Julian Baggini Quotes
I don't believe in God because certain reasons and arguments weigh more heavily in my mind than others, not because I have willfully decided to reject my creator, as many religious people seem to think. I could no more simply decide to believe in God than I could decide to like beetroot, just like that.
Baggini, Julian. Atheism: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press, 2003.
This view of intelligence is what makes many deeply religious people suspicious of intellectuals. However, while higher intelligence and educational attainment are somewhat correlated with atheism, many of the most brilliant people are religious—for example, Albert Einstein. Atheists include many who are not well educated or brilliant.
In an interview with a Norwegian magazine, the Eco stated that he had based his novel, “Foucault’s Pendulum”, on Chesterton’s epigram: “When men stop believing in God, they don’t believe in nothing, they believe in anything.” See related quote.
Julian Baggini (born 1968) is a British philosopher, journalist and the author of over 20 books about philosophy written for a general audience. He is co-founder of The Philosophers' Magazine and has written for numerous international newspapers and magazines. In addition to writing on the subject of philosophy he has also written books on atheism, secularism and the nature of national identity. He is a patron of Humanists UK.
