Quote collection
626 quotes — follow a thought to its full quote page.
"What they [the 9/11 attackers] abominate about 'the west', to put it in a phrase, is not what western liberals don't like and can't defend about their own system, but what they do like about it and must defend: its emancipated women, its scientific inquiry, its separation of religion from the state."
"If I was told to sacrifice something to prove my devotion to God, if I was told to do what all monotheists are told to do and admire the man who said 'Yes I'll gut my kid to show my love of God.'"
"A melancholy lesson of advancing years is the realisation that you can't make old friends."
"Religion fosters servility and solipsism."
"There is an unusually high and consistent correlation between the stupidity of a given person and that person’s propensity to be impressed by the measurement of IQ."
"Its a matter of principle. If Jews born in Brooklyn have a right to a state in Palestine then Palestinians born in Jerusalem have a right to a state in Palestine."
"Intellectuals never sound more foolish than when posing as the last civilised man."
"Religion is not the belief there is a god. Religion is the belief god tells you what to do."
"Religion comes from the period of human prehistory where nobody - not even the mighty Democritus who concluded that all matter was made from atoms - had the smallest idea of what was going on. It comes from the bawling and fearful infancy of our species, and is a babyish attempt to meet our inescapable demand for knowledge. Today the least educated of my children knows much more about the natural order than any of the founders of religion."
"Everything about Christianity is contained in the pathetic image of 'the flock."
"If you gave [Jerry] Falwell an enema he could be buried in a matchbox."
"One of the most repellent spectacles at election times is the pretense of piety on the part of people running for office."
"The finest fury is the most controlled."
"The one unforgivable sin is to be boring."
"Distrust compassion; prefer dignity for yourself and others. Don't be afraid to be thought arrogant or selfish."
"The only position that leaves me with no cognitive dissonance is atheism."
"If you want to stay in for the long haul, and lead a life that is free from illusions either propagated by you or embraced by you, then I suggest you learn to recognize and avoid the symptoms of the zealot and the person who knows he is right. For the dissenter, the skeptical mentality is at least as important as any armor of principle."
"I'm not particularly a feminist, but if you get women off the animal cycle of reproduction and give them some say in how many children they'll have, immediately the floor will rise."
"I say that homosexuality is not just a form of sex, it's a form of love, and it deserves our respect for that reason."
"Jesus, it is true, shows no personal interest in gain, but he does speak of treasure in heaven and even of mansions as an inducement to follow him. Is it not further true that all religions down the ages have shown a keen interest in the amassment of material goods in the real world?"