I love the idea of the teachings of Jesus Christ and the beautiful stories about it, which I loved in Sunday school and I collected all the little stickers and put them in my book. But the reality is that organised religion doesn't seem to work. It turns people into hateful lemmings and it's not really compassionate.

Catholicism is not a soothing religion. It's a painful religion. We're all gluttons for punishment.

To call on them to give up their illusions about their condition is to call on them to give up a condition that requires illusions. The criticism of religion is, therefore, in embryo, the criticism of that vale of tears of which religion is the halo.

My religion consists of a humble admiration of the illimitable superior spirit ... we are able to perceive with our frail and feeble minds.

The imaginary flowers of religion adorn man's chains. Man must throw off the flowers, and also the chains.

Religion is only the illusory sun which revolves round man as long as he does not revolve round himself.