If you think all this is going on, all these gigantic fields of gravity and light with you in mind, then you really do have a self-centredness problem.

There are many, many discrepant views within the Shia theology about what's the proper role of religion in society or in the State, should it rule now, should it claim to govern people in the here and now, or should it wait until the Messiah, the 12th Imam, comes back and would it only be then appropriate for religious rule to bring about a world of universal justice and vindication.

I don't think the war in Afghanistan was ruthlessly enough waged.

Evolution is, as well as smarter than we are, infinitely more callous and cruel, and also capricious.

Human decency is not derived from religion. It precedes it.

I felt Clinton represented the worst of the 1960s.

It’s considered perfectly normal in this society to approach dying people who you don’t know but who are unbelievers and say, ‘Now are you gonna change your mind?’ That is considered almost a polite question.