Christopher Hitchens

Author, Critic, Journalist

Christopher Hitchens was a renowned author and critic known for his provocative views on religion, politics, and culture, particularly in his book 'God Is Not Great.'

Born
April 13, 1949
Died
December 15, 2011
Quotes
626
Rank
#414

About Christopher Hitchens

Christopher Hitchens — Life and Legacy

Christopher Hitchens was a prominent British-American author, journalist, and critic, celebrated for his incisive commentary on religion, politics, and culture. His work, particularly 'God Is Not Great,' challenged the foundations of religious belief and advocated for reason and skepticism. Hitchens's core thinking revolved around the idea that truth should be pursued relentlessly, as reflected in his assertion that 'what can be asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence.' This perspective not only critiques religious dogma but also emphasizes the importance of rational discourse in public life. Hitchens was known for his fearless engagement with controversial topics, often challenging societal norms and expectations. He argued that faith, in many instances, leads to moral complacency, famously stating, 'Faith is the surrender of the mind; it’s the surrender of reason.' This highlights his belief that critical thinking is essential for personal and societal progress. His quotes often reveal a deep commitment to free speech and the moral responsibility to confront injustice, encapsulated in his assertion that 'the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.' Today, Hitchens's quotes continue to resonate, inspiring readers to embrace skepticism and advocate for truth in an age where misinformation is rampant. His legacy as a fierce defender of reason and freedom of thought remains influential, encouraging individuals to question authority and think independently.

Quote collection

Christopher Hitchens quotes (page 1 of 32)

626 quotes — follow a thought to its full quote page.

Christopher Hitchens Author, Critic, Journalist
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"Whenever I hear some bigmouth in Washington or the Christian heartland banging on about the evils of sodomy or whatever, I mentally enter his name in my notebook and contentedly set my watch. Sooner rather than later, he will be discovered down on his weary and well-worn old knees in some dreary motel or latrine, with an expired Visa card, having tried to pay well over the odds to be peed upon by some Apache transvestite."

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"A virgin can conceive. A dead body can walk again. Your leprosy can be cured. The blind can see. Nonsense. It’s not moral to lie to children. It’s not moral to lie to ignorant, uneducated people and tell them that if they only would believe nonsense, they can be saved. It’s immoral."

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"If religious instruction were not allowed until the child had attained the age of reason, we would be living in a quite different world."

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"Islamophobia: a word created by fascists, and used by cowards, to manipulate morons."

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"Religion is poison because it asks us to give up our most precious faculty, which is that of reason, and to believe things without evidence. It then asks us to respect this, which it calls faith."

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"I'm not even an atheist so much as I am an antitheist; I not only maintain that all religions are versions of the same untruth, but I hold that the influence of churches, and the effect of religious belief, is positively harmful."

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"Violent, irrational, intolerant, allied to racism and tribalism and bigotry, invested in ignorance and hostile to free inquiry, contemptuous of women and coercive toward children: organized religion ought to have a great deal on its conscience."

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"Never be a spectator of unfairness or stupidity. Seek out argument and disputation for their own sake; the grave will supply plenty of time for silence."

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"Human beings are pattern-seeking animals who will prefer even a bad theory or a conspiracy theory to no theory at all."

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"I learned that very often the most intolerant and narrow-minded people are the ones who congratulate themselves on their tolerance and open-mindedness."

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"High moral character is not a precondition for great moral accomplishments."

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"Many religions now come before us with ingratiating smirks and outspread hands, like an unctuous merchant in a bazaar. They offer consolation and solidarity and uplift, competing as they do in a marketplace. But we have a right to remember how barbarically they behaved when they were strong and were making an offer that people could not refuse."

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"My own view is that this planet is used as a penal colony, lunatic asylum and dumping ground by a superior civilisation, to get rid of the undesirable and unfit. I can't prove it, but you can't disprove it either."

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Christopher Hitchens Author, Critic, Journalist
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"What can be asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence."

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"Owners of dogs will have noticed that, if you provide them with food and water and shelter and affection, they will think you are God. Whereas owners of cats are compelled to realize that, if you provide them with food and water and affection, they draw the conclusion that they are God."

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"Faith is the surrender of the mind; it's the surrender of reason, it's the surrender of the only thing that makes us different from other mammals. It's our need to believe, and to surrender our skepticism and our reason, our yearning to discard that and put all our trust or faith in someone or something, that is the sinister thing to me. Of all the supposed virtues, faith must be the most overrated."

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"People who think with their epidermis or their genitalia or their clan are the problem to begin with. One does not banish this specter by invoking it. If I would not vote against someone on the grounds of 'race' or 'gender' alone, then by the exact same token I would not cast a vote in his or her favor for the identical reason. Yet see how this obvious question makes fairly intelligent people say the most alarmingly stupid things."

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"Why do humans exist? A major part of the answer: because Pikaia Gracilens survived the Burgess decimation."

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"The only real radicalism in our time will come as it always has—from people who insist on thinking for themselves and who reject party-mindedness."

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"Mockery of religion is one of the most essential things... one of the beginnings of human emancipation is the ability to laugh at authority."

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