It [defending Salmon Rushdie] was, if I can phrase it like this, a matter of everything I hated versus everything I loved. In the hate column: dictatorship, religion, stupidity, demagogy, censorship, bullying and intimidation. In the love column: literature, irony, humor, the individual and the defense of free expression.
Christopher HitchensAllow a friend to believe in a bogus prospectus or a false promise and you cease, after a short while, to be a friend at all.
Christopher HitchensSo far, I have decided to take whatever my disease can throw at me, and to stay combative even while taking the measure of my inevitable decline. I repeat, this is no more than what a healthy person has to do in slower motion.
Christopher HitchensIf someone tells me that I've hurt their feelings I'm still waiting to hear what your point is.
Christopher HitchensName a moral statement or action, uttered or performed by a religious person that could not have been uttered or performed by an unbeliever.
Christopher HitchensI've noticed that the more flooding there is, the more bullshit gets talked. I mean it was very noticeable in the Asian tsumai. It happened around Christmas-New Year. The Muslims of Sri Lanka said 'We knew this would happen because the Christians were using alcohol for their Christmas celebrations.' The Buddhists said 'We knew this would happen because of the horrible Muslim slaughter practices.' It's amazing to see how apocalypse or catastrophe makes people behave primitively.
Christopher Hitchens