--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There is no reason for believing that any…" description: "\"There is no reason for believing that any sort of gods exist, and quite good reasons for believing that they do not exist and never have. It has all be..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ca0/richard-dawkins-115_atheism_there-is-no-reason-for-believing-that-an_1809192.jpg" --- # There is no reason for believing that any sort of gods… ![“There is no reason for believing that any sort of gods exist, and quite good reasons for believing that they do not exist and never have. It has all been a gigantic waste of time and a waste of life. It would be a joke of cosmic proportions if it weren't so tragic.” quote by Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ca0/richard-dawkins-115_atheism_there-is-no-reason-for-believing-that-an_1809192.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ca0/richard-dawkins-115_atheism_there-is-no-reason-for-believing-that-an_1809192.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ca0/richard-dawkins-115_atheism_there-is-no-reason-for-believing-that-an_1809192.jpg) > “There is no reason for believing that any sort of gods exist, and quite good reasons for believing that they do not exist and never have. It has all been a gigantic waste of time and a waste of life. It would be a joke of cosmic proportions if it weren't so tragic.” [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Atheism is justified by lack of evidence for deities and the wastefulness of religious belief, which can be seen as a tragic cosmic joke. **In simple terms:** No evidence for gods; belief is wasteful. Key Takeaway Question beliefs, seek evidence. Themes skepticism atheism rationalism existential humor Mood critical provocative Type philosophical controversial When to use this quote - Scientific education - debates on religion - personal reflection - policy on secularism Key Concepts Epistemology cosmology psychology of belief Questions to Reflect On - What evidence would change your view? - How can we discuss belief respectfully? A Different Perspective May alienate believers, reducing dialogue. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Atheism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/atheism/) [Believe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/believe/) [Believing Exist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/believing-exist-2099407/) [Cosmic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cosmic/) [God exists](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/god-exists/) [Gods](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gods/) [Gods Exist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gods-exist-449731/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Jokes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/jokes/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [No reason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/no-reason/) [Proportion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/proportion/) [Reason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reason/) [Reason Believing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reason-believing-1573303/) [Reasons Believing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reasons-believing-819364/) [Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/) [Tragic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tragic/) [Waste](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/waste/) [Waste of life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/waste-of-life/) [Waste of time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/waste-of-time/) [Wasting time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wasting-time/) [Would be](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/would-be/) ## Related quotes > [“Most witches don’t believe in gods. They know that the gods exist, of course. They even deal with them occasionally. But they don’t believe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/most-witches-don-t-believe-in-gods-they-know-that-the-gods-exist-of/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [It is not for the gods to decide whether or not Man exists - it is for Man to decide whether or not the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-michael-straczynski/it-is-not-for-the-gods-to-decide-whether-or-not-man-exists-it-is-for/) [J. Michael Straczynski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-michael-straczynski/) > [But ask yourself this Eragon: If gods exist, have they been good custodians of alagaesia? Death, sickness, poverty, tyranny and countless other miseries stalk…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-paolini/but-ask-yourself-this-eragon-if-gods-exist-have-they-been-good/) [Christopher Paolini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-paolini/) > [Now departure from the world of men is nothing to fear, if gods exist: because they would not involve you in any harm. If…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/now-departure-from-the-world-of-men-is-nothing-to-fear-if-gods-exist/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [Protagoras did not know if the gods exist, but he held in any case they ought to be worshiped. Philosophy, according to him, had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/protagoras-did-not-know-if-the-gods-exist-but-he-held-in-any-case/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) > [It is expedient that there should be gods, and, since it is expedient, let us believe that gods exist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/it-is-expedient-that-there-should-be-gods-and-since-it-is-expedient/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [On the subject of the nature of the gods, the first question is Do the gods exist or do the not? It is difficult…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-tullius-cicero/on-the-subject-of-the-nature-of-the-gods-the-first-question-is-do-the/) [Marcus Tullius Cicero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-tullius-cicero/) > [Do you believe in God? Perhaps you aren't old enough. The reason old people believe in God is because they've given up believing in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hesketh-pearson/do-you-believe-in-god-perhaps-you-aren-t-old-enough-the-reason-old/) [Hesketh Pearson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hesketh-pearson/) > [Believing in yourself is believing that you exist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-goga/believing-in-yourself-is-believing-that-you-exist/) [Joe Goga](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-goga/) > [If it is to be established that there is a God, then we have to have good grounds for believing that this is indeed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antony-flew/if-it-is-to-be-established-that-there-is-a-god-then-we-have-to-have/) [Antony Flew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antony-flew/) > [“There are no grounds for going beyond a scientific explanation of reality and no sound reason for believing anything but our sense experience. A…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yann-martel/there-are-no-grounds-for-going-beyond-a-scientific-explanation-of/) [Yann Martel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yann-martel/) > [There can't be a practical reason for believing something that is not true.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/there-can-t-be-a-practical-reason-for-believing-something-that-is-not/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) > [“It’s absurd that having started writing rules at fifteen, I should still be writing them at thirty, without having trusted in, or followed a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/it-s-absurd-that-having-started-writing-rules-at-fifteen-i-should/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [But if the gods do not exist at all - then we are lost,' I said. On the contrary - we are found!' said…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/but-if-the-gods-do-not-exist-at-all-then-we-are-lost-i-said-on-the/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [The gods, if they exist, are just the people who happen to live on the other side.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brendan-myers/the-gods-if-they-exist-are-just-the-people-who-happen-to-live-on-the/) [Brendan Myers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brendan-myers/) ## More by Richard Dawkins > [At the deepest level, all living things that have ever been looked at have the same DNA code. And many of the same genes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/at-the-deepest-level-all-living-things-that-have-ever-been-looked-at/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [The word 'mundane' has come to mean 'boring' and 'dull', and it really shouldn't - it should mean the opposite. Because it comes from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/the-word-mundane-has-come-to-mean-boring-and-dull-and-it-really/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [We animals are the most complicated things in the known universe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/we-animals-are-the-most-complicated-things-in-the-known-universe/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [“The fundamentalist Kurt Wise proclaims that all the evidence in the universe would not change his mind. The true scientist, however passionately he may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/the-fundamentalist-kurt-wise-proclaims-that-all-the-evidence-in-the/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [“I have found it an amusing strategy, when asked whether I am an atheist, to point out that the questioner is also an atheist…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/i-have-found-it-an-amusing-strategy-when-asked-whether-i-am-an/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [Religions do make claims about the universe--the same kinds of claims that scientists make, except they're usually false.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/religions-do-make-claims-about-the-universe-the-same-kinds-of-claims/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [“much of the Bible is not systematically evil but just plain weird, as you would expect of a chaotically cobbled-together anthology of disjointed documents,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/much-of-the-bible-is-not-systematically-evil-but-just-plain-weird-as/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [The recurrent laryngeal nerve - which runs from the head to the voice box - goes all the way down into the chest, loops…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/the-recurrent-laryngeal-nerve-which-runs-from-the-head-to-the-voice/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [The Roman Catholic Church is an institution for whose gains the phrase "ill-gotten" might have been specially invented. And of all its money-making rip-offs,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/the-roman-catholic-church-is-an-institution-for-whose-gains-the/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [Let us understand what our own selfish genes are up to because we may then at least have the chance to upset their designs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/let-us-understand-what-our-own-selfish-genes-are-up-to-because-we-may/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/what-s-going-to-happen-when-i-die-i-may-be-buried-or-i-may-be/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [Or why it is acceptable to train fast runners and high jumpers but not to breed them. I can think of some answers, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/or-why-it-is-acceptable-to-train-fast-runners-and-high-jumpers-but/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [We have seen that living things are too improbable and too beautifully 'designed' to have come into existence by chance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/we-have-seen-that-living-things-are-too-improbable-and-too/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [“We will not go quietly away. If in the future that requires violence”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/we-will-not-go-quietly-away-if-in-the-future-that-requires-violence/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [It's a truly disgusting idea that the creator of the universe - capable of inventing the laws of physics and designing the evolutionary process…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/it-s-a-truly-disgusting-idea-that-the-creator-of-the-universe-capable/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) [Explore all 1,239 Richard Dawkins quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) ## More Atheism quotes > [From Augustine down, theologians have tried to compel people to accept their special interpretation of the Scripture, and the tortures of the inquisition, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matilda-joslyn-gage/from-augustine-down-theologians-have-tried-to-compel-people-to-accept/) [Matilda Joslyn Gage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matilda-joslyn-gage/) > [“What I have a problem with is not so much religion or god, but faith. When you say you believe something in your heart…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penn-jillette/what-i-have-a-problem-with-is-not-so-much-religion-or-god-but-faith/) [Penn Jillette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penn-jillette/) > [Philosopher is a dictator who modifies accepted standards with his thoughts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ilkin-santak/philosopher-is-a-dictator-who-modifies-accepted-standards-with-his/) [Ilkin Santak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ilkin-santak/) > [No philosophy, no religion, has ever brought so glad a message to the world as this good news of Atheism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-besant/no-philosophy-no-religion-has-ever-brought-so-glad-a-message-to-the/) [Annie Besant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-besant/) > [Let me tell you that atheism has never painted a masterpiece. Atheism has never dispelled fear. Atheism has never healed a disease; faith in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-hagee/let-me-tell-you-that-atheism-has-never-painted-a-masterpiece-atheism/) [John Hagee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-hagee/) > [Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/believing-with-you-that-religion-is-a-matter-which-lies-solely/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [The inner defenses are unconscious. They consist of a kind of magic aura which the mind builds around cherished belief. Arguments which penetrate into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/the-inner-defenses-are-unconscious-they-consist-of-a-kind-of-magic/) [Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) > [God speaks through me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-w-bush/god-speaks-through-me/) [George W. Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-w-bush/) > [A knowledge of the existence of something we cannot penetrate, of the manifestations of the profoundest reason and the most radiant beauty - it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/a-knowledge-of-the-existence-of-something-we-cannot-penetrate-of-the/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [You cannot ... transmute some incoherent mixture of words into sense merely by introducing the three-letter word "God" to be its grammatical subject.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antony-flew/you-cannot-transmute-some-incoherent-mixture-of-words-into-sense/) [Antony Flew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antony-flew/) > [Many humanists have argued that happiness involves a combination of hedonism and creative moral development; that an exuberant life fuses excellence and enjoyment, meaning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-kurtz/many-humanists-have-argued-that-happiness-involves-a-combination-of/) [Paul Kurtz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-kurtz/) > [If, with all the time at my disposal, with all the wealth of the resources of this vast universe, to do with as I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-green-ingersoll/if-with-all-the-time-at-my-disposal-with-all-the-wealth-of-the/) [Robert Green Ingersoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-green-ingersoll/) > [Do you think that was kind? Do you think it was godlike? What would you think of a physician, if a woman came to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-h-gardener/do-you-think-that-was-kind-do-you-think-it-was-godlike-what-would-you/) [Helen H. Gardener](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-h-gardener/) > [Science can destroy religion by ignoring it as well as by disproving its tenets. No one ever demonstrated, so far as I am aware,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-c-clarke/science-can-destroy-religion-by-ignoring-it-as-well-as-by-disproving/) [Arthur C. Clarke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-c-clarke/) > [Honest investigation is utterly impossible within the pale of any church, for the reason, that if you think the church is right you will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-green-ingersoll/honest-investigation-is-utterly-impossible-within-the-pale-of-any/) [Robert Green Ingersoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-green-ingersoll/) [Browse all 4,769 Atheism quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/atheism/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "There is no reason for believing that any sort of gods exist, and quite good reasons for believing that they do not exist and never have. It has all been a gigantic waste of time and a waste of life. 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