Paul-Henri Thiry, Baron d’Holbach (08 December 1723 – 21 January 1789)
French-German Author, Philosopher, Encyclopedist,
Polemicist against organized religion, and Avowed Atheist

Religion is the art of intoxicating men with enthusiasm [this word in the eighteenth century meant religious fervor], to prevent them from dealing with the evils with which their governors oppress them. . . . The art of reigning has become nothing more than that of profiting from the errors abjection of mind and soul into which superstition has plunged the nations. . . . By means of threatening men with invisible powers, they [Church and state] force them to suffer in silence the miseries with which visible powers afflict them. They are made to hope that if they agree to being unhappy in this world, they will be happy in the next.