There is no such thing as closure, and it wouldn't be worth having if it were available, because all it would mean is that something that was quite an important part of you had gone numb.

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.

All around you are people whose lives are filled with trouble and sorrow, and they need your compassion and encouragement.

Discipline in art is a fundamental struggle to understand oneself, as much as to understand what one is drawing.

Why do you insist upon destroying yourself?

My mother worshipped at the altar of the accessory.

The Ignis Fatuus is a vapor shining without heat.

I'm not really a happy person. It's a question of temperament. I have a tendency toward melancholy. You can feel quite happily melancholic.

I believe that the only courage anybody ever needs is the courage to follow your own dreams.

Villains are undone by what is worst in them, heroes by what is best.

The Purpose of Time is to Prevent Everything from Happening at Once

Go ahead and gamble a lie. A person who will not tell you seven lies within a hundred yards is useless as a man.