You shouldn't be afraid of science. Accepting the reality of nature makes life more exciting and even more precious.

[The writers of the holy books] did not even know the earth revolves around the sun. Why are we listening?

A truly open mind means forcing our imaginations to conform to the evidence of reality, and not vice versa.

The illusion of purpose and design is perhaps the most pervasive illusion about nature that science has to confront on a daily basis.

We now know that we are more insignificant than we ever imagined. If you get rid of everything we see, the universe is essentially the same. We constitute a 1 percent bit of pollution in a universe . . . we are completely irrelevant.

If we wish to draw philosophical conclusions about our own existence, our significance, and the significance of the universe itself, our conclusions should be based on empirical knowledge. A truly open mind means forcing our imaginations to conform to the evidence of reality, and not vice versa, whether or not we like the implications.

The lack of understanding of something is not evidence for God. It's evidence of a lack of understanding.