Richard Dawkins Quotes

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.
RICHARD DAWKINS

Alive Discover Humanity Limitation Time Understand
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.
RICHARD DAWKINS

Animal Evidence Evolution Force Science Survival
It often turns out on closer inspection that acts of apparent altruism are really selfishness in disguise.
RICHARD DAWKINS

Disguise Inspection Selfish
Being an atheist frees you up to live this life properly, happily, and fully.
RICHARD DAWKINS

Atheist Freedom Happiness Live Proper
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.
RICHARD DAWKINS

Arrange God Religion
The important thing to remember about mathematics is not to be frightened.
RICHARD DAWKINS

Important Mathematics
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!
RICHARD DAWKINS

Atheist God Message People
Undisguised clarity is easily mistaken for arrogance.
RICHARD DAWKINS

Arrogance Clarity Mistake One Liner
Myths are fun, as long as you don’t confuse them with the truth.
RICHARD DAWKINS

Confusion Fun Myth 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.
RICHARD DAWKINS

Belief Evade Evaluate Evidence Excuse Faith Ignorance
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.
RICHARD DAWKINS

Children Fact Inherit Majority Parents Regret World
It often turns out on closer inspection that acts of apparent altruism are really selfishness in disguise.
RICHARD DAWKINS

Act Disguise Inspection Selfish
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.
RICHARD DAWKINS

Assumption Faith God Life Live
You can make some inferences about a man’s character if you know something about the conditions in which he has survived and prospered.
RICHARD DAWKINS

Character Condition Survival
Science has its own magic: the magic of reality.
RICHARD DAWKINS

Magic Reality Science
Let’s be open-minded, but not so open-minded that our brains drop out.
RICHARD DAWKINS

Brain Deep Drop Open Minded
If the history-deniers who doubt the fact of evolution are ignorant of biology, those who think the world began less than ten thousand years ago are worst than ignorant, they are the deluded to the point of perversity.
RICHARD DAWKINS

Biology Evolution Fact History Ignorant Science
The idea of a divine creator belittles the elegant reality of the universe.
RICHARD DAWKINS

Divine Elegance Ideas Reality Science Universe
We admit that we are like apes, but we seldom realize that we are apes.
RICHARD DAWKINS

Admit Evolution Realize
Let us try to teach generosity and altruism, because we are born selfish. Let us understand what our own selfish genes are up to, because we may then at least have the chance to upset their designs, something that no other species has ever aspired to do.
RICHARD DAWKINS

Born Chance Generosity Science Selfish Understand Upset
We are all atheists about most of the gods that humanity has ever believed in. Some of us just go one god further.
RICHARD DAWKINS

Atheist Believe God Humanity
The chicken is only an egg’s way for making another egg.
RICHARD DAWKINS

Chicken Egg Revolution Science
Why, I can’t help wondering, is God thought to need such ferocious defence? One might have supposed him amply capable of looking after himself.
RICHARD DAWKINS

God Religion Science Suppose Wonder
Religious fanatics want people to switch off their own minds, ignore the evidence, and blindly follow a holy book based upon private revelation.
RICHARD DAWKINS

Blind Book Evidence Mind People Religious Revelation Switch Want
Evolution could so easily be disproved if just a single fossil turned up in the wrong date order. Evolution has passed this test with flying colours.
RICHARD DAWKINS

Atheist Disapprove Evolution Science
The total amount of suffering per year in the natural world is beyond all decent contemplation.
RICHARD DAWKINS

Amount Beyond Decent Natural Suffering World
Let children learn about different faiths, let them notice their incompatibility, and let them draw their own conclusions about the consequences of that incompatibility.
RICHARD DAWKINS

Children Conclusion Consequence Different Faith Learning

Other Famous Personalities