“The enlightenment is under threat. So is reason. So is truth. So is science, especially in the schools of America.”
Science
“Faith is the great cop-out, the great excuse to evade the need to think and evaluate evidence. Faith is belief in spite of, even perhaps because of, the lack of evidence.”
FaithAll Quotes by Richard Dawkins
“The Bible should be taught, but emphatically not as reality. It is fiction, myth, poetry, anything but reality. As such it needs to be taught because it underlies so much of our literature and our culture.”
Poetry“Science coverage could be improved by the recognition that science is timeless, and therefore science stories should not need to be pegged to an item in the news.”
Science“I suppose if you look back to your early childhood you accept everything people tell you, and that includes a heavy dose of irrationality - you're told about tooth fairies and Father Christmas and things.”
Christmas“Intelligent life on a planet comes of age when it first works out the reason for its own existence.”
Age“The question of whether there exists a supernatural creator, a God, is one of the most important that we have to answer. I think that it is a scientific question. My answer is no.”
God“I am against religion because it teaches us to be satisfied with not understanding the world.”
Religion“I am one of those scientists who feels that it is no longer enough just to get on and do science. We have to devote a significant proportion of our time and resources to defending it from deliberate attack from organised ignorance.”
Science“The universe we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil, no good, nothing but blind, pitiless indifference.”
Design“Segregation has no place in the education system.”
Education“At least the fundamentalists haven't tried to dilute their message. Their faith is exposed for what it is for all to see.”
Faith“There may be fairies at the bottom of the garden. There is no evidence for it, but you can't prove that there aren't any, so shouldn't we be agnostic with respect to fairies?”
Respect“The meme for blind faith secures its own perpetuation by the simple unconscious expedient of discouraging rational inquiry.”
Faith“I love romantic poetry.”
Poetry“It has become almost a cliche to remark that nobody boasts of ignorance of literature, but it is socially acceptable to boast ignorance of science and proudly claim incompetence in mathematics.”
Science“By all means let's be open-minded, but not so open-minded that our brains drop out.”
Funny“Personally, I rather look forward to a computer program winning the world chess championship. Humanity needs a lesson in humility.”
Computers“But perhaps the rest of us could have separate classes in science appreciation, the wonder of science, scientific ways of thinking, and the history of scientific ideas, rather than laboratory experience.”
Experience“Isn't it sad to go to your grave without ever wondering why you were born? Who, with such a thought, would not spring from bed, eager to resume discovering the world and rejoicing to be part of it?”
Sad“We humans are an extremely important manifestation of the replication bomb, because it is through us - through our brains, our symbolic culture and our technology - that the explosion may proceed to the next stage and reverberate through deep space.”
Technology