We owe a huge debt to Galileo for emancipating us all from the stupid belief in an Earth-centered or man-centered (let alone God-centered) system. He quite literally taught us our place and allowed us to go on to make extraordinary advances in knowledge.

What is your idea of earthly happiness? To be vindicated in my own lifetime.

The brilliant Schiller was wrong in his Joan of Arc when he said against stupidity the gods themselves contend in vain. It is actually by means of the gods that we make our stupidity and gullibility into something ineffable.

How ya doin'?' I always think, What kind of a question is that?, and I always reply, 'A bit early to tell.

I think the materialist conception of history is valid.

The penalty for getting mugged in an American city and losing your ID is that you can't fly home.

It's amazing how relaxing it is not to claim you know more than you do. I'm surprised that those who claim to speak in the name of god don't take more advantage of this relief.