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Richard Dawkins Quotes - Page 15

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Even if it were true that we need God to be moral, it would of course not make God's existence more likely, merely more desirable (many people cannot tell the difference)

Even if it were true that we need God to be moral, it would of course not make God's existence more likely, merely more desirable (many people cannot tell the difference)

Richard Dawkins
Differences, People, Needs
Richard Dawkins (2008). “The God Delusion”, p.264, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Do you advocate the Ten Commandments as a guide to the good life? Then I can only presume that you don't know the Ten Commandments.

Richard Dawkins
Good Life, Guides, Ten Commandments
"Why I want all our children to read the King James Bible" by Richard Dawkins, www.theguardian.com. May 19, 2012.

I've never heard of William Craig. A debate with him might look good on his resume, but it wouldn't look good on mine!

Richard Dawkins
Looks, Might, Debate

With respect to those meanings of 'human' that are relevant to the morality of abortion, any fetus is less human than an adult pig.

Richard Dawkins
Pigs, Abortion, Adults
Richard Dawkins‏ @RichardDawkins, twitter.com. March 13, 2013.

All the world’s Muslims have fewer Nobel Prizes than Trinity College, Cambridge. They did great things in the Middle Ages, though.

Richard Dawkins
College, Age, World
Richard Dawkins @RichardDawkins, twitter.com. August 08, 2013.

I am thrilled to be alive at time when humanity is pushing against the limits of understanding. Even better, we may eventually discover that there are no limits.

Richard Dawkins
Understanding, Humanity, Alive
Richard Dawkins (2008). “The God Delusion”, p.420, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Even those who do not, or cannot, avail themselves of a scientific education, choose to benefit from the technology that is made possible by the scientific education of others.

Richard Dawkins
Technology, Benefits, Made
Richard Dawkins (2004). “A Devil's Chaplain: Reflections on Hope, Lies, Science, and Love”, p.15, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

I've seen [Lalla Ward] episodes of "Doctor Who." They're good, at least partly because the scripts were written by Douglas Adams.

Richard Dawkins
Doctors, Scripts, Episodes
Source: newrepublic.com

Everybody is an atheist in saying that there is a god - from Ra to Shiva - in which he does not believe. All that the serious and objective atheist does is to take the next step and to say that there is just one more god to disbelieve in.

Richard Dawkins
Atheist, Believe, Religion

If all the evidence in the universe turned in favour of creationism, I would be the first to admit it, and I would immediately change my mind. As things stand, however, all available evidence (and there is a vast amount of it) favours evolution.

Richard Dawkins
Mind, Would Be, Firsts
Richard Dawkins (2008). “The God Delusion”, p.19, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Many of us saw religion as harmless nonsense. Beliefs might lack all supporting evidence but, we thought, if people needed a crutch for consolation, where's the harm? September 11th changed all that.

Richard Dawkins
Science, People, Religion
"Has the world changed?". The Guardian Interview, www.theguardian.com. October 11, 2001.

I suppose if you look back to your early childhood you accept everything people tell you, and that includes a heavy dose of irrationality - you're told about tooth fairies and Father Christmas and things.

Richard Dawkins
Christmas, Father, People
"Darwin's child". Interview with Simon Hattenstone, www.theguardian.com. February 10, 2003.

Evil…doesn’t mean doing things that have bad consequences for people. It means private thoughts and actions that are not to “the Christian majority’s” private liking.

Richard Dawkins
Christian, Atheist, Mean
Richard Dawkins (2009). “The God Delusion”, p.328, Random House

The machine code of the genes is uncannily computer-like. Apart from differences in jargon, the pages of a molecular biology journal might be interchanged with those of a computer engineering journal.

Richard Dawkins
Differences, Engineering, Molecular Biology
Richard Dawkins (1995). “River Out of Eden: A Darwinian View of Life”, Basic Books (AZ)

Pope Francis seems to be a much nicer man than Pope Benedict, but I'm not sure that his views on things that really matter are all that different. Whereas Benedict was perhaps a wolf in wolf's clothing, Francis is perhaps a wolf in sheep's clothing.

Richard Dawkins
Men, Sheep, Views
Source: newrepublic.com

The universe doesn't owe us condolence or consolation; it doesn't owe us a nice warm feeling inside.

Richard Dawkins
Nice, Condolences, Feelings

I am trying to call attention to the elephant in the room that everybody is too polite - or too devout - to notice: religion, and specifically the devaluing effect that religion has on human life.

Richard Dawkins
Elephants, Trying, Attention
Richard Dawkins (2017). “Science in the Soul: Selected Writings of a Passionate Rationalist”, p.237, Random House

The mob hysteria over pedophiles has reached epidemic proportions and driven parents to panic. Today's Just Williams, today's Huck Finns, today's Swallows and Amazons are deprived of the freedom to roam that was one of the delights of childhood in earlier times (when the actual, as opposed to the perceived, risk of molestation was probably no less).

Richard Dawkins
Epidemics, Hysteria, Childhood
Richard Dawkins (2008). “The God Delusion”, p.355, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Just imagine the banner headlines if a marine biologist were to discover a species of dolphin that wove large, intricately meshed fishing nets, twenty dolphin-lengths in diameter! Yet we take a spider web for granted, as a nuisance in the house rather than as one of the wonders of the world. And think of the furore if Jane Goodall returned from Gombe stream with photographs of wild chimpanzees building their own houses, well roofed and insulated, of painstakingly selected stones neatly bonded and mortared! Yet caddis larvae, who do precisely that, command only passing interest.

Richard Dawkins
Marine, Thinking, Fishing

You can't understand European history at all other than through religion, or English literature either if you can't recognise biblical allusions.

Richard Dawkins
Biblical, Literature, Allusion

Scientists disagree among themselves but they never fight over their disagreements. They argue about evidence or go out and seek new evidence. Much the same is true of philosophers, historians and literary critics.

Richard Dawkins
Fighting, Philosopher, Arguing
"The atheist". Interview with Gordy Slack, www.salon.com. April 30, 2005.

There's this thing called being so open-minded your brains drop out.

Richard Dawkins
Death, Business, Believe
"The Real Romance in the Stars". www.independent.co.uk. December 31, 1995.

By all means let's be open-minded, but not so open-minded that our brains drop out. -this quote is actually found in Carl Sagan's book The Demon Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark, where he attributes it to engineer James Oberg, who says he stole it from someone else.

Richard Dawkins
Book, Mean, Dark

The world and the universe is an extremely beautiful place, and the more we understand about it the more beautiful does it appear.

Richard Dawkins
Beautiful, Doe, World
"The Vision Thing". Interview with Sheena McDonald for Channel 4 (UK), www.thirdworldtraveler.com. August 15, 1994.

...it is a telling fact that, the world over, the vast majority of children follow the religion of their parents rather than any of the other available religions.

Richard Dawkins
Death, Children, Parent
Richard Dawkins (2004). “A Devil's Chaplain: Reflections on Hope, Lies, Science, and Love”, p.136, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt