Hell Quotes
Communism only works in Heaven, where they don’t need it, and in hell, where they’ve already got it.
Sometimes quoted as “Socialism only works in two places: Heaven where they don't need it, and hell where they already have it.”
In the early stages of Islam, Muhammad had hoped to convert the Jews and others on the Arabian Peninsula. When they refused to be converted, he warred against them usually killing the men, and taking the women and children as slaves. The result was that non-believing tribes were “cleansed” from the Arabian Peninsula. The Muslims at the time preferred children as slaves. For then they could convert the children against their will. Adults in Islam must accept Islam in order to convert. Children are regarded as having no such maturity of decision making and therefore opposition to conversion may be ignored and they may be forced. Critics of Islam and those who argue that Islam is at odds with all other religions point to this quotation. They claim that it is the only religion whose founder and fundamental scriptures demand war against others for no other reason than that they believe in a different religion. The Catholic Church during the Crusades and the Inquisition had a similar philosophy as did Christian missionaries colonizing Africa later. One difference is that most Christians today repudiate the doctrine as against the true spirit and teachings of Christ and view it as historical error, while very few modern Muslims repudiate this quotation of the Prophet.
Kennedy said that he was quoting Dante. However, he or his speechwriter, got the quote wrong. In the Devine Comedy, Dante had a hot place in hell for the neutral, but the hottest place was reserved for traitors. Many people since then use this quote and attribute incorrectly to Dante because Kennedy’s version is the only one with which they have come in contact.
The phrase ‘This would be the best of all possible worlds, if there were no religion at all!!!’ is often quoted to imply that Adams was opposed to religion. This is a classic use of using quotations out of context for if one reads the entire quotation, Adams is stating that without religion the world would not be a particularly fit place. Some religionists then use the entire quotation to argue that Adams was a religious, Christian man who saw America as a Christian nation. That too is out of the context of the totality of his views—see {592753}.
In one of the most famous rebuffs of a politician to his constituents, the congressman sent the following message home to his constituents after receiving instructions from them which he did not care for. He went to Texas where he died defending the Alamo.
