Coming out as an atheist can cost an academic his or her job in some parts of America, and many choose to keep quiet about their atheism.

I'm sure Obama is an atheist; I'm sure Kennedy was an atheist, but I doubt if Pope Frank is.

I've always been very suspicious of the left-right dimension in politics.

When a company seeks a new chief executive officer, or a university a new vice-chancellor, enormous trouble is taken to find the best person.

People like to trace their ancestry.

What's going to happen when I die? I may be buried, or I may be cremated, I may give my body to science. I haven't decided yet.

The earliest books in the New Testament to be written were the Epistles, not the Gospels. It's almost as though Saint Paul and others who wrote the Epistles weren't that interested in whether Jesus was real.

I would like people to appreciate science in the same way they appreciate the arts.

'What is the purpose of the universe?' is a silly question.

The supernatural is ubiquitous in children's entertainment, from Grimm and Hans Andersen to Disney and 'Harry Potter.'

The world is well supplied with spiders whose male ancestors died after mating. The world is bereft of spiders whose would-be ancestors never mated in the first place.

The history of science has been one long series of violent brainstorms, as successive generations have come to terms with increasing levels of queerness in the universe.

At least the fundamentalists haven't tried to dilute their message. Their faith is exposed for what it is for all to see.

It's very likely that most mammals have consciousness, and probably birds, too.

I have often said that I am a passionate Darwinian when it comes to explaining why we exist.

People say I'm shrill and strident.

I did not end up as broadly educated as my Cambridge colleagues, but I graduated probably better equipped to write a book on my chosen subject.

It is immoral to brand children with religion. 'This is a Catholic child.' 'That is a Muslim child.' I want everyone to flinch when they hear such a phrase, just as they would if they heard, 'That is a Marxist child.'

I want very much to communicate science to as wide an audience as possible, but not at a cost of dumbing down, and not at a cost in getting things right.

Why did humans lose their body hair? Why did they start walking on their hind legs? Why did they develop big brains? I think that the answer to all three questions is sexual selection.

As a liberal, I would hesitate to propose a blanket ban on any style of dress because of the implications for individual liberty and freedom of choice.

I think I would abolish schools which systematically inculcate sectarian beliefs.

You can't even begin to understand biology, you can't understand life, unless you understand what it's all there for, how it arose - and that means evolution.

There's clearly a lot of Ludditism, and you see it in all the hysteria about every scientific story.