Religion may have become a codification of morality, and it may fortify it, but it's not the origin of it.

You should know as much as you can about the human species if you have a hand in designing human society. Of course, I'm not saying that you can derive moral rules from nature - that's deriving an ought from an is, as the philosophers say - but you do need to know what kind of animals we are if you want to design a stable society.

It is well known that apes in the wild offer spontaneous assistance to each other, defending against leopards, say, or consoling distressed companions with tender embraces.

The role of inequity in society is grossly underestimated. Inequity is not good for your health, basically.

If I were God, I'd work on the reach of empathy.

Robin Hood had it right.Humanity's deepest wish is to spread the wealth.

People want to work with somebody who feels shame, who worries about the perceptions of others. Dishonesty is something we don't like in others.