Books Quotes by Christopher Hitchens

“Everything I love: literature, irony, humor, the individual, and the defense of free expression.”

— Christopher Hitchens

“Everyone has a little book in them, and in most cases, that is where it should stay.”

— Christopher Hitchens

Literature, not scripture, sustains the mind and - since there is no other metaphor - also the soul.

— Christopher Hitchens

Everybody does have a book in them, but in most cases that's where it should stay.

— Christopher Hitchens

Authors who moan with praise for their editors always seem to reek slightly of the Stockholm syndrome.

— Christopher Hitchens

The diet book is one of those fool-and-money separation devices that seems, like roulette or slot machines, never to lose its power.

— Christopher Hitchens

The Koran shows every sign of being thrown together by human beings, as do all the other holy books.

— Christopher Hitchens

Your ideal authors ought to pull you from the foundering of your previous existence, not smilingly guide you into a friendly and…

— Christopher Hitchens

All the excitements of a prohibited book had their usual effect, one of which, as always, is to expose the fact that…

— Christopher Hitchens

“The belief of an infinity of creative and created Gods, each more eminently requiring an intelligent author of his being than the…

— Christopher Hitchens

“I have tried to write about politics in an allusive manner that draws upon other interests and to approach literature and criticism…

— Christopher Hitchens

I don't think the soul is immortal, or at least not immortal in individuals, but it may be immortal as an aspect…

— Christopher Hitchens

I want to urge you very strongly to travel as much as you can, and to evolve yourself as an internationalist. It's…

— Christopher Hitchens

It's the professional deformation of many writers, and has ruined not a few. (I remember Kingsley Amis, himself no slouch, saying that…

— Christopher Hitchens

Religion is part of the human make-up. It's also part of our cultural and intellectual history. Religion was our first attempt at…

— Christopher Hitchens

Yes, I, well, when I write, as often as I can, I try to write as if I'm talking to people. It…

— Christopher Hitchens

“The most satisfying compliment a reader can pay is to tell me that he or she feels personally addressed. Think of your…

— Christopher Hitchens

“Authors as diverse as Matthew Arnold and George Orwell have given thought to the serious question: what is to be done about…

— Christopher Hitchens

“I once wrote a book about George Orwell, who might have been my hero if I had heroes, and was upset by…

— Christopher Hitchens

“I had not particularly liked the way in which he wrote about literature in Beginnings , and I was always on my…

— Christopher Hitchens

“The belief of an infinity of creative and created Gods, each more eminently requiring an intelligent author of his being than the…

— Christopher Hitchens

The Iranian people were converted to Islam not very much longer after the conquest of the Arab world by Islam, but they…

— Christopher Hitchens

“James Madison, the author of the First Amendment to the Constitution, prohibiting any law respecting an establishment of religion, was also an…

— Christopher Hitchens

No, nothing is sacred. And even if there were to be something called sacred, we mere primates wouldn't be able to decide…

— Christopher Hitchens

“I was hungry when I left Pyongyang. I wasn't hungry just for a bookshop that sold books that weren't about Fat Man…

— Christopher Hitchens

“Every article and review and book that I have ever published has constituted an appeal to the person or persons to whom…

— Christopher Hitchens

“It is strange, a judicious reader is apt to say, upon the perusal of these wonderful historians, that such prodigious events never…

— Christopher Hitchens

“Offered a job as book critic for Time magazine as a young man, Bellow had been interviewed by Chambers and asked to…

— Christopher Hitchens

“A local phrase book, entitled Speak in Korean , has the following handy expressions. In the section 'On the Way to the…

— Christopher Hitchens

“As he defended the book one evening in the early 1980s at the Carnegie Endowment in New York, I knew that some…

— Christopher Hitchens

“I want to give just a slight indication of the influence the book has had. I knew that George Orwell , in…

— Christopher Hitchens

“Our belief is not a belief. Our principles are not a faith. We do not rely solely upon science and reason, because…

— Christopher Hitchens

“It comes as no surprise to find [Norman] Mailer embracing [in the book On God ] a form of Manicheanism, pitting the…

— Christopher Hitchens

“Our most holy religion is founded on faith, not on reason; and it is a sure method of exposing it to put…

— Christopher Hitchens

“Edward genially enough did not dis agree with what I said, but he didn't seem to admit my point, either. I wanted…

— Christopher Hitchens

“He found it impossible to believe that a world so full of evil was the work of an Author combining infinite power…

— Christopher Hitchens

“ground)—“He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her”—has entered our literature and our consciousness. This…

— Christopher Hitchens

A life that partakes even a little of friendship, love, irony, humor, parenthood, literature, and music, and the chance to take part…

— Christopher Hitchens

A good day is one where I can not just read a book, but write a review of it. Maybe today I'll…

— Christopher Hitchens

Part of the function of memory is to forget; the omni-retentive mind will break down and produce at best an idiot savant…

— Christopher Hitchens