For me, the life of the angler is an almost flawless example of how not to have a good time.

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

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

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.

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.

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

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

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

What can be asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence.

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

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.

Forgiveness is a virtue of beauty. You learn to see a person no longer defined by a past but one that has re-created itself anew.

It's fine to celebrate success but it is more important to heed the lessons of failure.

Must being in love always mean being in pain?

You're not too fat; you're just in the wrong country.

With the proper training, I could've been an evil genius.

There's so much one person can do, and so many ways they can help make a difference. It just takes one person to help someone to a better life.

I have a garden, and I'm passionately interested in young people.

I have lived long enough to learn how much there is I can really do without.... He is nearest to God who needs the fewest things.

One major problem with any science is that people who don't know the conceptual history of their field go round re-inventing the elliptical wheel.

There are so many kinds of awful men One can't avoid them all. She often said She'd never make the same mistake again: She always made a new mistake instead.