Not many people come through esophageal cancer and live to talk about it, or not for long.

Religion has run out of justifications. Thanks to the telescope and the microscope, it no longer offers an explanation of anything important. Where once it used to able, by its total command of a worldview, to prevent the emergence of rivals, it can now only impede and retard-or try to turn back-the measureable advances that we have made.

Beautiful sentences pop into my head. Beautiful sentences that aren't always absolutely accurate. Then, I have to choose between the beautiful sentence and being absolutely accurate. It can be a difficult choice.

Indeed, it's futile to try and use Holy Scripture to support any political position. I deeply distrust anyone who does. Just look at what an Islamic Republic is like.

She's got no charisma of any kind [but] I can imagine her being mildly useful to a low-rank porn director.

Morality comes from humanism and is stolen by religion for its own purposes.

Redemption is promised at the low price of surrender of your critical faculties.