The point is that most of what we currently hold sacred is not sacred for any reason other than that it was thought sacred yesterday.

The problem with religion, because it's been sheltered from criticism, is that it allows people to believe en masse what only idiots or lunatics could believe in isolation.

Either God can do nothing to stop catastrophes like this, or he doesn't care to, or he doesn't exist. God is either impotent, evil, or imaginary. Take your pick, and choose wisely.

A puppet is free as long as he loves his strings.

We have a choice. We have two options as human beings. We have a choice between conversation and war. That's it. Conversation and violence. And faith is a conversation stopper.

How we pay attention to the present moment...determin es the character of our experience and...the quality of our lives.

You can do what you decide to do — but you cannot decide what you will decide to do.

How can we be “free” as conscious agents if everything that we consciously intend is caused by events in our brain that we do not intend and of which we are entirely unaware? We can’t.

You don't get anything worth getting, by pretending to know things you don't know.

Jesus Christ—who, as it turns out, was born of a virgin, cheated death, and rose bodily into the heavens—can now be eaten in the form of a cracker

The position of the Muslim community in the face of all provocations seems to be: Islam is a religion of peace, and if you say that it isn't, we will kill you.

The misfortunes hardest to bear are these which never came.

For those who do not wish to step away from consensus, the creative is useless at best; at worst, it is dangerous.

Back to basics Rock & Roll capturing the beauty and simplicity of punk

I can understand the dilemma of growing up in a bubble, and then not knowing what to do when unemployment beckons and reality bursts in.

In private some critics have come up to me afterwards and told me they honestly enjoyed the movie. Then they'd tell me that they're still going to have to write it up negatively.

Fear is the raw material from which courage is manufactured. Without it, we wouldn't even know what it means to be brave.

You can love a person deeply and sincerely whom you do not like. You can like a person passionately whom you do not love.

Daniel, my big brother, is eight years older. I'm lucky he didn't mind hanging out with his little sister and my younger brother.

The years thunder by, The dreams of youth grow dim where they lie caked in dust on the shelves of patience. Before we know it, the tomb is sealed.

Young anglers love new rivers the way they love the rest of their lives. Time does not seem to be of the essence and somewhere in the system is what they are looking for.