“Morality is more than possible without God, it is entirely independent of him.”

“Philosophy without criticism is like hunting deer without a shotgun, so, if you want people to like you, avoid robust philosophical debate.”

“Real life is about accepting ups and downs, the good and the bad, the possibility of failure as well as the ambition to succeed. Atheism speaks to the truth about our human nature because it recognizes all this and does not seek to shield us from the truth by myth and superstition”

“What was the point of scientific advance without moral advance? The railway would merely permit more people to move about, meet and be stupid together”

“No one is moral among the god-controlled puppets of the Iliad. Good and evil do not exist.”

“[Flaubert] didn’t just hate the railway as such; he hated the way it flattered people with the illusion of progress. What was the point of scientific advance without moral advance? The railway would merely permit more people to move about, meet and be stupid together.”

“What is taken away is greater than the sum of what was there. This may not be mathematically possible; but it is emotionally possible.”