Religion attacks us in our deepest integrity by saying we wouldn't be able to make a moral decision without it.

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.

I would have killed myself years ago if it weren't for the fact that I’m pretty sure death is the only thing more terrible than life.

There's no getting rid of you. You are already in my bloodstream and woven into the marrow of my bones.

If you want to be an innovator, you have to take risks. And sometimes things work and sometimes they don't work.

But after a certain point in a marriage, you stopped having a certain kind of fight, Olive thought, because when the years behind you were more than the years in front of you, things were different.

A screenwriter is much like being a fire hydrant with a bunch of dogs lined up around it.

The fashion pages have always baffled me. In my opinion, the articles appear to be full of gobbledygook as to make the astrology column seem factual by comparison.

I had never said, 'dad, I love you'.

I suppose middle-aged love is interesting for middle-aged people.

You're always having to live more to fuel something new. It's an obligation to yourself and to the audience. The personal baggage that comes with being a known actor just adds to that struggle.

The source that creates worlds always is creating and loving, and it excludes no one. It is a source of unlimited abundance. It is a source that has no judgment.