192 quotes
It is fashionable to wax apocalyptic about the threat to humanity posed by the AIDS virus, "mad cow" disease, and many others, but I think a case can be made that faith is one of the world's great evils, comparable to the smallpox virus but harder to eradicate.
Darwin, however, saw his doubts as a challenge to go on thinking, not a welcome excuse to give up.
Climbing Mount Improbable (1996)
The argument of this book is that we, and all other animals, are machines created by our genes.
The Selfish Gene (1976)
The meme for blind faith secures its own perpetuation by the simple unconscious expedient of discouraging rational inquiry.
The Selfish Gene (1976)
SJWs can't forgive Shakespeare for having the temerity to be white and male.
Ingenious? Yes. And scrupulous. Really good scientists have to be both.
The Greatest Show on Earth (2009)
Science replaces private prejudice with publicly verifiable evidence.
The Enemies of Reason (2007)
Religion is the most inflammatory enemy-labelling device in history.
A Devil's Chaplain (2003)
Unfortunately, instead of working out that they have probably misunderstood evolution, creationists conclude, instead, that evolution must be false.
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 debates Rowan Williams (2013)
It is generally characteristic of arms races, including human ones, that although all would be better off if none of them escalated, so long as one of them escalates none can afford not to.
The Blind Watchmaker (1986)
Abort it and try again. It would be immoral to bring it into the world if you have the choice.
We are all atheists about most of the gods that societies have ever believed in. Some of us just go one god further.
The Root of All Evil? (2006)
No doubt some of your cousins and great-uncles died in childhood, but not a single one of your ancestors did. Ancestors just don't die young!
The Selfish Gene (1976)
Elizabeth II is a direct descendant of William the Conqueror. Yet it is quite probable that she bares not a single one of the old king's genes.
The Selfish Gene (1976)
It is normally possible to be much more certain who your children are than who your brothers are. And you can be more certain still who you yourself are!
The Selfish Gene (1976)
If ever there was a slamming of the door in the face of constructive investigation, it is the word miracle. To a medieval peasant, a radio would have seemed like a miracle.
Ignorance, to a scientist, is an itch that begs to be pleasurably scratched. Ignorance, if you are a theologian, is something to be washed away by shamelessly making something up.
Those people who think sexual abuse is a black-or-white, all-or-none category are incapable of clear, logical thought.
Religion is about turning untested belief into unshakable truth through the power of institutions and the passage of time.
The Root of All Evil? (2006)