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Portrait of Christopher Hitchens

Christopher Hitchens

(1949–2011) Writer United States

1241 quotes in 4457 categories

Christopher Hitchens warns that a true philosophy cannot tolerate glaring contradictions. He criticizes religious institutions that hide terrible sins, and he points out that even secular circles can be irrational, like sending holiday cards without thought. He stresses that rational thinking is different from merely rejecting rationalization.

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Christopher Hitchens was a writer from the United States, best known for God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything.

Quick Facts About Christopher Hitchens

Born: April 13, 1949
Died: December 15, 2011
Nationality: United States
Profession: Writer
Notable works: God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything
Known for: Hitchens' razor, God Is Not Great, The Missionary Position: Mother Teresa in Theory and Practice, Hitch-22, Letters to a Young Contrarian
Spouse: Eleni Meleagrou

About Christopher Hitchens

He introduced the epistemological razor, “what can be asserted without evidence can also be dismissed without evidence,” a principle often cited in philosophy and law.

Awards & Honors

Lannan Literary Awards PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay Richard Dawkins Award LennonOno Grant for Peace Emperor Has No Clothes Award Great Immigrants Award

Quotes by Christopher Hitchens

“Religion poisons everything”

Christopher Hitchens

Athiesm

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Obscenity comes from grime.

Christopher Hitchens

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I wanted to write.

Christopher Hitchens

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Jesus is Santa Claus for Adults

Christopher Hitchens

Adults

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I'm not a sheep.

Christopher Hitchens

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All of life is a wager

Christopher Hitchens

Life

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I like surprises.

Christopher Hitchens

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Cheap booze is a false economy.

Christopher Hitchens

Alcohol

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“Brave? Hah! Save it for a fight you can't run away from.”

Christopher Hitchens

Brave

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I felt Clinton represented the worst of the 1960s.

Christopher Hitchens

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Of course, I do everything for money.

Christopher Hitchens

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“If you can't hear, I hope it's not my fault.”

Christopher Hitchens

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I've proved to be as difficult to convert as I am to hypnotize.

Christopher Hitchens

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I have decided to take whatever my disease can throw at me,

Christopher Hitchens

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A Great voice has fallen silent. A great heart has stopped.

Christopher Hitchens

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“Wit, after all, is the unfailing symptom of intelligence.”

Christopher Hitchens

Humor

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“My looks by then had in any case declined to the point where only women would go to bed with me.”

Christopher Hitchens

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Intellectuals never sound more foolish than when posing as the last civilised man.

Christopher Hitchens

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The essence of the independent mind lies not in what it thinks, but in how it thinks.

Christopher Hitchens

Critical thinking

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I'm afraid the SS's relationship with the Catholic Church is something the Church still has to deal with and does not deny.

Christopher Hitchens

Catholic

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I don't want them (religious followers) trying to inflict their belief on me.

Christopher Hitchens

Atheism

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Of course we have free will because we have no choice but to have it.

Christopher Hitchens

Choice

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Religion has been an enormous multiplier of tribal suspicion and hatred.

Christopher Hitchens

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Human beings are pattern-seeking animals who will prefer even a bad theory or a conspiracy theory to no theory at all.

Christopher Hitchens

Animal

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I learned that very often the most intolerant and narrow-minded people are the ones who congratulate themselves on their tolerance and open-mindedness.

Christopher Hitchens

Intolerant

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I have been taunting the Reaper into taking a free scythe in my direction and have now succumbed to something so predictable…

Christopher Hitchens

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We have millions and millions of North Korean children totally stunted in mind and body and will have to be dealt with…

Christopher Hitchens

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“One of the most celebrated victims of this theocratic policy was Shelley (1792-1811) who was expelled from University College, Oxford, for writing…

Christopher Hitchens

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George Bush made a mistake when he referred to the Saddam Hussein regime as 'evil.' Every liberal and leftist knows how to…

Christopher Hitchens

Absolutism

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it is interesting to find that people of faith now seek defensively to say that they are no worse than fascists or…

Christopher Hitchens

Faith

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People until I was 60 would always say they thought I looked younger, which I think, without flattering myself, I did, but…

Christopher Hitchens

Age

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If you say "the economy," you show you're stupid. There's no such thing as the economy. There is not a unity between…

Christopher Hitchens

Economics

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“So this is where all the vapid talk about the 'soul' of the universe is actually headed. Once the hard-won principles of…

Christopher Hitchens

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Religion of every kind involves the promise that the misery and futility of existence can be overcome or even transfigured. One might…

Christopher Hitchens

Assurance

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“It isn’t so long since a test of Anglican orthodoxy was applied to anyone seeking to study or teach at Oxford and…

Christopher Hitchens

Atheism

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“It is notorious that the news of the Emancipation Proclamation was kept from the people of Texas and not celebrated until 'Juneteenth'.…

Christopher Hitchens

Atheism

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“I once spoke to someone who had survived the genocide in Rwanda, and she said to me that there was now nobody…

Christopher Hitchens

Angst

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“One of the juiciest pleasures of life is to be able to salute and embrace, as elected leaders and honored representatives, people…

Christopher Hitchens

Dissent

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“The friends of Galtieri, Saddam Hussein, Mullah Omar and Milosevic make unconvincing defenders of humanitarian values, and it can be seen that…

Christopher Hitchens

Anti war

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If we have free will, by definition we cannot be granted it. We can't be given it. My [-audio-recording-distorted-] paradox states that…

Christopher Hitchens

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Christopher Hitchens by topic

Religion (217) People (90) Life (86) Atheism (81) Thinking (78) Time (76) United states (75) Politics (73) Israel (68) Faith (56) Atheist (55) War (54) Books (49) Writing (40) Humans (38) History (38) Love (35)