle to Enter Parliament
The House of Commons refused to allow his affirmation, so Bradlaugh applied to take the oath but was again refused. […]
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Charles Watts (1836–1906)
Avoiding alike mysticism and shallow denial, he was a true Agnostic, anxious not merely to beat down error, but to […]
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Chartism
A mass working class movement for universal male suffrage Read more Chartist Ancestors and Women Chartists Chartism by David Avery […]
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Claude McKay (1889-1948)
I have adhered to such of the older traditions as I find adequate for my most lawless and revolutionary passions […]
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Clement Attlee (1883-1967)
…having now exceeded the age of three score years and ten, I would say that up to the present I […]
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Conscientious Objectors’ Commemorative Stone
To all those who have established and who are maintaining the right to refuse to kill. Their foresight and courage […]
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Conway Hall
Conway Hall has effected a transformation. From the day of its opening the life of the Society has been full […]
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David Pollock (1942-2023)
David Pollock was a towering figure in the humanist movement. A longtime member, activist, trustee, and former Chair, he was […]
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David Williams (1738-1816)
I was educated among the Saints; and I now live, thank God, among Sinners. David Williams, Essays on Public Worship […]
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Deism
It is necessary to the happiness of man that he be mentally faithful to himself. Infidelity does not consist in […]
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Dora Russell (1894-1986)
I see this kind of love – the empathy that should be common to all living creatures – rather than […]
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Dorothy Thurtle (1890-1973)
No law can be effective which has not behind it the sanction of the people. Dorothy Thurtle, quoted by David […]
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Edith Hinchley (1870–1940)
The woman artist appears quickly to have grasped the fact that she cannot maintain an isolated and merely selfish point […]
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Eleanor Rathbone (1872-1946)
Only victory will put an end to it all. But meantime let no one say: ‘We are not responsible.’ We […]
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Elizabeth Duncan Swann (1855-1914)
Elizabeth Swann was an active and devoted champion of liberal and progressive causes alongside her husband, Liberal MP Charles Swann. […]
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Elizabeth Wolstenholme Elmy (1833-1918)
… purely human and natural ethics, and not theology, was the source of this pioneer woman’s enthusiasm for justice, even […]
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Emilie Holyoake-Marsh (1861-1953)
Emilie Holyoake-Marsh, daughter of George Jacob Holyoake, was an activist for worker’s rights and women’s suffrage; an advocate of co-operation, […]
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Ernestine Mills (1871-1959)
Ernestine Mills, an enamelist, and her husband Dr. Herbert Henry Mills were both active members of the Ethical movement, and […]
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Ernestine Rose (1810-1892)
Emancipation from every kind of bondage is my principle. I go for the recognition of human rights, without distinction of […]
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Eslanda Goode Robeson (1895–1965)
I am willing and eager to surrender as much of my personal sovereignty as is necessary, in order to secure […]
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Ethel Leach (1850-1936)
Ethel Leach was a Liberal councillor, social reformer, justice of the peace, and the first female mayor of Great Yarmouth. […]
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Fabian Society
If any delegate present thinks that the Fabian Society was wise from the hour of its birth, let him forthwith […]
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Fenner Brockway (1888-1988)
I had long put on one side the purist pacifist view that one should have nothing to do with a […]
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First Conference of Humanists in Ireland
This conference is resolved to strive for the achievement of peace, justice and tolerance in Ireland, and holds that outmoded […]
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Francis Sheehy-Skeffington (1878–1916)
A distinctively Edwardian rationalist radical, he himself agreed that he was a crank – ‘a small instrument that makes revolutions’. […]
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Frederick James Gould (1855-1938)
F.J. Gould was an influential educationist, writer, and humanist, whose tireless work towards secularising education helped to lay the groundwork […]
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From the archives: ‘A Few Words to Freethinkers’
This article appeared in The Secular Chronicle (Vol. V, No. 1), 2 January 1876. It marked the first issue edited […]
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From the archives: ‘Humanism and the Open Society’
Much needs changing in the world of today, and humanists will be found in large numbers in the ranks of […]
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From the archives: Being Rational About Being Gay
‘Being Rational About Being Gay’ was a talk given by activist Antony Grey (Anthony Edgar Gartside Wright) for the Gay […]
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From the archives: Vera Brittain’s toast to the Rationalist Press Association (1935)
I think that one of the most hopeful signs at the present day, and one for which this Movement can […]
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George Orwell (1903–1950)
You can always appeal to common decency, which the vast majority of people believe in without the need to tie […]
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George Peabody Gooch (1873–1968)
Conscience is older than any existing Church or creed. George Peabody Gooch, Under Six Reigns (1958) George Peabody Gooch was […]
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George William Foote (1850-1915)
Doubt is the beginning of wisdom. It means caution, independence, honesty and veracity. G. W. Foote George William Foote was […]
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H. Montgomery Hyde (1907–89)
Harford Montgomery Hyde was a Belfast-born barrister, politician, author, and humanist, who championed humane legal reforms and progressive social attitudes. […]
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Hanna Sheehy-Skeffington (1877-1946)
Hanna Sheehy-Skeffington was an activist, feminist, and humanist, who founded the Irish Women’s Franchise League, and was described by the […]
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Harriet Taylor Mill (1807-1858)
That an institution or a practice is customary in no presumption of its goodness. Harriet Taylor Mill Harriet Taylor Mill […]
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Harry Snell (1865-1944)
Harry Snell was a socialist politician and campaigner, a devoted advocate of the Ethical Movement and a key figure in […]
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Helena Swanwick (1864-1939)
Life would be far more truly envisaged if we dropped the silly phrases “men’s and women’s questions”; for indeed there […]
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Henry Hetherington (1792-1849)
I have ever considered that the only religion useful to man consists exclusively of the practice of morality, and in […]
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Henry Noel Brailsford (1873–1958)
Our goal must be the good of the whole human society. Henry Noel Brailsford, Olives of Endless Age: being a […]
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Hilda Caroline Miall-Smith (1860-1943)
Hilda Caroline Miall-Smith was a teacher and activist, a graduate of University College London, and a member of the London […]
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Humanist Lobby
Humanism is an attitude to life that has solidly practical implications… it implies a commitment to helping run the community […]
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Humanist Parliamentary Group
When we stand up for freedom of conscience, for the rights of the individual, for the rational approach and against […]
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Jack McDowell (1923-2006)
Belfast-born Jack McDowell was an activist, educator, politician, and atheist, whose humanism was evident in a lifetime of work for […]
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James Baldwin (1924-1987)
If the concept of God has any validity or any use, it can only be to make us larger, freer, […]
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James Berry (1924-2017)
The difference and variety of our human family more and more seems to me to be a wise provision that […]
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James Ramsay MacDonald (1866-1937)
The moral value of a belief in eternal life is a doubtful matter. But this is certain, that where rest […]
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Janet Chance (1886–1953)
If the church was wrong, as of old, to trust to prayer in an epidemic, why shall she be right […]
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Jawaharlal Nehru (1889–1964)
Essentially, I am interested in this world, in this life, not in some other world or a future life. Whether […]
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Jennie Lee (1904-1988)
Jennie Lee (also known as Baroness Lee of Asheridge) was a Scottish politician and journalist, known for her upfront orating […]
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John Ballance (1839–1893)
I believe in the absolute equality of the sexes, and I think they [women] should be in the enjoyment of […]
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John D. Stewart (1917-1988)
I think I was born a humanist. John D. Stewart, The Honest Ulsterman, May 1968 John D. Stewart was a […]
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John Hewitt (1907-1987)
I fear their creed as we have always fearedthe lifted hand against unfettered thought. John Hewitt, ‘The Glens’ in Collected […]
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John Hewitt Cairn
My chosen ground Inscription on the John Hewitt Cairn John Harold Hewitt (1907-1987) was the most significant Ulster poet to […]
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John Maynard Keynes (1883-1946)
Words ought to be a little wild, for they are the assault of thoughts upon the unthinking. J.M. Keynes in […]
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John Stuart Mill (1806-1873)
I will call no being good, who is not what I mean when I apply that epithet to my fellow-creatures; […]
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Josiah Gimson (1818-1883)
Josiah Gimson was the most prosperous of the 19th century secularists in Leicester, and the main force behind the building […]
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Kader Asmal (1934–2011)
Can there be a more important human condition than dignity? Without it, we are bitter, downtrodden, unheard, humiliated, embarrassed and […]
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Karl Popper (1902-1994)
… the responsibility for our ethical decisions is entirely ours and cannot be shifted to anybody else; neither to God, […]
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Kelmscott House
Not to be confused with Kelmscott Manor, Kelmscott House was the London home of designer and socialist William Morris from […]
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Kelmscott Manor
Kelmscott Manor was the country home of the writer, designer, and socialist William Morris from 1871 until his death in […]
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Kensal Green Cemetery
Kensal Green, opened in 1833, was London’s first commercial cemetery, and the originator of the city’s ‘Magnificent Seven’. These suburban […]
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Kingsley Martin (1897-1969)
I believe in the supreme virtue of exploring. I believe in finding out. Even if I don’t succeed, I still […]
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Lady Florence Dixie (1855-1905)
Those who, like myself, are in communication with the advanced thought and thinkers throughout the world know that hundreds —nay, […]
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Laura Morgan-Browne (1843-1942)
I have come to feel that the best proof of the subjection and degradation of my sex lies in the […]
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Laurence Housman (1865-1959)
But however little it conforms or tenders allegiance, no life worth having can be isolated from the lives of others. […]
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Leo Abse (1917-2008)
It was the start of opening up society to be more caring and sensitive. One was battling for all men […]
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Lillie Boileau (1869-1930)
Lillie Boileau was a devoted figure within the Ethical movement, and an active part of the fight for women’s suffrage. […]
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Lindsay Burnet (1905–1985)
It is essential to get it recognised that good and graceful living is sufficient in itself; further, that this is […]
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Louisa Thomson-Price (1864-1926)
We hold that only by making happiness for those around us, and by endeavoring, individually, to make the world a […]
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Ludovic Kennedy (1919-2009)
Ludovic Kennedy was a writer, journalist, and broadcaster, known for his investigations into miscarriages of justice. A human rights campaigner, he […]
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M.N. Roy (1887-1954)
The realisation of the possibility of a secular rational morality opens up a new perspective before the modern world… It […]
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Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948)
The international significance and reputation of Mohandas Gandhi is well-known, but his involvement with the burgeoning humanist movement during the […]
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Manchester University Ethical Society
Object: to provide an ‘open forum’ for the fearless consideration of modern problems relating to ethics, sociology, education, political theory, […]
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Margaret Chappellsmith (1806-1883)
Margaret Chappellsmith was a devotee of the socialist and secularist ideas of Robert Owen, becoming one of the Owenite movement’s […]
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Mary Sheepshanks (1872-1960)
Mary Sheepshanks was a humanist who saw her feminist, pacifist, and cosmopolitan beliefs as being natural expressions of her humanist […]
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Mechanics’ Institutes
Why are these minds left without the means of obtaining that knowledge which they so ardently desire and why are […]
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Michael Manley (1924–1997)
I like life with its mysteries. I don’t need my imponderables filled in for me. Michael Manley quoted by Rachel […]
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Millicent Mackenzie (1863-1942)
Millicent Mackenzie was a pioneering educationist and suffragist, who – alongside her husband, John Stuart Mackenzie – gave significant support […]
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Mona Caird (1854–1932)
Belief in the power of man to choose his direction of change: this is the creed of the future, and […]
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Nellie Freeman (1863-1943)
Nellie Freeman was an indefatigable organiser within the Ethical Union (today’s Humanists UK) for decades of her life. Beginning in […]
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Nicolas Walter (1934-2000)
Humanism involves not just the deletion of God from moral thought, but the development of humanity on a rational and […]
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Northern Ireland
A brief history of humanism and secularism in Northern Ireland Organised humanism began in Northern Ireland in the 19th century, […]
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Ouida (1839-1908)
[Ouida’s] exaggerated enthusiasms made readers smile, but they also made them think. It would be difficult to overstate the effect […]
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Owen Sheehy-Skeffington (1909-1970)
I am a humanist, a rationalist. My mother said to me, some weeks before she died, that she would die ‘an unrepentant […]
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Owenism
Socialism emerged, in the early decades of the nineteenth century, as a humanist ideal of universal emancipation – the ideal […]
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Peace Pledge Union
We are living in critical days. It is not enough to desire peace or to talk peace. We must make […]
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Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822)
Percy Bysshe Shelley was a major poet of the Romantic period, and remains one of England’s best loved and most […]
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Peter Draper (1933-2016)
Humanists believe that this is our world, our responsibility, our possibility. If you agree, would anyone know? Peter Draper, ‘Values […]
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Plaque for George Jacob Holyoake
On Woburn Walk is a plaque to George Jacob Holyoake (1817-1906), a writer, lecturer, and promoter of the Cooperative movement, […]
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Presidents of Humanists UK
Humanists UK began as the Union of Ethical Societies in 1896, becoming the Ethical Union in 1920, the British Humanist […]
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Red Lion Square
As well as being home to Conway Hall and its humanist library, Red Lion Square contains statues of two prominent […]
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Ritchie Calder (1906–1982)
Humanist ethics, as I understand them, are concerned with mankind. As humanists we believe in reason, but we also believe […]
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Robert Owen (1771-1858)
Robert Owen was a utopian socialist, philanthropist, and reformer, whose own religious scepticism fostered his desire for a secular society, […]
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Robert Wedderburn (1762-1835/6)
There is no one who will deny the value and importance of truth, but how is it to be ascertained, […]
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Rodger Alder (1947–1997)
The obituary reproduced below was written by George Broadhead, and originally appeared in a 1997 issue of The Gay Humanist […]
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Ruth Homan (1850-1938)
Ruth Homan was an educationist, women’s welfare campaigner, and one of the founding members of the West London Ethical Society […]
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Sally Greengross (1935–2022)
Universal rights are exactly that, universal, and one should not suddenly acquire different rights after a certain number of birthdays. […]
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Sara A. Underwood (1838-1911)
Man for man in larger sense does what heaven fails to do. Sara A. Underwood, quoted by Rufus K. Noyes […]
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Sarah Fuller Flower Adams (1805-1848)
Sarah Flower Adams was a writer, radical, and major influence on the religious thinking of William Johnson Fox at South […]
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Social Morality Council
Without this mutual trust and dependability amongst people who differ radically, there cannot be political and religious freedom. H.J. Blackham […]
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Stella Browne (1880-1955)
What is this ban on abortion? It is a sexual taboo, it is the terror that women should experiment and […]
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Sylvia Pankhurst (1882-1960)
Against the militarist totalitarian state, I have striven. For the freedom of the human spirit to develop under the kindly […]
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Teresa Billington-Greig (1876-1964)
I am a feminist, a rebel, and a suffragist – a believer, therefore, in sex-equality and militant action. I desire […]
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The first humanist public funeral
He was the people’s First Minister, and this is a people’s ceremony. He wouldn’t want heavy mourning. This is a […]
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The Progressive League
The Progressive League was an organisation dedicated to the advancement of scientific humanism, founded by author H.G. Wells and philosopher […]
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The Rosehill Circle
Living in a house beautifully situated on the outskirts of Coventry, they used to spend their lives in philosophical speculations, […]
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Thomas Hill Green (1836-1882)
Thomas Hill Green was a philosopher, educator, and a Liberal, whose idealist philosophy (with its practical implications) was a significant […]
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Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679)
And in these four things, opinion of ghosts, ignorance of second causes, devotion towards what men fear, and taking of […]
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Thomas Paine (1737-1809)
I believe in the equality of man; and I believe that religious duties consist in doing justice, loving mercy and […]
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Towards an Open Society
I think that believing in the brotherhood of man is not just a matter of signing these letters, it is […]
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Universities Tests Act
The Universities Tests Act, which ended religious discrimination in admissions and employment at the universities of Oxford, Cambridge, and Durham […]
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V. M. Tarkunde (1909–2004)
The basic human value is freedom, which means the right of a human being to live a human life. V.M. […]
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W.E.B. Du Bois (1868-1963)
If living does not give value, wisdom and meaning to life, then there is no sense in living at all. […]
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Wales
Wales has long been a nation of nonconformists, with a history of challenging the power and influence of the established […]
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William Johnson Fox (1786-1864)
William Johnson Fox was an orator, writer, politician, and first minister of South Place Chapel (now Conway Hall) from 1824 […]
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William Morris (1834-1896)
Fellowship is heaven, and lack of fellowship is hell. William Morris, A Dream of John Ball (1888) Painter, textile designer, artist, […]
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William Thompson (1775-1833)
All moral and political wisdom should tend mainly to this, the just distribution of the physical means of happiness. William […]
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Winifred Holtby (1898-1935)
The attempt to create communities where men and women alike share the full stature of humanity is an attempt to […]
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Women’s Freedom League
Dare to be free. Slogan of the Women’s Freedom League The Women’s Freedom League (WFL) was a militant suffrage organisation, […]
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Zona Vallance (1860-1904)
Conscious morality cannot exist in any being except so far as it can look behind, before, and around; and can […]
