“The theory of evolution by cumulative natural selection is the only theory we know of that is in principle capable of explaining the existence of organized complexity.”

After sleeping through a hundred million centuries we have finally opened our eyes on a sumptuous planet, sparkling with colour, bountiful with life.

I am thrilled to be alive at time when humanity is pushing against the limits of understanding. Even better, we may eventually discover that there are no limits.

Even if not a single fossil has ever been found, the evidence from surviving animals would still overwhelmingly force the conclusion that Darwin was right.

It often turns out on closer inspection that acts of apparent altruism are really selfishness in disguise.

Being an atheist frees you up to live this life properly, happily, and fully.

How thoughtful of God to arrange matters so that, wherever you happen to be born, the local religion always turns out to be the true one.

The important thing to remember about mathematics is not to be frightened.

A god who is capable of sending intelligible signals to millions of people simultaneously, and of receiving messages from all of them simultaneously, cannot be, whatever else he might be, simple. Such Bandwidth!

Undisguised clarity is easily mistaken for arrogance.

Myths are fun, as long as you don’t confuse them with the truth.

Faith is the great cop-out, the great excuse to evade the need to think and evaluate evidence. Faith is the belief in spite of, even perhaps because of, the lack of evidence.

The majority of children born into the world tend to inherit the beliefs of their parents, and that to me is one of the most regrettable facts of them all.

It often turns out on closer inspection that acts of apparent altruism are really selfishness in disguise.

I cannot know for certain but I think God is very improbable, and I live my life on the assumption that he is not there.

You can make some inferences about a man’s character if you know something about the conditions in which he has survived and prospered.

Science has its own magic: the magic of reality.

Success is not measured by what you do compared to what somebody else does. Success is measured by what you do compared to what you are capable of doing.

A moral being is one who is capable of reflecting on his past actions and their motives – of approving of some and disapproving of others.

Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy to a friend.

Any woman is just as capable of being a hero as any man.

I want so obviously, so desperately to be loved, and to be capable of love.

What we can or cannot do, what we consider possible or impossible, is rarely a function of our true capability. It is more likely a function of our beliefs about who we are.

To tell the truth is very difficult, and young people are rarely capable of it.

I want so obviously, so desperately to be loved, and to be capable of love.