25 Christopher Hitchens Quotes On Never Being A Spectator

Though he was born to Christian parents and grew up at a Christian boarding school, writer and critic, Christopher Hitchens was one of the leading antitheists and religious detractors in the contemporary world.

These thought-provoking Christopher Hitchens quotes will make you question everything.

Christopher Hitchens began interesting himself with philosophy, theology, and politics as a college student at Oxford, England.

When he was 21, he immigrated to the United States where he led a flourishing career as a journalist from the 1970s onward.

He became famous for his smart and witty commentary on people like Mother Theresa, Bill Clinton, and the Royal Family.

Hitchens was an outspoken antitheist and earned the Freethinker of the Year Award for his book, God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything.

No matter what your personal beliefs are, it is said that it is wise to hear all perspectives in conversation.

Here is our list of thought-provoking Christopher Hitchens quotes on life, religion, and morality.

Don’t forget to also check out these atheist quotes for asking valuable questions.

Check out our most popular quote article, a list of short inspirational quotes for daily inspiration.

Our inspirational quotes category page has all of our motivational quotes for all the different areas of life.

Christopher Hitchens quotes about religion

1. “The thing about religion is that it’s the first and the worst. The worst because it’s the first.” — Christopher Hitchens

2. “Religion makes intelligent people say and do wacky things, believe and affirm crazy things.” — Christopher Hitchens

3. “Thanks to the telescope and the microscope, religion no longer offers an explanation for anything important.” — Christopher Hitchens

4. “How dismal it is to see present-day Americans yearning for the very orthodoxy that their country was founded to escape.” — Christopher Hitchens

5. “I would say that if you don’t believe that Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ and Messiah and that he rose again from the dead and by His sacrifice, our sins are forgiven, you’re really not in any meaningful sense a Christian.” — Christopher Hitchens

6. “Even if I accepted that Jesus – like almost every other prophet on record – was born of a virgin, I cannot think that this proves the divinity of his father or the truth of his teachings. The same would be true if I accepted that he had been resurrected.” — Christopher Hitchens

7. “It’s a curious thing in American life that the most abject nonsense will be excused if the utterer can claim the sanction of religion. A country that forbids an established church by law is prey to any denomination. The best that can be said is that this is pluralism of a kind.” — Christopher Hitchens

8. “Many religions now come before us with ingratiating smirks and outspread hands, like an unctuous merchant in a bazaar. They offer consolation and solidarity and uplift, competing as they do in a marketplace. But we have a right to remember how barbarically they behaved when they were strong and were making an offer that people could not refuse.” — Christopher Hitchens

Christopher Hitchens quotes about antitheism

9. “Beware the irrational, however seductive.” — Christopher Hitchens

10. “Shun the ‘transcendent’ and all who invite you to subordinate or annihilate yourself.” — Christopher Hitchens

11. “To terrify children with the image of hell, to consider women an inferior creation – is that good for the world?” — Christopher Hitchens

12. “If religious instruction were not allowed until the child had attained the age of reason, we would be living in a quite different world.” — Christopher Hitchens

13. “I’m not even an atheist so much as I am an antitheist; I not only maintain that all religions are versions of the same untruth, but I hold that the influence of churches, and the effect of religious belief, is positively harmful.” — Christopher Hitchens

14. “I suppose that one reason I have always detested religion is its sly tendency to insinuate the idea that the universe is designed with ‘you’ in mind or, even worse, that there is a divine plan into which one fits whether one knows it or not. This kind of modesty is too arrogant for me.” — Christopher Hitchens

15. “Our belief is not a belief. Our principles are not a faith. We do not rely solely upon science and reason, because these are necessary rather than sufficient factors, but we distrust anything that contradicts science or outrages reason. We may differ on many things, but what we respect is free inquiry, openmindedness, and the pursuit of ideas for their own sake.” — Christopher Hitchens

16. “There are, after all, atheists who say they wish the fable were true but are unable to suspend the requisite disbelief, or who have relinquished belief only with regret. To this, I reply: who wishes that there was a permanent, unalterable celestial despotism that subjected us to continual surveillance and could convict us of thought-crime, and who regarded us as its private property even after we died? How happy we ought to be, at the reflection that there exists not a shred of respectable evidence to support such a horrible hypothesis.” — Christopher Hitchens

Christopher Hitchens quotes about life

17. “Never be a spectator of unfairness or stupidity.” — Christopher Hitchens

18. “Distrust compassion; prefer dignity for yourself and others.” — Christopher Hitchens

19. “Do not live for others any more than you would expect others to live for you.” — Christopher Hitchens

20. “Seek out argument and disputation for their own sake; the grave will supply plenty of time for silence.” — Christopher Hitchens

21. “If you’ve led a rather bohemian and rackety life, as I have, it’s precisely the cancer that you’d expect to get. That’s a bit of a yawn.” — Christopher Hitchens

22. “I have a strong constitution which has served me quite well, though if I hadn’t had such a strong one I might have led a more healthy life perhaps.” — Christopher Hitchens

23. “If asked my opinion about virginity, I would say, “I’m opposed to it.” I don’t think it deserves to be celebrated, at any rate. Or at least, if I’m not opposed, I’m very highly skeptical and critical of it.” — Christopher Hitchens

24. “Who are your favorite heroines in real life? The women of Afghanistan, Iraq, and Iran who risk their lives and their beauty to defy the foulness of theocracy. Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Azar Nafisi as their ideal feminine model.” — Christopher Hitchens

25. “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 affection, they draw the conclusion that they are God.” — Christopher Hitchens

What does morality mean to you?

Christopher Hitchens was a prolific writer who, in addition to his works in newspapers and journals, wrote 12 books and co-wrote, edited, or co-edited over 30 books.

He was a world traveler and studied humanity and politics closely.

He was liberal-leaning and in 2009, Forbes magazine listed him as one of the ‘25 Most Influential Liberals in the U.S. Media.’

Though he was a strong outspoken antitheist, Hitchens was not without morality.

He believed strongly in his own moral code and believed morality was a human trait, not a religious consequence.

He believed that all religions taught the same non-truth and that they were harmful, authoritarian, and were in conflict with freedom and scientific discovery.

We hope you enjoyed these Christopher Hitchens quotes and sayings.

Which quote was your favorite?

Let us know in the comments below.