Mayr: Well, I have a different definition of religion. All my atheist friends are deeply religious. They don't believe in God or anything supernatural, but they believe that they don't live in this world just to have a good time, but to improve mankind.

Skeptic: Do you consider yourself a humanist?

Mayr: Yes, I do.

Skeptic: You don't believe in God, but are you an agnostic or an atheist?

Mayr: I have the honesty to say I'm an atheist. There is nothing that supports the idea of a personal God. On the other hand, famous evolutionists such as Dobzhansky were firm believers in a personal God. He would work as a scientist all week and then on Sunday get down on his knees and pray to God.

Skeptic: What accounts for this style of thinking?

Mayr: Frankly I've never been able to understand it because you would need two totally different compartments in your brain, one that deals with religion and the other with everything else.
The Grand Old Man of Evolution (interview), eSkeptic: July 5, 2004)