Greenblatt - Highlights from Chapter 8.

• Everything is made of invisible particles.
• "... the ceaseless mutation of forms composed of indestructible substances–'the greatest thought that mankind has ever hit upon.'"
• The elementary particles are infinite in number but limited in shape and size.
• All particles are in motion in an infinite void.
• The universe has no creator or designer.
• Everything comes into being as a result of a swerve.
• "...declinatio, inclinatio, or clinamen–is only the most minimal of motions, nec plus quam minimum."
• "...declination, inclination, or slope–is only the most minimal of motions, no more than the least." (Google Translate)
• The swerve is the source of free will.
• Nature ceaselessly experiments.
• The universe was not created for or about humans.
• Human society began not in a Golden Age of tranquility and plenty, but in a primitive battle for survival.
• The soul dies.
• There is no afterlife.
• Death is nothing to us.
• All organized religions are superstitious delusions.
• Religions are invariably cruel.
• There are no angels, demons, or ghosts.
• The highest goal of human life is the enhancement of pleasure and the reduction of pain.
• The greatest obstacle to pleasure is not pain; it is delusion.
• Understanding the nature of things generates deep wonder.