In the ordinary moral universe, the good will do the best they can, the worst will do the worst they can, but if you want to make good people do wicked things, you’ll need religion.
CHRISTOPHER HITCHENSThose who want to be offended don’t have the right to try and close down the newspaper that offends them.
More Christopher Hitchens Quotes
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Arguments that explain everything explain nothing.
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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 the dumb question, ‘Why me?’ the cosmos barely bothers to return the reply, ‘Why not?’
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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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My own opinion is enough for me. And I claim the right to defend it against any consensus, any majority anywhere, any place, any time. And anyone who disagrees with this can pick a number, get in line and kiss my ass.
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Those who want to be offended don’t have the right to try and close down the newspaper that offends them.
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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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The essence of the independent mind lies not in what it thinks, but in how it thinks.
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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.
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Everybody does have a book in them, but in most cases that’s where it should stay.
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How dismal it is to see present day Americans yearning for the very orthodoxy that their country was founded to escape.
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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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Religion is man-made. Even the men who made it cannot agree on what their prophets or redeemers or gurus actually said or did.
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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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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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Take the risk of thinking for yourself. Much more happiness, truth, beauty and wisdom will come to you that way.
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Why do humans exist? A major part of the answer: because Pikaia Gracilens survived the Burgess decimation.
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The finest fury is the most controlled.
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I have no time to waste on this planet being told what to do by those who think that God has given them instructions.
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The Bible may, indeed does, contain a warrant for trafficking in humans, for ethnic cleansing, for slavery, for bride-price, and for indiscriminate massacre, but we are not bound by any of it because it was put together by crude, uncultured human mammals.
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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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I leave it to the faithful to burn each other’s churches and mosques and synagogues, which they can be always relied upon to do.
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The 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.
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It is only those who hope to transform human beings who end up by burning them, like the waste product of a failed experiment.
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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.
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Your favorite virtue? An appreciation for irony.
CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS