I suppose if you look back to your early childhood you accept everything people tell you, and that includes a heavy dose of irrationality – youre told about tooth fairies and Father Christmas and things. – Richard Dawkins
Isnt it sad to go to your grave without ever wondering why you were born? Who, with such a thought, would not spring from bed, eager to resume discovering the world and rejoicing to be part of it? – Richard Dawkins
There may be fairies at the bottom of the garden. There is no evidence for it, but you cant prove that there arent any, so shouldnt we be agnostic with respect to fairies? – Richard Dawkins
Many of us saw religion as harmless nonsense. Beliefs might lack all supporting evidence but, we thought, if people needed a crutch for consolation, wheres the harm? September 11th changed all that. – Richard Dawkins
Nothing is wrong with peace and love. It is all the more regrettable that so many of Christs followers seem to disagree. – Richard Dawkins
Im not one of those who wants to purge our society of our Christian history. – Richard Dawkins
By all means lets be open-minded, but not so open-minded that our brains drop out. – Richard Dawkins
At least the fundamentalists havent tried to dilute their message. Their faith is exposed for what it is for all to see. – Richard Dawkins
Design can never be an ultimate explanation for anything. It can only be a proximate explanation. A plane or a car is explained by a designer but thats because the designer himself, the engineer, is explained by natural selection. – Richard Dawkins
When I say that human beings are just gene machines, one shouldnt put too much emphasis on the word just. There is a very great deal of complication, and indeed beauty in being a gene machine. – Richard Dawkins
For the first half of geological time our ancestors were bacteria. Most creatures still are bacteria, and each one of our trillions of cells is a colony of bacteria. – Richard Dawkins
We humans are an extremely important manifestation of the replication bomb, because it is through us – through our brains, our symbolic culture and our technology – that the explosion may proceed to the next stage and reverberate through deep space. – Richard Dawkins
Science coverage could be improved by the recognition that science is timeless, and therefore science stories should not need to be pegged to an item in the news. – Richard Dawkins
It has become almost a cliche to remark that nobody boasts of ignorance of literature, but it is socially acceptable to boast ignorance of science and proudly claim incompetence in mathematics. – Richard Dawkins
I am one of those scientists who feels that it is no longer enough just to get on and do science. We have to devote a significant proportion of our time and resources to defending it from deliberate attack from organised ignorance. – Richard Dawkins
The enlightenment is under threat. So is reason. So is truth. So is science, especially in the schools of America. – Richard Dawkins
Of course in science there are things that are open to doubt and things need to be discussed. But among the things that science does know, evolution is about as certain as anything we know. – Richard Dawkins
It would be intolerant if I advocated the banning of religion, but of course I never have. – Richard Dawkins
I am against religion because it teaches us to be satisfied with not understanding the world. – Richard Dawkins
One of the things that is wrong with religion is that it teaches us to be satisfied with answers which are not really answers at all. – Richard Dawkins
