“"That which does not kill me makes me stronger" is not a law of the universe. What it can be, if we so choose, is a resolution.” IfsDoeLawUniverseStrongerResolutionKill Me Author:Julian Baggini
“If philosophy is to be a valuable part of life, we have to appreciate it for its own sake, and not just for what it's done for us lately.” IfsDonePhilosophyAppreciateSakeValuableParts Of Life Author:Julian Baggini
“If we now find ourselves looking down on the cheap and convenient, it is only because we now have better things which are affordable.” IfsConvenientAffordableLooking Down Author:Julian Baggini
“Life is full of what-ifs, many of which could easily have been realities, had just a few things been different.” IfsHas BeensDifferentRealityLife Is Author:Julian Baggini
“Stress means something different if it is the result of rewarding work rather than struggling to keep the family out of debt.” IfsMeanDifferentResultsStruggleStressDebt Author:Julian Baggini
“True respect means taking other people's beliefs seriously and assuming they are adult and intelligent enough to be able to cope with it if you tell them, clearly and civility, why you think they are totally, utterly and disastrously wrong.” PeopleIfsThinkingMeanEnoughAbleBeliefAdultsIntelligentAssumingCivility Author:Julian Baggini
“From time to time, it is worth wandering around the fuzzy border regions of what you do, if only to remind yourself that no human activity is an island.” IfsHumansActivityWanderBordersIslandsRegionsHuman ActivityFuzzyWandering Around Author:Julian Baggini
“I maintain the importance of an absolute prohibition against torture, while acknowledging that even absolute prohibitions can sometimes be broken. If that is a contradiction, it is a contradiction that ethics has to embrace, or else it becomes like glass: hard, clear, but fatally inflexible.” IfsSometimesHardClearBrokenEthicsImportanceAbsolutesEmbraceGlassesTortureContradictionProhibition Author:Julian Baggini
“If I hammer my own thumb while doing some DIY, it's not nice, but it's not the end of the world. To care obsessively about similar levels of discomfort in animals seems to be a case of mistaken moral priorities.” IfsWorldEndsSeemsCareMy OwnAnimalLevelsMoralCasesNicePrioritiesMistakenEnd Of The WorldHammersDiscomfortThumbsDiy Author:Julian Baggini
“If there is an art of living, it is not something that can be taught timelessly. We have lessons to learn from Aristotle et al, for sure, but not if we simply uproot them from their epoch and stamp them into 21st-century soil.” IfsArtCenturyTaughtLessonsSoilAls21st CenturyStampsEpochArt Of Living Author:Julian Baggini
“If we find it hard to believe that winning millions might not be so lucky after all, we just don't have a good enough imagination. If I fantasise about winning the lottery, it doesn't take long before all sorts of worrisome potential consequences occur to me.” IfsBelieveLongHardEnoughMightWinningImaginationMillionsLuckyConsequenceGood EnoughLotterySo LuckyHard To BelieveWinning The Lottery Author:Julian Baggini
“No matter how convinced we are that someone is nasty, evil or just plain criminal, if they have not been convicted of any crime and support views that are upheld and defended by many law-abiding citizens, the only way to tackle them is through democratic debate.” IfsWayMatterLawEvilViewsSupportCrimeCitizensDemocraticConvincedCriminalsDebateNastyAbidingLaw Abiding Citizen Author:Julian Baggini
“People do care where their food, or other goods, comes from, not merely if the price is right. And that means no business can afford to ignore the impacts their buying practices have on producers and on the perceptions and choices of consumers.” PeopleIfsMeanCareChoicesPracticePerceptionImpactProducersConsumersBuyingGoods Author:Julian Baggini
“Even if we can agree that some things are natural and some are not, what follows from this? The answer is: nothing. There is no factual reason to suppose that what is natural is good (or at least better) and what is unnatural is bad (or at least worse).” IfsReasonNaturalAnswersAgreeUnnaturalFactual Author:Julian Baggini
“Society needs both justice and compassion, a head and a heart, if it is to be civilised.” IfsNeedsHeartJusticeCompassionCivilised Author:Julian Baggini
“There is such a thing as fanaticism, it is always wrong, and if you disagree, you're wrong too.” IfsDisagreeFanaticismAlways Wrong Author:Julian Baggini
“If there's one thing that makes me cynical, it's optimists. They are just far too cynical about cynicism. If only they could see that cynics can be happy, constructive, even fun to hang out with, they might learn a thing or two.” IfsTwoMightFunOne ThingHanging OutCynicalCynicismOptimistConstructive Author:Julian Baggini
“If you believe you are right, then you should believe that you can make the case that you're right. This requires you to deal with serious objections properly.” IfsShouldBelieveDealsCasesSeriousIf You BelieveObjections Author:Julian Baggini
“Many people are never happier than when they get the opportunity to complain, while others are deeply unhappy with how things are but just accept the fact. Complaint occurs when we refuse to accept that things are wrong and we do something about it, even if that something is simply articulating our unease.” PeopleIfsFactsOpportunityAcceptingRefuseComplainingUnhappyComplaintsArticulating Author:Julian Baggini
“People should not expect the state to protect them from fraudsters. If we do, we get into the habit of neglecting our own powers of intellectual discernment.” PeopleIfsShouldStatesHabitProtectIntellectualNeglectDiscernment Author:Julian Baggini
“Prayer provides an opportunity to remind oneself of how one should be living, our responsibilities to others, our own failings, and our relative good fortune, should we have it. This is, I think, a pretty worthwhile practice and it is not something you can only do if you believe you are talking to an unseen creator.” IfsThinkingShouldBelieveOpportunityPrayerResponsibilityTalkingPracticeFailingFortuneOneselfCreatorRelativeWorthwhileUnseenGood FortuneIf You BelieveResponsibility To Others Author:Julian Baggini
“The reason to be an atheist is not that it makes us feel better or gives us a more rewarding life. The reason to be an atheist is simply that there is no God and we would prefer to live in full recognition of that, accepting the consequences, even if it makes us less happy.” IfsGivingFeelsReasonAcceptingConsequenceAtheistRecognitionFeel BetterThere Is No God Author:Julian Baggini
“We can take suffering to be an opportunity to learn and to grow. But if we are honest, we should remember that this is making the best of a bad job, and that minimising suffering takes priority over optimising its outcome.” IfsShouldJobsRememberSufferingOpportunityGrowsHonestPrioritiesOutcomesOpportunities To LearnBad Jobs Author:Julian Baggini
“Whatever your religious persuasion, if you believe that the universe is governed by benign forces, at some point you have to explain why there is so much suffering, misfortune and misery in the world.” IfsWorldBelieveSufferingUniverseForceReligiousMiseryMisfortunesPersuasionIf You BelieveBenign Author:Julian Baggini
