“Suppose that a man leaps out of a burning building—as my dear friend and colleague Jeff Goldberg sat and said to my face over a table at La Tomate in Washington not two years ago—and lands on a bystander in the street below. Now, make the burning building be Europe, and the luckless man underneath … More Quote of the Day

“An ideology that divides the world into those who are worth more and those who are worth less, into superior and inferior beings, does not have to reach the dimensions of the German genocide to be wrong.”–Amira Hass

“OK, I’ll admit that there is a .00000000000000005% chance that God does exist, but if he does, what makes you think he gives a shit about you?”–Albert Ellis

“The entire purpose of our existence is to overcome our negative habits.” —Rabbi Eliyahu, the Gaon of Vilna (1720-1797)

“A wise man proportions his belief to the evidence.”–David Hume

“Alcohol makes other people less tedious, and food less bland, and can help provide what the Greeks called entheos, or the slight buzz of inspiration when reading or writing. The only worthwhile miracle in the New Testament—the transmutation of water into wine during the wedding at Cana—is a tribute to the persistence of Hellenism in … More Quote of the Day

“People got in their head, well, if it’s man-made somehow it’s potentially dangerous, but if it’s natural, it isn’t. That doesn’t really fit with anything we know about toxicology. When we understand how animals are resistant to chemicals, the mechanisms are all independent of whether it’s natural or synthetic. And in fact, when you look … More Quote of the Day

“I could never understand ethnic or national pride. Because to me, pride should be reserved for something you achieve or attain on your own, not something that happens by accident of birth. Being Irish isn’t a skill, it’s a fucking genetic accident. You wouldn’t say ‘I’m proud to be 5’11.’ or ‘I’m proud to have … More Quote of the Day