Bill Maher Quotes

In the ordinary moral universe, the good will do the best they can, the worst will do the worst they can, but if you want to make good people do wicked things, you’ll need religion.

It is interesting to ask whether there's any general reason why being religious might make you do nice things or indeed nasty things. It's possible that people do nice things because they're religious. One reason might be they're hoping for a reward in Heaven, which is not a very noble reason.

In fact, because people are religious, they think they can do bad things.

With or without religion, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion.

There can be no justification for choosing any part of that which one knows to be evil.

The problem is that religion tends to give people bad reasons to be good.

Such are the heights of wickedness to which men are driven by religion.

Do I think faith will be an important part of being a good president? Yes, I do.

You can compromise between good, better, and best, and you can compromise between bad and worse and terrible. But you can't compromise between good and evil. And now people look at the other side as a completely different kind of animal and say, 'They are taking the country down the road to purgatory.' It's complete intolerance.

The greatest tragedy in mankind's entire history may be the hijacking of morality by religion

We should not be simply fighting evil in the name of good, but struggling against the certainties of people who claim always to know where good and evil are to be found.

I do not permit affection or lack thereof to influence my actions. There is good, and there is evil. The good must be protected, the evil eradicated. I have shown you the triumph of evil as a caution.

Biblical references about knowledge and good and evil often get tangled up.

John Adams, second president of the United States, wrote that our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. George Washington warned us never to indulge the supposition 'that morality can be maintained without religion.'

For good people to do evil things, it takes religion.

A lie doesn't become truth, wrong doesn't become right and evil doesn't become good, just because it's accepted by a majority.

To do evil for good is human corruption; to do good for good is civil retribution; but to do good for evil is Christian perfection. Though this be not the grace of nature, it is the nature of grace.

In any compromise between food and poison, it is only death that can win. In any compromise between good and evil, it is only evil that can profit.

I've always identified [myself] with the warrior and good over evil, and you don't negotiate for good over evil, if you want peace and love, kill people that deny you that.

There can be no question of holding forth on ethics. I have seen people behave badly with great morality and I note every day that integrity has no need of rules

The doing evil to avoid an evil cannot be good.

I'd be more willing to accept religion, even if I didn't believe it, if I thought it made people nicer to each other but I don't think it does.

In the name of religion many great and fine deeds have been performed. In the name of religion also, thousands and millions have been killed, and every possible crime has been committed.

Evil is not interesting. What is it, chopping off someone's head? We used to do that as kids, you know, you tear up paper dolls and stuff. I know everyone's done it in the history of the world, but maybe everybody was dumb and they were just looking for something interesting to do. What's really interesting and hard is being good.

Oh, no. It costs a lot more than your life. To murder innocent people?" says Peeta. "It costs everything you are.