To what faults do you feel most indulgent? To the ones that arise from urgent material needs.

The people who must never have power are the humorless. To impossible certainties of rectitude they ally tedium and uniformity

Human beings are pattern-seeking animals who will prefer even a bad theory or a conspiracy theory to no theory at all.

When you consider how many millions of workdays begin with hangovers great and small, it is mildly ­surprising to find how few real descriptions of the experience our literature can boast.

We have no proof that Socrates ever existed. We only know from witnesses to his life that he did. Like Jesus, he never wrote anything down. It doesn't matter to me whether he did or not exist because we have his teachings, his method of thinking, and his extreme intellectual and moral courage.

Jesus makes large claims for his heavenly father but never mentions that his mother is or was a virgin, and is repeatedly very rude and coarse to her when she makes an appearance.

Thanks to the telescope and the microscope, religion no longer offers an explanation for anything important.