“Let us try to teach generosity and altruism, because we are born selfish. Let us understand what our own selfish genes are up to, because we may then at least have the chance to upset their designs, something that no other species has ever aspired to do.”

“Relatives share a substantial proportion of their genes. Each selfish gene therefore has its loyalties divided between different bodies.”

“It often turns out on closer inspection that acts of apparent altruism are really selfishness in disguise.”

“We are survival machines – robot vehicles blindly programmed to preserve the selfish molecules known as genes. This is a truth which still fills me with astonishment.”

“If there is a human moral to be drawn, it is that we must teach our children altruism, for we cannot expect it to be part of their biological nature.”

“I am against religion because it teaches us to be satisfied with not understanding the world.”

“Any altruistic system is inherently unstable, because it is open to abuse by selfish individuals, ready to exploit it.”