High moral character is not a precondition for great moral accomplishments.
CHRISTOPHER HITCHENSThe faithful believe that certain truths have been ‘revealed.’ The skeptics and secularists believe that truth is only to be sought by free inquiry and trial and error. Only one of those positions is dogmatic.
More Christopher Hitchens Quotes
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Religion is not the belief there is a god. Religion is the belief god tells you what to do.
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I became a journalist because I didn’t want to have to rely on the press for information… I only read it to make sure of whatever everyone else thinks is going on, because it’s useful to know what people think is the news.
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The finest fury is the most controlled.
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Those who are determined to be ‘offended’ will discover a provocation somewhere. We cannot possibly adjust enough to please the fanatics, and it is degrading to make the attempt.
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The essence of the independent mind lies not in what it thinks, but in how it thinks.
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The discovery there is no god is a great relief, because if there were, it would be like living in a celestial North Korea if there was one. You would never be able to escape.
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Philosophy begins where religion ends, just as by analogy chemistry begins where alchemy runs out, and astronomy takes the place of astrology.
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Skepticism rather than credulity is the highest principle that the human intellect can use to ennoble our existence.
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I don’t think it’s possible to have a sense of tragedy without having a sense of humor.
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Take the risk of thinking for yourself.
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Arguments that explain everything explain nothing.
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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 have always found it quaint and rather touching that there is a movement [Libertarians] in the US that thinks Americans are not yet selfish enough.
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The governor of Texas, who, when asked if the Bible should also be taught in Spanish, replied that ‘if English was good enough for Jesus, then it’s good enough for me.
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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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The person who is certain, and who claims divine warrant for his certainty, belongs now to the infancy of our species.
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To terrify children with the image of hell, to consider women an inferior creation – is that good for the world?
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Everything about Christianity is contained in the pathetic image of ‘the flock.
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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.
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So there’s nothing more vulgar than the sound of someone saying, God Bless America, someone who doesn’t really believe it, but he thinks it will make him look good to other people. I think it’s the most nauseating spectacle.
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What can be asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence.
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One of the most repellent spectacles at election times is the pretense of piety on the part of people running for office.
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If you think that American imperialism and its globalised, capitalist form is the most dangerous thing in the world, that means you don’t think the Islamic Republic of Iran or North Korea or the Taliban is as bad.
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Reagan is doing to the country what he can no longer do to his wife.
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The Koran shows every sign of being thrown together by human beings, as do all the other holy books.
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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.
CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS