Quote of the Day/Week- Christopher Hitchens

On Dec. 15, 2011, the world lost a very vocal person who everyone likely either agreed or disagreed with at one point or another irregardless of where one stands in the political landscape. That was very vocal person was renown essayist/intellectual/pundit/culture critic Christopher Hitchens (1949-2011).

This month, we are quoting famous people who died in 2011. And, we start with a controversial figure as we did with Dr. Jack Kevorkian (1928-2011) on our sister blog "The Daily Vampire."

Hitchens was perhaps most known for being one of the world's leading atheists, and in the process, he outraged Christians, Muslims, Jews and even Hindus and Buddhists alike. Other atheists and many secularists were also uneasy about Hitchens' outright disdain for religion which he articulated in his book "God is not Great" (2007).

Though Hitchens was not only liberal, but even a Marxist in his younger years where he gained prominence for covering the war between Turkey and Greece over the island nation of Cyprus as a young journalist in 1974, he did end up supporting many neo-conservative causes, most notably the War in Iraq.

But, where exactly Hitchens stood politically or philosophically at the time of his death age 62 may still be a source of debate. Interestingly enough, he supported Ralph Nader (2000), George W. Bush (2004) and Barack Obama (2008) in the last three American presidential elections. Many perceive that Hitchens went from left to right, but there is some dispute to that because he was an ironic supporter of British conservative Prime Minster Margaret Thatcher, also known as "The Iron Lady," in many areas, including the UK's highly controversial war with Argentina over the Falkland Islands.

Hitchens would disagree with liberal atheist Bill Maher, whom he was reportedly close friends with, over the War in Iraq, yet he would also argue with the likes of Sean Hannity on the right about the existence of God. He was also critical of both the late Rev. Jerry Falwell and Noam Chomsky. In his lifetime, Hitchens' work took him to 60 countries, including North Korea.

Here is his quote from "God is not Great," these are the views of the late essayist, and they do not necessarily reflect the views of this blog:

"Religion is man-made. Even the men who made it cannot agree on what their prophets or redeemers or gurus actually said or did."

Quote of the Day_ Stieg Larsson

Today's quote of the day comes from the late Stieg Larsson, a Swedish novelist/journalist who is known for the Millenium triology, including this book picture above "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo."

The ailing English contrarian Christopher Hitchens, who everyone has either agreed with or disagreed apparently has a negative essay about Larsson in a recent compilation that he has released. But, those opinions certainly don't reflect our's at all.

Here is the quote from Larsson:

"Crime stories are, as you know, one of the most popular forms of entertainment that exist. If you then try to have something to say...that I have, of course."

Special Quote for the Birthday of Charles Dickens

Since my good friend Tom Angleberger is a fan of Charles Dickens' works, we thought we'd quip the author for his birthday, which is actually on Monday (yes, we know the author of "Oliver Twist" has been dead for a good while now).

There is also a Charles Dickens Museum in London, a city I haven't been to since 1975 when I was five years old. Perhaps, it's time to go back.

And, Christopher Hitchens wrote a scathing piece on Dickens a few months ago in "The Atlantic." I was meaning to show Tom the article, but I thought unlike Hitchens, who has been known irk people on the right and left alike, I like having pals!

Here is the quote from Dickens:

"Charity begins at home, and justice begins next door."