Hypatia

Reserve your right to think, for even to think wrongly is better than not to think at all.

Fables should be taught as fables, myths as myths, and miracles as poetic fancies.

To rule by fettering the mind through fear of punishment in another world is just as base as to use force.

All formal dogmatic religions are fallacious and must never be accepted by self-respecting persons as final.

He who influences the thought of his times influences all the times that follow.

Life is an unfoldment, and the further we travel, the more truth we can comprehend.

The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven.

Superstition is cowardice in the face of the Divine.

Truth does not change because it is, or is not, believed by a majority of the people.

The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance.

Fables should be taught as fables, myths as myths, and miracles as poetic fancies. To teach superstitions as truths is a most terrible thing.

Men will fight for superstition as quickly as for the living truth—even more so, since superstition is intangible and cannot be reached.

The only way to wisdom is through fearless questioning.