Pantheism is sexed-up atheism. Deism is watered-down theism.

There are all sorts of things that would be comforting. I expect an injection of morphine would be comforting... But to say that something is comforting is not to say that it's true.

Faith is one of the world's great evils, comparable to the smallpox virus but harder to eradicate.

What you cannot have is a gene that sacrifices itself for the benefit of other genes. What you can have is a gene that makes organisms sacrifice themselves for other organisms under the influence of selfish genes.

Part of the appeal was that Medawar was not only a Nobel Laureate, but he seemed like a Nobel Laureate; he was everything one thought a Nobel Laureate ought to be. If you have ever wondered why scientists like Popper, try Medawar's exposition. Actually most Popperian scientists have probably never tried reading anything but Medawar's exposition.

I mean it as a compliment when I say that you could almost define a philosopher as someone who won't take common sense for an answer.

I think I would abolish schools which systematically inculcate sectarian beliefs.