An atheist is someone who is certain that God does not exist, someone who has compelling evidence against the existence of God. I know of no such compelling evidence. Because God can be relegated to remote times and places and to ultimate causes, we would have to know a great deal more about the universe than we do now to be sure that no such God exists. To be certain of the existence of God and to be certain of the nonexistence of God seem to me to be the confident extremes in a subject so riddled with doubt and uncertainty as to inspire very little confidence indeed.

Frederick Douglas taught that literacy is the path from slavery to freedom. There are many kinds of slavery and many kinds of freedom, but reading is still the path.

You can't convince a believer of anything; for their belief is not based on evidence, it's based on a deep seated need to believe

If all the suns but ours collapsed tonight, how many lifetimes would it take us to realize that we were alone?

I believe that the extraordinary should be pursued. But extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.

My fundamental premise about the brain is that its workings - what we sometimes call "mind" - are a consequence of its anatomy and physiology, and nothing more.

Books are key to understanding the world and participating in a democratic society.