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

Richard Dawkins

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
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
The chicken is only an egg’s way for making another egg.
RICHARD DAWKINS

Chicken Egg Revolution Science
Religion is not the root of all evil, for no one thing is the root of all anything.
RICHARD DAWKINS

Evil Religion Root
Creationists eagerly seek a gap in present-day knowledge or understanding. If an apparent gap is found, it is assumed that God, by default, must fill it.
RICHARD DAWKINS

Atheist Creation God Knowledge Science Seek Truth Understand
Today the theory of evolution is about as much open to doubt as the theory that the earth goes round the sun.
RICHARD DAWKINS

Doubt Earth Evolution Sun Theory
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 those who do not, or cannot, avail themselves of a scientific education, choose to benefit from the technology that is made possible by the scientific education of others.
RICHARD DAWKINS

Benefit Choose Education Science Technology
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
Scientific beliefs are supported by evidence, and they get results. Myths and faiths are not and do not.
RICHARD DAWKINS

Atheist Belief Evidence Faith Result Science
Evolution is not a genetically controlled distortion of one adult form into another; it is a genetically controlled alteration in a developmental program.
RICHARD DAWKINS

Adult Alteration Control Development Evolution Program
It would be intolerant if I advocated the banning of religion, but of course I never have.
RICHARD DAWKINS

Advocate Ban Religion Tolerance
DNA neither cares nor knows. DNA just is. And we dance to its music.
RICHARD DAWKINS

Dance DNA Music
We are survival machines – robot vehicles blindly programmed to preserve the selfish molecules known as genes. This is a truth which still fills me with astonishment.
RICHARD DAWKINS

Evolution Machine Molecule Science Survival Truth Vehicle
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
Our life is as meaningful, as full and as wonderful as we choose to make it. And we can make it very wonderful indeed.
RICHARD DAWKINS

Choose Indeed Life Wonderful
If there is a human moral to be drawn, it is that we must teach our children altruism, for we cannot expect it to be part of their biological nature.
RICHARD DAWKINS

Biology Children Expectation Human Moral Nature Teaching
Religion teaches you to be satisfied with nonanswers. It’s a sort of crime against childhood.
RICHARD DAWKINS

Against Childhood Crime Religion Satisfaction
I don’t give a damn for anybody’s opinion, I only care about the facts. So I’m not an enthusiast for diversity of opinion where factual matters are concerned.
RICHARD DAWKINS

Diversity Enthusiasm Fact Opinion Science
I am against religion because it teaches us to be satisfied with not understanding the world.
RICHARD DAWKINS

Against Religion Satisfaction Teaching Understand World
Such delusions of grandeur to think that a God with a hundred billion galaxies on his mind would give a tuppenny damn who you sleep with, or indeed whether you believe in him.
RICHARD DAWKINS

Believe Delusion Galaxy God Sleep Thinking
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
Let us try to teach generosity and altruism, because we are all born selfish.
RICHARD DAWKINS

Born Generosity Selfish
It has become almost a cliché to remark that nobody boasts of ignorance of literature, but it is socially acceptable to boast ignorance of science and proudly claim incompetence in mathematics.
RICHARD DAWKINS

Acceptance Ignorance Literature Mathematics Science
American political opportunities are loaded against those who are simultaneously intelligent and honest.
RICHARD DAWKINS

Against Country Honesty Intelligence Opportunity Politics
Faith can be very very dangerous, and deliberately to implant it into the vulnerable mind of an innocent child is a grievous wrong.
RICHARD DAWKINS

Children Dangerous Deliberate Faith Innocent Vulnerable Wrong
Don’t ask God to cure cancer and world poverty. He’s too busy finding you a parking space and fixing the weather for your barbecue.
RICHARD DAWKINS

Busy Cancer Finding God Poverty Space

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

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

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