I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand read more

I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours.

True penitence condemns to silence. What a man is ready to recall he would be willing to repeat.

True penitence condemns to silence. What a man is ready to recall he would be willing to repeat.

I always divide people into two groups. Those who live by what they know to be a lie, and those read more

I always divide people into two groups. Those who live by what they know to be a lie, and those who live by what they believe, falsely, to be the truth.

...the ultimate decision about what is accepted as right and wrong will be made not by individual human wisdom but read more

...the ultimate decision about what is accepted as right and wrong will be made not by individual human wisdom but by the disappearance of the groups that have adhered to the "wrong" beliefs.

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.

None preaches better than the ant, and she says nothing.

None preaches better than the ant, and she says nothing.

Fear prophets and those prepared to die for the truth, for as a rule they make many others die with read more

Fear prophets and those prepared to die for the truth, for as a rule they make many others die with them, often before them, at times instead of them.

I admit that the generation which produced Stalin, Auschwitz and Hiroshima will take some beating; but the radical and universal read more

I admit that the generation which produced Stalin, Auschwitz and Hiroshima will take some beating; but the radical and universal consciousness of the death of God is still ahead of us; perhaps we shall have to colonize the stars before it is finally borne in upon us that God is not out there.

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.