No human beings more dangerous than those who have suffered for a belief: the great persecutors are recruited from the read more

No human beings more dangerous than those who have suffered for a belief: the great persecutors are recruited from the martyrs not quite beheaded. Far from diminishing the appetite for power, suffering exasperates it.

The prevailing legal and moral views of a time are held not only by those whom they benefit but by read more

The prevailing legal and moral views of a time are held not only by those whom they benefit but by those, too, who appear to suffer from them. Their domination is expressed in that fact- that the people from whom they claim sacrifice accept them.

At the core of every moral code there is a picture of human nature, a map of the universe, and read more

At the core of every moral code there is a picture of human nature, a map of the universe, and a version of history. To human nature (of the sort conceived), in a universe (of the kind imagined), after a history (so understood), the rules of the code apply.

The object of opening the mind as of opening the mouth is to close it again on something solid.

The object of opening the mind as of opening the mouth is to close it again on something solid.

I am an agnostic; I do not pretend to know what many ignorant men are sure of.

I am an agnostic; I do not pretend to know what many ignorant men are sure of.

In some awful, strange, paradoxical way, atheists tend to take religion more seriously than the practitioners.

In some awful, strange, paradoxical way, atheists tend to take religion more seriously than the practitioners.

Creationists make it sound as though a 'theory' is something you dreamt up after being drunk all night.

Creationists make it sound as though a 'theory' is something you dreamt up after being drunk all night.

I still say a church steeple with a lightening rod on top shows a lack of confidence.

I still say a church steeple with a lightening rod on top shows a lack of confidence.

To speak of God, to think of God, is in every respect to show what one is made of. I read more

To speak of God, to think of God, is in every respect to show what one is made of. I have always wagered against God and I regard the little that I have won in this world as simply the outcome of this bet. However paltry may have been the stake (my life) I am conscious of having won to the full. Everything that is doddering, squint-eyed, vile, polluted and grotesque is summoned up for me in that one word: God!