Julian Baggini Quotes

Julian Baggini
Julian Baggini
British Author
Born: 1968
About Good Life People Which You
Related authors: Dorothy L. Sayers George Eliot George Orwell Ian Fleming James Allen Marcus Buckingham Neil Gaiman Virginia Woolf
Right and wrong are not simply matters of evolutionary impacts and what is natural. Julian Baggini
Natural Matters Evolutionary Impacts Simply Wrong Right Right And Wrong
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. Julian Baggini
Me Be Happy Happy Cynical Too Out One Thing See About Only Constructive Could Learn Makes Optimists Hang Just Might Far Cynicism Cynics Fun Even Thing Two
Perhaps the biggest myth about cynicism is that it deepens with age. I think what really happens is that experience painfully rips away layers of scales from our eyes, and so we do indeed become more cynical about many of the things we naively accepted when younger. Julian Baggini
Age Eyes Experience Myth Become Cynical Think Our Indeed Scales About More Layers Perhaps Accepted Biggest Happens Younger Really Painfully Cynicism Many Away Things
The truly humble feel the ground beneath their feet every day and do not only become aware of it when held aloft or pushed down to their knees. Julian Baggini
Day Every Day Humble Become Down Every Beneath Only Pushed Knees Feel Feet Truly Held Ground Aware
Trade has played a vital role in the social evolution of humankind. It allowed people to specialise, which raises both skill levels and efficiency. It brought people from different lands together, co-operating rather than competing over resources. Julian Baggini
Together People Resources Evolution Vital Brought Rather Both Allowed Over Trade Efficiency Than Role Different Which Social Skill Lands Played Humankind Levels Competing Raises
Dover's cliffs call to mind the Roman invasion; the Battle of Britain; our proximity to, yet difference from, mainland Europe; and international trade and exploration, both fair and exploitative. Julian Baggini
Battle Mind Our Invasion Both Fair Call Trade Cliffs Proximity Roman Difference Exploitative Exploration Dover Europe International International Trade Britain
Heathens are unredeemed outcasts from heaven who roam the planet without hope of surviving the deaths of their bodies. They may have values, but they are not secured by any divine source. Yet we embrace this because we think it represents the truth. Julian Baggini
Truth Hope Values Think Secured Embrace Divine Roam Because Without Source Deaths Surviving Any May Heaven Represents Planet Bodies Who
Traditional arguments for the existence of God and contemporary attempts to use fine-tuning and cosmology to back up the case for his existence always strike me as kinds of games, since hardly anyone believes on the basis of these arguments at all. Julian Baggini
God Me Argument Back Strike Back Up Kinds Cosmology Case Attempts Since Contemporary Always Traditional His Existence Up Anyone Use Games Believes Hardly Basis
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. Julian Baggini
Good Prayer You Opportunity Practice Own Believe Living Think Others Our Relative Responsibilities Worthwhile Pretty Oneself Something Only Unseen Remind Failings Talking How Provides Should Fortune Creator Good Fortune
Accepting that the world is full of uncertainty and ambiguity does not and should not stop people from being pretty sure about a lot of things. Julian Baggini
People World Pretty About Uncertainty Sure Accepting Does Lot Ambiguity Stop Being Should Being Pretty Full Things
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. Julian Baggini
Broken Sometimes Ethics Else Prohibition Torture Embrace Absolute Clear Glass Maintain Like Importance Becomes Contradiction Inflexible Acknowledging While Against Hard Even
The very act of questioning whether you exist proves you do, because you must be there for the doubt to be entertained in the first place. Julian Baggini
You First Doubt Entertained Must First Place Because Proves Exist Questioning Very Whether Place Act
I don't believe in God because certain reasons and arguments weigh more heavily in my mind than others, not because I have willfully decided to reject my creator, as many religious people seem to think. I could no more simply decide to believe in God than I could decide to like beetroot, just like that. Julian Baggini
God People Mind Argument Believe Think Others Religious Religious People Seem More Could Weigh Simply Like Because Than Just Decide Decided Certain Reasons Many Creator Reject
No genuine choice is ever simply a matter of the arbitrary exercise of will. Take your choice of lunch today. You can't decide to want anything, but what you want will at least in part be a result of a series of other choices and judgments you've made in your life to date. Julian Baggini
Life Today You Result Matter Will Made Lunch Other Arbitrary Date Take Part Simply Exercise Genuine Judgments Least Want Anything Decide Choice Choices Your Series Ever
You don't choose what you believe moment to moment, but choices you have made do shape what you come to believe. Julian Baggini
You Made Believe Shape Come Choices Choose Moment
The capacity to make free choices is not something we either have entirely or not at all. Rather, choices become freer the more they are the result of our own capacity to reflect on and assess facts and arguments. Julian Baggini
Result Free Argument Become Reflect Own Our Entirely Something Rather More Facts Freer Make Either Capacity Choices Assess
Being able and willing to complain is what makes us rational and moral animals, capable of seeing and articulating the difference between how things are and how they should be. Julian Baggini
Animals Complain Willing Moral Able Seeing Rational Between Makes How Articulating Difference Being Capable Us Should Things
Too often, complaint is not about principled objection on moral grounds, but opportunistic objection on grounds of self-interest. To rectify this, we need to work on mastering the art of complaint. Julian Baggini
Work Art Too Complaint Moral Objection About Rectify Principled Mastering Self-Interest Often Grounds Need
When you do the right thing, but not to any particular person, we instinctively feel that we have earned some sort of pay back. Since no-one will do that for us, we opt for self-service reciprocation. Julian Baggini
You Do The Right Thing Will Pay Earned Back Right Thing Some No-One Feel Instinctively Since Particular Sort Person Any The Right Thing Us Right Thing
True virtue would never liken its rewards to points on a loyalty card, not because it is its own reward, but because it is not something we should practice to accrue future benefits. Julian Baggini
Future Loyalty Benefits Reward Practice Own Virtue Would Something Points Never True Because Rewards Should Card
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. Julian Baggini
Best Suffering Remember Opportunity Job Bad Outcome Take Takes Over Learn Making Priority Should Grow Honest
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. Julian Baggini
People Own State Our Neglecting Habit Protect Powers Discernment Intellectual Expect Get Them Should
The simplest and clearest motivation for taking animal welfare seriously is the recognition that pain is in and of itself a bad thing, and that to inflict significant amounts of it unnecessarily is wrong. Julian Baggini
Animal Welfare Seriously Pain Recognition Unnecessarily Significant Bad Bad Thing Simplest Wrong Taking Clearest Motivation Itself Inflict Thing Amount
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