Michael Shermer

“We are pattern-seeking, storytelling animals, and we are quite adept at telling stories about patterns, whether they exist or not.”

“Smart people believe weird things because they are skilled at defending beliefs they arrived at for non-smart reasons.”

“The Believing Brain is a belief engine. On the basis of limited data, it jumps to conclusions.”

“Morality is a survival instinct.”

“For every folly of religion, there is a folly of nihilism.”

“It is the dull man who is always sure, and the sure man who is always dull.”

“Belief is the natural state of things. It is the default option. We just believe. We believe all sorts of things.”

“Skepticism is the default position of a scientist: one must be skeptical of both new and old claims.”

“Science is a way of thinking much more than it is a body of knowledge.”

“The goal of skepticism is not to debunk, but to seek the truth.”

“When we are wrong, we can change our minds. The universe can't.”

“Evolution is a fact. It is a fact that we are cousins of monkeys and apes.”

“Faith is the belief in the absence of evidence.”

“The plural of anecdote is not data.”

“The universe is rational and governed by natural laws.”

“Science is not the affirmation of a set of beliefs but a process of inquiry.”