Simon Blackburn

"Chance is as relentless as necessity."

"Why should thinkers mock the simple pieties of the people?"

"The scientific world is to be less threatening than was feared. It is to be made safe for human beings. And the way to make it safe is to reflect on the foundation of knowledge."

"In the end, it is ideas for which people kill each other."

"But it is logically impossible that there could exist an unowned dent, a dent without a surface that is dented."

"Since there is no telling in advance where it may lead, reflection can be seen as dangerous."

"We can grieve over lost powers and memories, or rejoice over gained knowledge and maturity, according to taste."

"In Michigan recently a man won a lawsuit for substantial damages because, he claimed, a rear-end collision in his car had made him a homosexual."

"A god that created the world and then walked off the site leaving it to its own devices is not a fit object of worship, nor a source of moral authority."

"A signpost doesnt in and of itself represent the way to the village. We have to learn how to take it."

"If our best efforts come to nothing often enough, we need consolation, and thoughts of unfolding, infinite destiny, or karma, are sometimes consoling."

"The word "philosophy" carries unfortunate connotations: impractical, unworldly, weird."