Top 10 Christopher Hitchens Quotes
The guy had some real bangers
In Case You Missed It…
Top 12 Viral Graphs Featured in The Nature-Nurture-Nietzsche Newsletter
12 Things Everyone Should Know About the Big Five Personality Traits
This is the latest in my quotes collection series. Check out the full collection here.
The iconoclastic journalist Christopher Hitchens died fourteen years ago today, after a brief but spirited battle with cancer. Hitchens was a famously uneven and exasperating thinker - but when he got it right, he got it right with style. Here are my top ten favorite Hitch quotes.
“That which can be asserted without evidence, can be dismissed without evidence.” [This is now known as Hitchens’ razor, and it’s an extremely useful intellectual tool.]
“To whom do you award the right to decide which speech is harmful or who is the harmful speaker? To whom would you delegate the task of deciding for you what you could read?”
“I learned that very often the most intolerant and narrow-minded people are the ones who congratulate themselves on their tolerance and open-mindedness.”
“Owners of dogs will have noticed that, if you provide them with food and water and shelter and affection, they will think you are god. Whereas owners of cats are compelled to realize that, if you provide them with food and water and shelter and affection, they draw the conclusion that they are gods.”
“If someone tells me that I’ve hurt their feelings, I say, ‘I’m still waiting to hear what your point is.’ I’m very depressed how in this country you can be told, ‘That’s offensive!’ as if those two words constitute an argument.”
“Those who are determined to be ‘offended’ will discover a provocation somewhere. We cannot possibly adjust enough to please the fanatics, and it is degrading to make the attempt.”
“I have one consistency, which is being against the totalitarian – on the left and on the right. The totalitarian, to me, is the enemy; the one that’s absolute, the one that wants control over the inside of your head, not just your actions and your taxes.”
“When you hear people demanding that the Ten Commandments be displayed in courtrooms and schoolrooms, always be sure to ask which set. It works every time.”
“The four most overrated things in the world are champagne, lobster, anal sex and picnics.”
“Everybody does have a book in them, but in most cases that’s where it should stay.”
Bonus Hitch Content: Here’s the speech where Quote #2 comes from:
Follow me on Twitter/X for more psychology, evolution, science, and philosophy.
How You Can Support the Newsletter
This post was free to read for all. If you like what I’m doing with The Nature-Nurture-Nietzsche Newsletter, there are several ways you can support my work.
Like and Restack: Click the buttons at the top or bottom of the page to boost the post’s visibility on Substack.
Share: Send the post to friends or share it on social media.
Upgrade to Paid: A paid subscription gets you:
Full access to all new posts and the archive
Full access to excerpts from my forthcoming book A Billion Years of Sex Differences
Full access to exclusive content such as my “12 Things Everyone Should Know” posts, Linkfests, and other regular features
The ability to post comments and engage with the growing N3 Newsletter community
If you could do any of the above, I’d be hugely grateful. The support of readers like you helps keep this newsletter going and growing.
Thank you!
Steve
Wonderful man
Great post Steve.
Very useful and timely for anyone, like me, who will be with family for the holidays.
I look forward to sharing Hitchens' razor and encouraging my family to silently invoke it and move on when one of us feels compelled to forcefully opine on what we know to be true - not that that would ever happen in my family.
Also, your description of Hitchens as "a famously uneven and exasperating thinker" is good motivation for me to be a more patient listener, as that same description accurately applies to everyone - me included - sitting at the holiday dinner table.