Advances in medicine and agriculture have saved vastly more lives than have been lost in all the wars in history.

But I try not to think with my gut. If I'm serious about understanding the world, thinking with anything besides my brain, as tempting as that might be, is likely to get me into trouble.

Avoidable human misery is more often caused not so much by stupidity as by ignorance, particularly our ignorance about ourselves.

If we long to believe that the stars rise and set for us, that we are the reason there is a Universe, does science do us a disservice in deflating our conceits?

Science is a way to call the bluff of those who only pretend to knowledge. It is a bulwark against mysticism, against superstition, against religion misapplied to where it has no business being.

It is morally as bad not to care whether a thing is true or not, so long as it makes you feel good, as it is not to care how you got your money as long as you have got it.

For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.

Claims that cannot be tested, assertions immune to disproof are veridically worthless, whatever value the may have in inspiring us or in exciting our sense of wonder.

Liberation from superstition is a necessary but not a sufficient condition for science.

All science asks is to employ the same levels of skepticism we use in buying a used car or in judging the quality of analgesics or beer from their television commercials.

If you want to save your child from polio, you can pray or you can inoculate. ... Choose science.

I only record songs that touch me in some way, ones that I can relate to.

It's the rule of the two F's: I've got to be a fan and I've got to be a friend. We only work with people we have a cool personal relationship with.

America is a conservative country with a small "c" - they want change, but they don't want too much change too fast.

I don't think anything's more rewarding than hearing that you've helped someone gain a love of reading.

For me, I think being a conservative means you are focused on all four key principles: strong defense, lower taxes, less spending, and defending traditional American values.

Go fast enough to get there, but slow enough to see.

Today, it is a reality.

The higher the rope, the more thrilling it is to climb.

Today was about our lack of ability to not produce the ability we've got.

It's more than magnificent; it's mediocre.