Miscellany of quotes

“People who believe in God don’t need proof of his existence, and they certainly don’t want evidence to the contrary.” Ricky Gervais


“The fact that belief determines behavior is what makes certain beliefs so dangerous.” Sam Harris


“Never trust people who’ve only got one book.” Billy Connolly


“Say what you like about the Ten Commandments, you must always come back to the pleasant fact that there are only ten of them.” H.L. Mencken


 Neil deGrasse Tyson

On Intelligent Design 

Another practice that isn’t science is embracing ignorance. Yet it’s fundamental to the philosophy of intelligent design: I don’t know what this is…. So it must be the product of a higher intelligence.

Death By Black Hole, p. 361

Science is a philosophy of discovery. Intelligent design is a philosophy of ignorance.

Death By Black Hole, p. 361

This present-day version of God of the gaps goes by a fresh name: intelligent design. …Instead, why not tally all those things whose design…reflect[s] the absence of intelligence?

Death By Black Hole, p. 359

Regarding the intelligent design of the human body:

And what comedian configured the region between our legs—an entertainment complex built around a sewage system?