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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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Adam Gowans Whyte (1875–1950)
I have often enough been burdened, disgusted, and outraged with life, but never have I been bored with it. There […]
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Books Which Made Me a Rationalist
Under the above heading we shall, during the forthcoming months, publish a series of articles from well-known Rationalist authors which […]
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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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Edward Clodd (1840–1930)
He was one of the few of whom it can be said that he had a gift for friendship… There […]
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Percy Vaughan (1879–1917)
To know him added a zest to existence, and was rich compensation for much that depresses the idealist. Percy Vaughan […]
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Peter Chalmers Mitchell (1864–1945)
We have lost Sir Peter Chalmers Mitchell, the maker of the modern Zoo, great humanist as well as great scientist. […]
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Edwin Ray Lankester (1847–1929)
Edwin Ray Lankester was a zoologist and protégé of T. H. Huxley, as well as a longtime member and Honorary […]
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From the archives: ‘Humanity’s Debt to Thomas Paine’ (1892)
Those clouds called creeds are destined all to fade away, but the sky will remain—humanity; and in the sky will […]
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Charles E. Hooper
Rational Humanism is an ethical outlook, which seeks to be in accord with a scientific survey of man’s world. It […]
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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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Raymond Firth (1901–2002)
Though only some anthropologists are humanists, my own anthropological studies confirmed my review of religion as a human art, not […]
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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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Abraham Kovoor (1898–1978)
As the Indian freethought papers have said, by his personal example he left a thousand Kovoors, and this is his […]
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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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Govind Deodhekar (1919-1997)
He was dedicated to the cause of secularism, but in his own gentle way he did not neglect to enjoy […]
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Philip Sargant Florence (1890–1982)
Though hearing and discussing many philosophies and keeping open minds, many, if not most of us had a slightly utilitarian […]
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Ronald Fletcher (1921–1992)
Humanism is… a tradition of thought and feeling combined with social action which stems from classical times and which has […]
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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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Rationalism
Rationalism is not a dogma but a method. It does not tell us what to believe but how to find […]
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From the archives: The Rationalist Press Association (1900)
From the Agnostic Annual, 1900, edited by Charles A. Watts (founder of the Rationalist Press Association). THE RATIONALIST PRESS ASSOCIATION, […]
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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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From the archives: Marjorie Bowen’s toast to the Rationalist Press Association (1939)
Toast by Marjorie Bowen at the Fortieth Annual Dinner and Reunion of the Rationalist Press Association, at the Trocadero Restaurant, […]
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John Gilmour (1906–1986)
In the first place, then, why do we botanise?… The enjoyment of the beauty and fascination of flowers in their natural […]
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David Oppenheimer (1914–1991)
In my experience he was the kindest of men, far too modest about his own contributions and always prepared to […]
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Angus Wilson (1913–1991)
I don’t think it’s the novelist’s job to give answers. He’s only concerned with exposing the human situation… and I […]
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Edward Blishen (1920–1996)
At this nervous moment… when we have uncertainties about almost everything, it’s particularly necessary that we pool our determination, so […]
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Algernon Charles Swinburne (1837–1909)
No poet since Shelley sings more loftily or with more fiery passion or with finer thought than Swinburne when he […]
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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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Theodore Besterman (1904–1976)
Theodore Besterman… was one of the most remarkable of the long line of remarkable people who have given their support […]
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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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Tony Brierley (1936-2024)
Tony Brierley was an active part of the humanist movement for more than 60 years, and a founder of both […]
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C. E. M. Joad (1891–1953)
Ethics really ought to have something to do with life. Ethics ought to tell you how to be good or […]
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George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950)
The death of Shaw is to progressive people of the twentieth century what the death of Voltaire must have been […]
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Beatrice McCabe (1880–1960)
The courage and steadfastness which lead thoughtful people to declare themselves openly Rationalists in face of conventional social pressure is […]
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Joseph McCabe (1867–1955)
Rationalism is… primarily a mental attitude, not a creed or a definite body of negative conclusions. No uniformity of opinions […]
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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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Edith Durham (1863–1944)
Mary Edith Durham was a writer, artist, and anthropologist, who became well known for her work on Albania. She was […]
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Kate Watts (1849–1924)
She was greatly gifted, and through her genial nature made friends everywhere. To the last she was an enthusiastic Rationalist, […]
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Marjorie Bowen (1885–1952)
To accept life fully seems to me the hallmark of the fine spirit. I think that it is possible for […]
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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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Frederick C. C. Watts (1896-1953)
The educative work and the profound enlightenment resulting from the publication of the cheap RPA reprints and the Thinker’s Library […]
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Charles Turner Gorham (1856–1933)
We have the faculties for gaining knowledge; and Rationalism will always maintain that we are at liberty to use them […]
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H. G. Wells (1866–1946)
More science is needed, more interchange and more co-ordination. Act to that end. This is my philosophy of action; this […]
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Helen Mary Dexter (1880–1948)
For many years a member of the Rationalist Press Association, and no longer associated with any church, she had devoted […]
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Constance Dowman (1915–1982)
In all her work for the humanist movement, Constance Dowman said little and did much… She was one of the […]
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Charles Albert Watts (1858–1946)
Charles Albert Watts was a lifelong promoter of rationalism, and the founder in 1885 of Watts’s Literary Guide, still published […]
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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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Jim Herrick (1944–2023)
Humanism is a way to live, to give meaning to life and to find an understanding of our place in […]
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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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Antony Grey (1927-2010)
By Mia Nathan Constantly having to combat irrational and dangerous thinking is strenuous and sometimes tedious, but not necessarily boring. […]
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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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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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Kit Mouat (1920–1986)
Harriet Martineau described her escape to atheism like this: “I lingered long on the stages of speculation and taste, but […]
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W. Somerset Maugham (1874–1965)
I remain an agnostic, and the practical outcome of agnosticism is that you act as though God did not exist. […]
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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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Beacon Hill School
Telegraph House stood on the West Sussex Downs, very near to the highest point called Beacon Hill… It stood out […]
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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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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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Rationalist Peace Society
…a slowly growing public opinion in favour of arbitration as the alternative to war… is not in consequence of any […]
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Hypatia Bradlaugh Bonner (1858-1935)
When we are asked to believe that nothing but a supernatural ideal can inspire and sustain a life-time of complete […]
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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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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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Kathleen Nott (1905-1999)
Now art, certainly literary art, is ‘existential’ and has to be so. It is, if nothing else, about the real […]
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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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From the archives: ‘What’s This Humanism?’
The principles of humanism are positive and exacting commitments. People do not become Humanists merely on rejecting supernatural beliefs. But […]
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Barbara Smoker (1923-2020)
To say that “God moves in mysterious ways” is to put up a smokescreen of mystery behind which fantasy may […]
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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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Llewelyn Powys (1884-1939)
It has been suggested that matter is capable of destruction, that every atom is destined to be dissolved away in […]
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From the archives: Towards Freedom
Truth needs the friendly grip of earnest men and women of every class. There is no distinction where it dwells. […]
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Cambridge Heretics
The gist of heresy is free personal choice in act, and specially in thought – the rejection of traditional faiths […]
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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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Hector Hawton (1901-1975)
Humanism is less concerned with what to believe than with how to live. The meaning it gives to life lies […]
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Thomas Hardy (1840-1928)
Thomas Hardy was an English novelist and poet, renowned for his apparently bleak outlook, but finely tuned to life and […]
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Antony Flew (1923-2010)
Antony Flew was a British philosopher and was, for much of his life, a renowned atheist and eloquent proponent of […]
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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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Har Dayal (1884-1939)
Life is a wonderful privilege. It imposes great duties. It demands the fulfilment of great tasks and the realisation of […]
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Robert Owen Museum
Robert Owen, the son of a Newtown saddler and ironmonger, became one of the most successful mill owners of the […]
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National Secular Society
The National Secular Society is a campaigning organisation, founded in 1866 to champion the principles of secularism and the separation […]
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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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Richard Dimsdale Stocker (1877-1935)
But this much is certain, that, taking the world as we find it, sympathy, plus a modicum of common sense […]
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Gustav Spiller (1864-1940)
The Conscience has eclipsed the Scriptures; Science has destroyed the belief in Divine Interposition; Democracy and Civism have shown men […]
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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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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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Rationalist Press Association
The Rationalist Press Association (later known as simply the Rationalist Association) had its origins in the London print works of […]