The governor of Texas, who, when asked if the Bible should also be taught in Spanish, replied that 'if English was good enough for Jesus, then it's good enough for me.

I suppose that one reason I have always detested religion is its sly tendency to insinuate the idea that the universe is designed with 'you' in mind or, even worse, that there is a divine plan into which one fits whether one knows it or not. This kind of modesty is too arrogant for me.

I was taught very early on that the state can be, and is, a liar and a murderer.

The concept of loneliness and exile and self-sufficiency continually bucks me up.

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

It's surprising to me how many of my friends send Christmas cards, or holiday cards, including my atheist and secular friends.

In an average day, you may well be confronted with some species of bullying or bigotry, or some ill-phrased appeal to the general will, or some petty abuse of authority. If you have a political loyalty, you may be offered a shady reason for agreeing to a lie or a half-truth that serves some short-term purpose. Everybody devises tactics for getting through such moments; try behaving "as if" they need not be tolerated and are not inevitable.