Religion attacks us in our deepest integrity by saying we wouldn't be able to make a moral decision without it.

The struggle for a free intelligence has always been a struggle between the ironic and the literal mind.

The noble title of "dissident" must be earned rather than claimed; it connotes sacrifice and risk rather than mere disagreement.

I try to deny myself any illusions or delusions, and I think that this perhaps entitles me to try and deny the same to others, at least as long as they refuse to keep their fantasies to themselves.

Islam is at once the most and the least interesting of the world's monotheisms. It builds upon its primitive Jewish and Christian predecessors, selecting a chunk here and a shard there, and thus if these fall, it partly falls also.

Teasing is very often a sign of inner misery.

I became a journalist partly so that I wouldn't ever have to rely on the press for my information.