For me, I am driven by two main philosophies: know more today about the world than I knew yesterday and lessen the suffering of others. You’d be surprised how far that gets you.
You cannot conquer a free man. The most you can do is kill him.
A concept is a brick. It can be used to build a courthouse of reason. Or it can be thrown through the window.
Science and religion are not at odds. Science is simply too young to understand.
Writing my own novels in the ’90s…I never imagined that in ten years, science and rationality would require explanation and defense in a world rocked and ruled by religious fervor.
To such a world of conflict, a world of victims, and executions, it is the job of thinking people not to be on the side of the executioners.
I would rather have questions that can’t be answered than answers which can’t be questioned.
Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see.
That rifle on the wall of the labourer’s cottage or working class flat is the symbol of democracy. It is our job to see that it stays there.
I haven’t failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.