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“By and large, conventional religion, as many humans accept it, is illogical in its attempt to conceive of entities lying outside the Universe. Since the Universe comprises everything, it is evident that nothing can lie outside it. The idea of a ‘god’ creating the Universe is a mechanistic absurdity clearly derived from the making of machines by men. I take it that we are in agreement about all this.”

— Fred Hoyle The Black Cloud (1957)

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Religion

More quotes by Fred Hoyle

Space isn't remote at all. It's only an hour's drive away if your car could go straight upwards.

Losing power, utterly and completely, is the most dreadful prospect that a politician can think of. It overshadows everything else.

The Black Cloud (1957)

It’s only too easy to read your own state of mind into what other people say.

The Black Cloud (1957)

The two men were mentally too dissimilar for more than a half hour of conversation between them to be possible.

The Black Cloud (1957)

All people are the same, pretty well irrespective of color, creed, or the way they happen to grunt out their language.

Encounter with the Future (1965)

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All religions, arts and sciences are branches of the same tree. All these aspirations are directed toward ennobling man's life, lifting it from the sphere of mere physical existence and leading the individual towards freedom.

Albert Einstein Moral Decay (1937)

Science and religion are two human enterprises sharing many features.

Freeman Dyson Infinite in All Directions (1988)

The moment the idea is admitted into society, that property is not as sacred as the law of God, and that there is not a force of law and public justice to protect it, anarchy and tyranny commence.

John Adams A Defence of the Constitutions of Government (1787)

The Puritan hated bear-baiting, not because it gave pain to the bear, but because it gave pleasure to the spectators.

Thomas Babington Macaulay History of England (1849)

Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Fred Hoyle (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.