Christopher Hitchen's has finally succumbed to his battle with cancer aged 62.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-16212418
A few quotes to raise a smile (hopefully).
“Faith is the surrender of the mind; it's the surrender of reason, it's the surrender of the only thing that makes us different from other mammals. It's our need to believe, and to surrender our skepticism and our reason, our yearning to discard that and put all our trust or faith in someone or something, that is the sinister thing to me. Of all the supposed virtues, faith must be the most overrated.”
“Religion is man-made. Even the men who made it cannot agree on what their prophets or redeemers or gurus actually said or did.”
"The Bible may, indeed does, contain a warrant for trafficking in humans, for ethnic cleansing, for slavery, for bride-price, and for indiscriminate massacre, but we are not bound by any of it because it was put together by crude, uncultured human mammals."
“Islam makes very large claims for itself. In its art, there is a prejudice against representing the human form at all. The prohibition on picturing the prophet – who was only another male mammal – is apparently absolute. So is the prohibition on pork or alcohol or, in some Muslim societies, music or dancing. Very well then, let a good Muslim abstain rigorously from all these. But if he claims the right to make me abstain as well, he offers the clearest possible warning and proof of an aggressive intent.”
“Thus, though I dislike to differ with such a great man, Voltaire was simply ludicrous when he said that if god did not exist it would be necessary to invent him. The human invention of god is the problem to begin with.”
"[Mother Teresa] was not a friend of the poor. She was a friend of poverty. She said that suffering was a gift from God. She spent her life opposing the only known cure for poverty, which is the empowerment of women and the emancipation of them from a livestock version of compulsory reproduction."
“That which can be asserted without evidence, can be dismissed without evidence.”
Originally posted by Proper Knobnever liked the dude, but death of a fellow human is almost always sad.
Christopher Hitchen's has finally succumbed to his battle with cancer aged 62.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-16212418
A few quotes to raise a smile (hopefully).
“Faith is the surrender of the mind; it's the surrender of reason, it's the surrender of the only thing that makes us different from other mammals. It's our need to believe, and ...[text shortened]... That which can be asserted without evidence, can be dismissed without evidence.”
so, rip.
Originally posted by Proper Knobi guess he'll be cancelling his subscription to the resurrection?
Christopher Hitchen's has finally succumbed to his battle with cancer aged 62.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-16212418
A few quotes to raise a smile (hopefully).
“Faith is the surrender of the mind; it's the surrender of reason, it's the surrender of the only thing that makes us different from other mammals. It's our need to believe, and ...[text shortened]... That which can be asserted without evidence, can be dismissed without evidence.”
Originally posted by wolfgang59Definitely a great quote. I think it ranks up there with Sagan's:
“That which can be asserted without evidence, can be dismissed without evidence.”
10/10
Simply put but powerful!
"Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence"
Hitchens was a great writer who was impressive in how he stood up for what he believed in. I disagreed with a number of things with him, but agreed with plenty. No matter what, the world lost a valuable voice.
From the Hitch.
1. “Everybody does have a book in them, but in most cases that’s where it should stay.”
2. “Human decency is not derived from religion. It precedes it.”
3. “The governor of Texas, who, when asked if the Bible should also be taught in Spanish, replied that ‘if English was good enough for Jesus, then it’s good enough for me.”
4. “Literature, not scripture, sustains the mind and — since there is no other metaphor — also the soul.”
5. “At the evident risk of seeming ridiculous, I want to begin by saying that I have tried for much of my life to write as if I was composing my sentences to be read posthumously. I hope this isn’t too melodramatic or self-centred a way of saying that I attempt to write as if I did not care what reviewers said, what peers thought, or what prevailing opinions may be.”