Andrew Bernstein Quotes & Sayings

A hero has faced it all: he need not be undefeated, but he must be undaunted. — Andrew Bernstein

Theologians, and religionists in general, start with a fantasy premise and then proceed to apply rigorous formal logic to tease out its implications. Stark himself points out that "theology consists of formal reasoning about God." This is admirably exact. Theologians, beginning with a wished-for creation of their own minds, analyze that creation's characteristics by rigorous application of the principles of formal - that is, deductive - logic. — Andrew Bernstein

Throughout history, independent minds have carried mankind forward. Whether they identified how to make fire or manufacture tools, develop rational philosophy or create man-glorifying art, pioneer scientific knowledge or invent the electric light, independent thinkers have created the goods on which human life and prosperity depend. — Andrew Bernstein

Even in this secular country, the threat posed by religious fundamentalists is never very far away. Every major religious text exhorts the same principles - that of unyielding obedience to a supernatural being, and renunciation of the intellect and personal aspirations. — Andrew Bernstein

Here is the tragedy of theology in its distilled essence: The employment of high-powered human intellect, of genius, of profoundly rigorous logical deduction - studying nothing. In the Middle Ages, the great minds capable of transforming the world did not study the world; and so, for most of a millennium, as human beings screamed in agony - decaying from starvation, eaten by leprosy and plague, dying in droves in their twenties - the men of the mind, who could have provided their earthly salvation, abandoned them for otherworldly fantasies. — Andrew Bernstein

A hero holds purposes appropriate to man and is, therefore, a thinker. — Andrew Bernstein

Altruism demands that an individual serve others, but doesn't stipulate whether those others should be one's family, or the homeless, or society as a whole. Collectivism states that, in politics, society comes first and the individual must obey. Collectivism is the application of the altruist ethics to politics. — Andrew Bernstein

For the first time in history, the rational and the good are fully armed in the battle against evil. Here we finally find the answer to our paradox; now we can understand the nature of the social power held by evil. Ultimately, the evil, the irrational, truly has no power. The evil men's control of morality is transient; it lives on borrowed time made possible only by the errors of the good. In time, as more honest men grasp the truth, evil's stranglehold will be easily broken. — Andrew Bernstein

The hero is valorous because he stands up to every threat directed against his values. Heroism requires value conflict. — Andrew Bernstein

First, he must hold rational values, and to do this he must be a thinker. — Andrew Bernstein

Statism systematically violates the rights of individuals and is, therefore, immoral. Because it suppresses the mind and violates men's rights, it thereby causes abysmal poverty and is utterly impractical. — Andrew Bernstein

Many argue that Christianity is "different" from other religions - that it is primarily about love of one's fellow man. The Crusades, The Inquisition, Calvin's Geneva all prove that this is not the case. These events were pre-eminently about obedience to authority. — Andrew Bernstein

Nothing is given to man on earth - struggle is built into the nature of life, and conflict is possible - the hero is the man who lets no obstacle prevent him from pursuing the values he has chosen. — Andrew Bernstein

Each one of us has the power - and must develop the will - to be the hero of his own life. We believe in goals, in purposes, in achievement and in the joy of living. — Andrew Bernstein