"Try to exclude the possibility of suffering which the order of nature and the existence of free-wills involve, and you find that you have excluded life itself."
"In the midst of a world of light and love, of song and feast and dance, [Lucifer] could find nothing to think of more interesting than his own prestige."
"Talk to me about the truth of religion and I'll listen gladly. Talk to me about the duty of religion and I'll listen submissively. But don't come talking to me about the consolations of religion or I shall suspect that you don't understand."
"The very idea of freedom presupposes some objective moral law which overarches rulers and ruled alike. Subjectivism about values is eternally incompatible with democracy. We and our rulers are of one kind only so long as we are subject to one law. But if there is no Law of Nature, the ethos of any society is the creation of its rulers, educators and conditioners; and every creator stands above and outside his own creation."
I'm not sure if anyone has listed these already, but the two quotes in my sig are 2 of my very favourites in Jack's writings. They seem paradoxical, but both are sooooo true.
"A young man who wishes to remain a sound Atheist cannot be too careful of his reading. There are traps everywhere--`Bibles laid open, millions of surprises,` as Herbert says, `fine nets and stratagems.` God is, if I may say it, very unscrupulous."