[E]xceptional claims demand exceptional evidence.
Interpretation
Extraordinary assertions require strong proof to be accepted as true.
This quote emphasizes the importance of providing substantial evidence when making remarkable or extraordinary claims. Hitchens suggests that the strength of the evidence should match the boldness of the assertion, implying that skepticism is a critical component of rational discourse.
In practice
This quote could be used in a debate about scientific theories versus pseudoscience to highlight the need for evidence.
In a public dialogue with Salman in London he [Edward Said] had once described the Palestinian plight as one where his people, expelled and dispossessed by Jewish victors, were in the unique historical position of being 'the victims of the victims': there was something quasi-Christian, I thought, in the apparent humility of that statement.
What can be asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence.
Never ask while you are doing it if what you are doing is fun. Don't introduce even your most reliably witty acquaintance as someone who will set the table on a roar.
The worst days are when you feel foggy in the head - chemo-brain they call it. It's awful because you feel boring. As well as bored. And stupid. And resigned.
Let me tell you something: for hundreds of thousands of years, this kind of discussion would have been impossible to have, or those like us would have been having it at the risk of our lives. Religion now comes to us in this smiley-face, ingratiating way β because itβs had to give so much more ground and because we know so much more. But youβve got no right to forget the way it behaved when it was strong, and when it really did believe that it had God on its side.
I boldly assert, in fact I think I know, that a lot of friendships and connections absolutely depend upon a sort of shared language, or slang. Not necessarily designed to exclude others, this can establish a certain comity and, even after a long absence, re-establish it in a second.
It is worse still to be ignorant of your ignorance.
Putting is like wisdom - partly a natural gift and partly the accumulation of experience.
Never attribute to malevolence what is merely due to incompetence
When you see a mistake in somebody else, try to find if you are making the same mistake.
Listen closely to your invisible thoughts. What do you hear? What are your words implying? That is their potency. What do you want? Name it and rearrange the structure of your mind to imply you no longer desire it, because you already have it!
The power for creating a better future is contained in the present moment: You create a good future by creating a good present.
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