All - Quotes
I can look back on my life, where there have been moments where things might have gone the other way. [...] We`re all vulnerable.
Never fear spoiling children by making them too happy. Happiness is the atmosphere in which all good affections grow.
Life`s short. Anything could happen, and it usually does, so there is no point in sitting around thinking about all the ifs, ands and buts.
Religion has never once in all of human history turned out to be the right answer to any question - why would you think it`s the right answer to anything we don`t currently understand?
Believers say they can know the truth - the greatest truth of all about the nature of the Universe, namely the source of all existence - simply by sitting quietly and listening to their hearts... and then accuse atheists of being arrogant. And this attitude isn`t just arrogant towards atheists. It`s arrogant towards people of other religions who have sat just as quietly, listened to their hearts with just as much sincerity, and come to completely opposite conclusions about God and the soul and the Universe.
Invoking a deity doesn`t solve the problem of complexity; it introduces a new problem. If all complex things really do require an intelligent creator, then why is that creator himself not bound to the same rule? Would that complex deity not require an even more complex creator, and so on, for infinity?
There are all sorts of cute puppy dogs, but it doesn`t stop people from going out and buying Dobermans.
If you genuinely loved God, wouldn`t you want to understand him as best you can? When faced with different ideas about God, wouldn`t you want to ask some questions, and look at the supporting evidence for the different views, and try to figure out which one is probably true? Doesn`t it seem insulting to God to treat that question as if it didn`t matter? There are profound differences between religions. They are not trivial. And the different religions cannot all be right. (Although, as atheists like to point out, they can all be wrong.)
When you look at the history of what we know about the world, you see a noticeable pattern. Natural explanations of things have been replacing supernatural explanations of them. Like a steamroller. Why the Sun rises and sets. Where thunder and lightning come from. Why people get sick. Why people look like their parents. How the complexity of life came into being. I could go on and on. All these things were once explained by religion. But as we understood the world better, and learned to observe it more carefully, the explanations based on religion were replaced by ones based on physical cause and effect. Consistently. Thoroughly. Like a steamroller.
Why does God need arguments, anyway? Why does God need people to make his arguments for him? Why can`t he just reveal his true self, clearly and unequivocally, and settle the question once and for all? If God existed, why wouldn`t it just be obvious?
I`m intelligent enough to survive happily and be compassionate. If I were too smart, I would realize all the ills of the world.
I believe that if, at the end of it all, according to our abilities, we have done something to make others a little happier, and something to make ourselves a little happier, that is about the best we can do. To make others less happy is a crime. To make ourselves unhappy is where all crime starts. We must try to contribute joy to the world. That is true no matter what our problems, our health, our circumstances. We must try. I didn`t always know this, and am happy I lived long enough to find it out.
When you realize the value of all life, you dwell less on what is past and concentrate more on the preservation of the future.
People think because I can make them laugh on the stage, I`ll be able to make them laugh in person. That isn`t the case at all.
All that really matters is that the people you love are happy and healthy. Everything else is just sprinkles on the sundae.