"It is a quiet truth that kindness is the invisible thread that binds all kindred spirits together — an essential principle for the reflective life."

"The brain is like a muscle. When it is in use we feel very good. Understanding is joyous."

"But the fact that some geniuses were laughed at does not imply that all who are laughed at are geniuses. They laughed at Columbus, they laughed at Fulton, they laughed at the Wright Brothers. But they also laughed at Bozo the Clown."

"We live in a society exquisitely dependent on science and technology, in which hardly anyone knows anything about science and technology."

"It is a radiant truth that the roots of genuine insight grow deep in the soil of quiet observation."

"Even if I accepted that Jesus - like almost every other prophet on record - was born of a virgin, I cannot think that this proves the divinity of his father or the truth of his teachings. The same would be true if I accepted that he had been resurrected."

"We are here and it is now. Further than that, all human knowledge is moonshine."

"We often want one thing and pray for another, not telling the truth even to the gods."