Steven Weinberg Quotes

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

Good people do good things. Bad people do bad things. But it takes religion to make good people do bad things.

The whole history of man is continuous proof of the maxim that to divest one's methods of ethical concepts means to sink into the depths of utter demoralization.

A society of atheists would immediately invent a religion.

Moral philosophy is nothing else but the science of what is good, and evil, in the conversation, and society of mankind. Good, and evil, are names that signify our appetites, and aversions; which in different tempers, customs, and doctrines of men, are different.

I think we have to give religion its due. I think we have to respect those for whom religion is important, but equally respect those who can achieve good morality without religion.

One of the great tragedies of mankind is that morality has been hijacked by religion.

He that has not religion to govern his morality, is not a dram better than my mastiff-dog; so long as you stroke him, and please him, and do not pinch him, he will play with you as finely as may be, he is a very good moral mastiff; but if you hurt him, he will fly in your face, and tear out your throat.

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.

The foundation of morality should not be made dependent on myth nor tied to any authority lest doubt about the myth or about the legitimacy of the authority imperil the foundation of sound judgment and action.

Let us with Caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion.

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

Religious fundamentalism, even before it eliminates human beings by perpetrating horrendous killings, eliminates God himself, turning him into a mere ideological pretext.

Religion is a by-product of fear. For much of human history it may have been a necessary evil, but why was it more evil than necessary? Isn’t killing people in the name of god a pretty good definition of insanity?

Morality must always precede and accompany religion, and yet religion is much more than morality.

Most men are not wicked... They are sleep-walkers, not evil evildoers.

Every man prefers virtue, when there is not some strong incitement to transgress its precepts.

Only Atheists have morals, the religious have reward and punishment. That's not morality, that's sucking up.

If there is a God, the phrase that must disgust him is - holy war.

The progress of science can be said to be harmful to religion only in so far as it is used for evil aims and not because it claims a priority over religion in its revelation to man.

God is forgiving or we would not still be walking this world. But to be moral is not to need his divine forgiveness, I think.

It is difficult for me to regard anyone who obeys no moral principle in his conduct to be a religious man.

Only religion can lead to such evil.

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.

Human nature is a scoundrel's favorite explanation.