Atheism Quote by Christopher Hitchens
““We may differ on many things, but what we respect is free inquiry, openmindedness, and the pursuit of ideas for their own sake. We do not hold our convictions dogmatically: the disagreement between Professor Stephen Jay Gould and Professor Richard Dawkins, concerning “punctuated evolution” and the unfilled gaps in post- Darwinian theory, is quite wide as well as quite deep, but we shall resolve it by evidence and reasoning and not by mutual excommunication.””
About This Quote
Source Speech: Interview, 2005, Christopher Hitchens
Advocates for open inquiry and evidence‑based debate, rejecting dogmatic certainty even among experts.
In simple terms: Value free inquiry and evidence over dogma.
Key Takeaway
Embrace respectful, evidence‑driven discussion.
Themes
open inquiry
critical thinking
scientific debate
intellectual humility
Mood
thoughtful
analytical
Type
philosophical
inspirational
When to use this quote
- academic conferences
- online forums
- policy discussions
- educational curricula
Key Concepts
philosophy
science
rationalism
Questions to Reflect On
- How do you handle disagreements when evidence is ambiguous?
- What role should respect play in scientific debate?
A Different Perspective
Evidence may be limited or contested, leading to unresolved disputes.
![“I just would like to say that over more than a quarter-century as a scientist and a believer, I find absolutely nothing in conflict between agreeing with Richard [Dawkins] in practically all of his conclusions about the natural world, and also saying that I am still able to accept and embrace the…” quote by Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/177/richard-dawkins-115_able_i-just-would-like-to-say-that-over-more_2074968.jpg)
![“I don't see that [Richard] Dawkins' basic account of evolution is incompatible with God's having designed it.” quote by Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/6d4/richard-dawkins-115_accounts_i-don-t-see-that-richard-dawkins-basic-a_1945558.jpg)
![“Paleontologists [fossil experts] have paid an exorbitant price for Darwin's argument. We fancy ourselves as the only true students of life's history, yet to preserve our favored account of evolution by natural selection we view our data as so bad that we almost never see the very process we…” quote by Stephen Jay Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/345/stephen-jay-gould-885_accounts_paleontologists-fossil-experts-have-paid_1303150.jpg)
![“It's [Los Angeles] mostly full of nonsense and delusion and egomania. They think they'll be young and beautiful forever, even though most of them aren't even young and beautiful now.” quote by Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/a86/christopher-hitchens-117_beautiful_it-s-los-angeles-mostly-full-of-nonsense_10462.jpg)
![“[Religion] attacks us in our deepest integrity - the core of our self-respect. Religion says that we would not know right from wrong, we would not know an evil, wicked act from a decent human act without divine permission, without divine authority or without, even worse, either the fear of a…” quote by Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/ab6/christopher-hitchens-117_action_religion-attacks-us-in-our-deepest-integ_23299.jpg)
