jayjayp

Atheism is more than just the knowledge that gods do not exist, and that religion is either a mistake or a fraud. Atheism is an attitude, a frame of mind that looks at the world objectively, fearlessly, always trying to understand all things as a part of nature. - Author object (303)

If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe. - Author object (303)

The nitrogen in our DNA, the calcium in our teeth, the iron in our blood, the carbon in our apple pies were made in the interiors of collapsing stars. We are made of starstuff. - Author object (303)

For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring. - Author object (303)

One glance at a book and you hear the voice of another person, perhaps someone dead for 1,000 years. To read is to voyage through time. - Author object (303)

Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. - Author object (303)

I don't know where I'm going, but I'm on my way. - Author object (303)

Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were, but without it we go nowhere. - Author object (303)

In science it often happens that scientists say, 'You know that's a really good argument; my position is mistaken,' and then they would actually change their minds and you never hear that old view from them again. They really do it. It doesn't happen as often as it should, because scientists are human and change is sometimes painful. But it happens every day. I cannot recall the last time something like that happened in politics or religion. - Author object (303)

I consider it an extremely dangerous doctrine, because the more likely we are to assume that the solution comes from the outside, the less likely we are to solve our problems ourselves. - Author object (303)

Every one of us is, in the cosmic perspective, precious. If a human disagrees with you, let him live. In a hundred billion galaxies, you will not find another. - Author object (303)

I would love to believe that when I die I will live again, that some thinking, feeling, remembering part of me will continue. But as much as I want to believe that, and despite the ancient and worldwide cultural traditions that assert an afterlife, I know of nothing to suggest that it is more than wishful thinking. - Author object (303)

Who is more humble? The scientist who looks at the universe with an open mind and accepts whatever the universe has to teach us, or somebody who says everything in this book must be considered the literal truth and never mind the fallibility of all the human beings involved? - Author object (303)

For small creatures such as we the vastness is bearable only through love. - Author object (303)

It pays to keep an open mind, but not so open your brains fall out. - Author object (303)

We have designed our civilization based on science and technology and at the same time arranged things so that almost no one understands anything at all about science and technology. This is a clear prescription for disaster - Author object (303)

People are not stupid. They believe things for reasons. The last way for skeptics to get the attention of bright, curious, intelligent people is to belittle or condescend or to show arrogance toward their beliefs. - Author object (303)

Atoms are mainly empty space. Matter is composed chiefly of nothing. - Author object (303)

The way to find out about our place in the universe is by examining the universe and by examining ourselves - without preconceptions, with as unbiased a mind as we can muster. - Author object (303)

We are a way for the cosmos to know itself. - Author object (303)