I am thrilled to be alive at time when humanity is pushing against the limits of understanding. Even better, we may eventually discover that there are no limits. Richard Dawkins More Quotes by Richard Dawkins More Quotes From Richard Dawkins When I say that human beings are just gene machines, one shouldn't put too much emphasis on the word 'just.' There is a very great deal of complication, and indeed beauty in being a gene machine. Richard Dawkins emphasismachinestoo-much Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me." The adage is true as long as you don't really believe the words. But if your whole upbringing, and everything you have ever been told by parents, teachers and priests, has led you to believe, really believe, utterly and completely, that sinners burn in hell (or some other obnoxious article of doctrine such as that a woman is the property of her husband), it is entirely plausible that words could have a more long-lasting and damaging effect than deeds. Richard Dawkins husbandhurtteacher If we ever talk to aliens, their civilisation will be far more advanced than ours (because of distances involved). They won't be religious! Richard Dawkins distancealiensreligious Science is the disinterested search for the objective truth about the material world. Richard Dawkins objective-truthmaterialsworld [Jay] Gould sets up an artificial wall between the two worldviews that doesn't exist in my life. Because I do believe in God's creative power in having brought it all into being in the first place, I find that studying the natural world is an opportunity to observe the majesty, the elegance, the intricacy of God's creation. Richard Dawkins wallopportunitybelieve My mind is open to the most wonderful range of future possibilities, which I cannot even dream about. Richard Dawkins minddreamwonderful Religions do make claims about the universe--the same kinds of claims that scientists make, except they're usually false. Richard Dawkins libertariankindreligion I don't understand why so many people who are sophisticated in science go on believing in God. I wish I did. Richard Dawkins wishbelievepeople I think the written word is probably the best medium of communication because you have time to reflect, you have time to choose your words, to get your sentences exactly right. Whereas when you're being interviewed, say, you have to talk on the fly, you have to improvise, you can change sentences around, and they're not exactly right. Richard Dawkins mediumscommunicationthinking I think the probability of a supernatural creator existing is very very low. Richard Dawkins probabilitylowsthinking My computer is a very complex gadget and it was designed by many designers, so why must the universe have only a single designer and not many designers? Richard Dawkins gadgetscomputerdesigner Be warned that if you wish, as I do, to build a society in which individuals cooperate generously and unselfishly towards a common good, you can expect little help from biological nature. Let us try to teach generosity and altruism, because we are born selfish. Richard Dawkins generosityselfishtrying There does seem to be a sense in which physics has gone beyond what human intuition can understand. We shouldn't be too surprised about that because we're evolved to understand things that move at a medium pace at a medium scale. We can't cope with the very tiny scale of quantum physics or the very large scale of relativity. Richard Dawkins intuitiondoemoving The Bishop goes on to the human eye, asking rhetorically, and with the implication that there is no answer, 'How could an organ so complex evolve?' This is not an argument, it is simply an affirmation of incredulity. Richard Dawkins bishopseyereligion Religion is a powerful weapon that can be used because it persuades people to do things. And thus it can be used for good or ill. But it should not be a powerful weapon at all. Richard Dawkins powerfulweaponspeople It is an absurd law [Section 295A of the Indian penal code] but also extremely dangerous because it gives fanatics, whether they are Hindus, Catholics or Muslims, a licence to be offended. It also allows people who are in dispute with you to make up false accusations of blasphemy. Richard Dawkins lawgivingpeople I find that religion really does motivate people to do horrible things because they have this passionate faith in whatever their religion happens to be, and it teaches them that the other religion is the wrong one. Richard Dawkins passionatedoepeople Maybe scientists are fundamentalist when it comes to defining in some abstract way what is meant by 'truth'. But so is everybody else. I am no more fundamentalist when I say evolution is true than when I say it is true that New Zealand is in the southern hemisphere. We believe in evolution because the evidence supports it, and we would abandon it overnight if new evidence arose to disprove it. Richard Dawkins supportsouthernbelieve [Richard Leakey is] a robust hero of a man, who actually lives up to the cliché, “a big man in every sense of the word.” Like other big men he is loved by many, feared by some, and not over-preoccupied with the judgments of any. Richard Dawkins robustheromen Segregation has no place in the education system. Richard Dawkins education-systemsegregation
