A well-understood and testable hypothesis like sexual selection surely trumps an untestable appeal to the inscrutable caprices of a creator.

If the history of science shows us anything, it is that we get nowhere by labeling our ignorance “God”.

Faith is a padlock of the mind, and few keys can open it.

If the history of science teaches us anything, it is that what conquers our ignorance is research, not giving up and attributing our ignorance to the miraculous work of a creator.

Religion is based on dogma and belief, whereas science is based on doubt and questioning.

We don't have faith in reason; we use reason because, unlike revelation, it produces results and understanding. Even discussing why we should use reason employs reason!

In religion, faith is a virtue. In science, faith is a vice.

Damn, but science is just a constant feed of cool new facts and theories. Theology doesn't come close.

Can a geology teacher blithely tell his students that the earth is flat, or a European history professor that the Holocaust didn't happen? That's not academic freedom, but dereliction of duty.

Evolution tells us where we came from, not where we can go.

We now have many of the answers that once eluded Darwin, thanks to two developments that he could not have imagined: continental drift and molecular taxonomy.

It's weak and despicable to go on wanting things and not trying to get them.

Continents may break up, continents may emerge, but the human race is immortal in its origin and in its growth, and there is nothing to be afraid of, even if the foundations of the earth be moved.

Man cannot live on the human plane, he must be either above or below it.

I search and can't find myself. I belong in chrysanthemum time, sharp in calla lily elongations. God made my soul into an ornamental thing.

An audience's or individual's reaction to my work is simply their reaction.

In NASCAR, you don't have to be as physically strong as in some other forms of racing. You've just got to be able to endure the heat and endurance of it.

Sometimes I can't read my own handwriting. That's a problem!

I like the idea of going to one of those retreats where you don't speak - like, silence for five days.

The tiny madman in his padded cell.