About the Holy Bible, by Robert G. Ingersoll (1894): Part XII: The Real Bible

This is a very long article. I’ll post it by part.

Here’s the link to the full article.

XII: The Real Bible

For thousands of years men have been writing the real Bible, and it is being written from day to day, and it will never be finished while
man has life. All the facts that we know, all the truly recorded events, all the discoveries and inventions, all the wonderful machines whose
wheels and levers seem to think, all the poems, crystals from the brain, flowers from the heart, all the songs of love and joy, of smiles and
tears, the great dramas of Imagination’s world, the wondrous paintings, miracles of form and color, of light and shade, the marvelous marbles
that seem to live and breathe, the secrets told by rock and star, by dust and flower, by rain and snow, by frost and flame, by winding stream
and desert sand, by mountain range and billowed sea.

All the wisdom that lengthens and ennobles life, all that avoids or cures disease, or conquers pain—all just and perfect laws and rules
that guide and shape our lives, all thoughts that feed the flames of love the music that transfigures, enraptures and enthralls the victories
of heart and brain, the miracles that hands have wrought, the deft and cunning hands of those who worked for wife and child, the histories of
noble deeds, of brave and useful men, of faithful loving wives, of quenchless mother-love, of conflicts for the right, of sufferings for the
truth, of all the best that all the men and women of the world have said, and thought and done through all the years.

These treasures of the heart and brain—these are the Sacred Scriptures of the human race.

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Author: Richard L. Fricks

Writer, observer, and student of presence. After decades as a CPA, attorney, and believer in inherited purpose, I now live a quieter life built around clarity, simplicity, and the freedom to begin again. I write both nonfiction and fiction: The Pencil-Driven Life, a memoir and daily practice of awareness, and the Boaz, Alabama novels—character-driven stories rooted in the complexities of ordinary life. I live on seventy acres we call Oak Hollow, where my wife and I care for seven rescued dogs and build small, intentional spaces that reflect the same philosophy I write about. Oak Hollow Cabins is in the development stage (opening March 1, 2026), and is—now and always—a lived expression of presence: cabins, trails, and quiet places shaped by the land itself. My background as a Fictionary Certified StoryCoach Editor still informs how I understand story, though I no longer offer coaching. Instead, I share reflections through The Pencil’s Edge and @thepencildrivenlife, exploring what it means to live lightly, honestly, and without a script. Whether I’m writing, building, or walking the land, my work is rooted in one simple truth: Life becomes clearer when we stop trying to control the story and start paying attention to the moment we’re in.

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