- "It is far better to grasp the universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring."
- "Who are we? We find that we live on an insignificant planet of a humdrum star lost in a galaxy tucked away in some forgotten corner of a universe in which there are far more galaxies than people."
- "A celibate clergy is an especially good idea, because it tends to suppress any hereditary propensity toward fanaticism."
- "But the fact that some geniuses were laughed at does not imply that all who are laughed at are geniuses. They laughed at Columbus, they laughed at Fulton, they laughed at the Wright Brothers. But they also laughed at Bozo the Clown."
- "We live in a society exquisitely dependent on science and technology, in which hardly anyone knows anything about science and technology."
- "An extraterrestrial being, newly arrived on Earth - scrutinizing what we mainly present to our children in television, radio, movies, newspapers, magazines, the comics, and many books - might easily conclude that we are intent on teaching them murder, rape, cruelty, superstition, credulity, and consumerism. We keep at it, and through constant repetition many of them finally get it."
- "You are worth about 3 dollars worth in chemicals."
- "My view is that if there is no evidence for it, then forget about it. An agnostic is somebody who doesn’t believe in something until there is evidence for it, so I’m agnostic."
- "The cure for a fallacious argument is a better argument, not the suppression of ideas."
- "It is of interest to note that while some dolphins are reported to have learned English - up to fifty words used in correct context - no human being has been reported to have learned dolphinese."
- "The idea that God is an oversized white male with a flowing beard who sits in the sky and tallies the fall of every sparrow is ludicrous. But if by God one means the set of physical laws that govern the universe, then clearly there is such a God. This God is emotionally unsatisfying... it does not make much sense to pray to the law of gravity."
- "Widespread intellectual and moral docility may be convenient for leaders in the short term, but it is suicidal for nations in the long term."
- "We are star stuff."
- "The major religions on the Earth contradict each other left and right. You can't all be correct."
- "You can't convince a believer of anything; for their belief is not based on evidence, it's based on a deep seated need to believe."
- "Other things being equal, it is better to be smart than to be stupid."
Perhaps his most oft-quoted phrase - "We are Star Stuff" - is available on a wider variety of items.
