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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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Alison Neilans (1884–1942)
If we really believe in democracy it is our duty not only to emphasise freedom, but also to continually remind […]
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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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B. R. Ambedkar (1891–1956)
You must abolish your oppression yourselves. Do not depend for its abolition upon God or superman. Your salvation lies in […]
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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)
We had to have change. The conditions of the workers had to be improved. The bosses had to be forced […]
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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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Bet Cherrington (1912–1998)
The Humanist virtues, as indicated in Barbara Smoker’s What’s this Humanism (1973), are intellectual integrity, tolerance, breadth of sympathy and […]
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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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Blasphemy Trials
Atheism, unadulterated and undisguised, was diffused into every corner of the land, and the bold voice of the conscientious unbeliever […]
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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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Christopher Marlowe (1564–1593)
I count religion but a childish toy,And hold there is no sin but ignorance. Christopher Marlowe, The Jew of Malta, […]
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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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Darcus Howe (1943–2017)
That was the moment when I entered the world of reason. Before that, it was all God, but as I […]
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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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Douglas Houghton (1898–1996)
Elected to Parliament in 1949… and here I am! Where else could I be? The pages of the New Humanist […]
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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 Marx (1855–1898)
The striking difference of this century and the last is, that free-thought was the privilege of the upper classes then, […]
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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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Enid Lakeman (1903–1995)
Should STV ever be introduced in Westminster elections—as it has been in the Republic of Ireland, for Northern Ireland Assembly […]
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Ernest Thurtle (1884–1954)
It was early in the war, and we were stationed at a pleasant village in Sussex. One evening a sergeant […]
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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 is 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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Humanist Society Scotland
Humanist Society Scotland (HSS) is the national humanist charity for Scotland. Founded in 1989 out of local groups whose roots go back to 1904, it secured legal recognition for humanist marriages in 2005 and today conducts more legal weddings than any religious group in Scotland.
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J. D. Bernal (1901–1971)
Science should be taught not merely as a subject but should come into all subjects. Its importance in history and […]
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J.M. Robertson (1856–1933)
Our age, with all its faults, is surely as capable of a sane ideal as any that went before; and […]
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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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James Watson (1799–1874)
I have had but one object in view – to show my fellow-workmen that the humblest amongst them may render […]
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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 Rawls (1921–2002)
It may be expedient but it is not just that some should have less in order that others may prosper. […]
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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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Joseph Reeves (1888–1969)
Humanism is on the march. In a world of conflict and frightening menaces we are an integral part of the […]
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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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Justin Keating (1930–2009)
One might say that since retirement I have been reworking my paradigm. In that reworking I have reached conclusions, but […]
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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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Lady Rhondda (1883-1958)
There is nothing in this world to compare with the joy of finding something to do that one believes to […]
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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 Holland (1935–2004)
Mary Holland was a doyenne of Irish journalism. She epitomised the highest journalistic standards – she inquired, she informed, she […]
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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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May Keating (1895–1965)
[I] feel extraordinarily proud and extraordinarily lucky to be the child of a woman who from her early twenties was […]
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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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Meghnad Desai (1940–2025)
It is a very strange idea that moral and various spiritual educations can be learned only by getting people together […]
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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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Naomi Mitchison (1897–1999)
Good will, that curious product of consciousness, of leisure and energy to spare and share. That thing we put out […]
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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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Nicholas Winton (1909–2015)
What is needed is something in which [we] can all believe irrespective of religion, which in most cases, dare I […]
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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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Pamela O’Malley (1929–2006)
At that time, she appeared to me the way Gonne appears in Yeats’s poem, ‘No Second Troy’, where he describes […]
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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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Periyar (1879–1973)
A life devoted to uncompromising rationalism, rich in achievement. Obituary for E. V. Ramasamy (Periyar) in New Humanist, April 1974 […]
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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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Renée Short (1916-2003)
Whatever our background, from whatever country we come, we are all united in the constant struggle for freedom and progress […]
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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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Secularism
The adoption of the term Secularism is justified by its including a large number of persons who are not Atheists, […]
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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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Ted Willis (1914-1992)
I have a strong faith and I love mankind. I do not believe in God but I believe in good. […]
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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 Athenæum
The Athenæum is a London club founded in 1824, around the pursuit of science and literature. Its reputation as ‘the […]
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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 Godwin (1756–1836)
We are members of a community. We are indissolubly connected with the society of our fellowmen. We have duties. William […]
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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 […]
