By Thursday morning, we'd gotten over the worst of it.

The value of government to the people it serves is in direct relationship to the interest citizens themselves display in the affairs of state.

My time inside there was very short compared to the amount of time it took to take on and take off this suit and to test me for how much radioactivity I have.

Another very strong image from the first day was giving my initial press conference in the morning - going down and finding out that everything I had said, the essence of what I had said, was wrong.

I was scheduled to give my first official press conference that morning anyway, 'cause I was chairman of the Governors Energy Council and I was making a press conference with regard to energy policy.

And I remember walking in there and, I must say, I was quite unnerved the closer I got to it.

There were schools and hospitals who were ready to take people with undescribed injuries, but not necessarily ready to take people with severe radiation poisoning.

And if you're not going to have a clear health threat, you don't want to panic people.

You need a graphic understanding of a situation to make a complete judgment and we didn't have that.

This is the way the world endsNot with a bang but a whimper.

One of the fundamental causes of the disintegration of society is copying, which is the worship of authority.

Let me tell you one thing about why writers write: had I known the answer to any of these questions I would never have needed to write a novel

My crown is called content a crown that seldom kings enjoy.

My sister called me "Buzzard" when I was a baby - she couldn't say "Brother" so I've been Buzz my whole life.

I'm fascinated by politicians, because I suspect the huge majority of them go into it full of ideas and for the best possible reasons but end up being hijacked.

We miss extra bits of knowledge that can add value to our lives. We sort of lack empathy because we're multitasking all the time.

My biggest surprise is probably the level of involvement of all the artists [in Valerian] who participated at every level.

Nothing is lasting but change; nothing perpetual but death.

When we're about telling the best possible story, making the best possible book - we're thinking about the reader, rather than about our egos. And then we serve the story. Not the other way 'round.