to suffer and enjoy, and has imagination enough to
give the same capacity to others, has within himself the natural basis
of all morality. The idea of morality was born here, in this world,
of the experience, the intelligence of mankind. Morality is not of
supernatural origin. It did not fall from the clouds, and it needs no
belief in the supernatural, no supernatural promises or threats, no
supernatural heavens or hells to give it force and life. Subjects who
are governed by the threats and promises of a king are merely slaves.
They are not governed by the ideal, by noble views of right and wrong.
They are obedient cowards, controlled by fear, or beggars governed by
rewards, by alms.

Right and wrong exist in the nature of things. Murder was just as
criminal before as after the promulgation of the ten commandments.

Eighth, many of the clergy, some editors and some writers of letters
who have answered me have said that suicide is the worst of crimes,
that a man had better murder somebody else than himself. One clergyman
gives as a reason for this statement that the suicide dies in an act of
sin, and therefore he had better kill another person. Probably he
would commit a less crime if he would murder his wife or mother.

I do not see that it is any worse to die than to live in sin. To say
that it is not as wicked to murder another as yourself seems absurd.
The man about to kill himself wishes to die. Why is it better for him
to kill another man, who wishes to live?

To my mind it seems clear that you had better injure yourself than
another. Better be a spendthrift than thief. Better throw away your
own money than steal the money of another. Better kill yourself if you
wish to die than murder one whose life is full of joy.

The clergy tell us that God is everywhere, and that it is one of the
greatest possible crimes to rush into His presence. It is wonderful
how much they know about God and how little about their fellow-men.
Wonderful the amount of their information about other worlds and how
limited their knowledge is of this.

There may or may not be an infinite being. I neither affirm nor deny.
I am honest enough to say that I do not know. I am candid enough to
admit that the question is beyond the limitations of my mind. Yet I
think I know as much on that subject as any human being knows or ever
knew, and that is--nothing.

I do not say that there is not another world, another life; neither d