I guess I started to realize that being an agnostic was such a wimpy position.

Experience as much as you can and absorb a lot of reality. Otherwise, your writing will have the force of a Wiffle ball.

If there's reason for hope, it lies in man's occasional binges of cooperation. To save our planet, we'll need that kind of heroic effort, in which all types of people join forces for the common good

I have nothing but respect for the purist who won't work for the pharaoh. But I'm not that strong.

There's a built-up tension in religion, and if you can release it, you'll get a huge and satisfying laugh.

Every joke can't be dazzling. And if you think you spotted an inconsistency, you did!

I was brought up Catholic and, of course, I strayed and repudiated it. That's a painful thing to go through, because you have to look back and realize that you wasted a gigantic chunk of your life.

I have a deep suspicion of social institutions and tradition in general.

There's absolutely no way that something I do on my own is going to be seen in Malaysia.

I resisted parenthood for a long, long time. But having a daughter has given me a sense of hopefulness that I didn't have before.

Clever is the eunuch version of funny.

How strange! Life gets easier when we get better.

Don't neglect the future in times of plenty, for tomorrow you may need what you wasted today.

You find out that the universe is a system that creeps up on itself and says 'Boo' and then laughs at itself for jumping.

Perhaps you have seen me. I know well, my purpose was merely that of a symbol, 'equals', 'times'... ; but what is said, for all that, was identity-less: a kind of live geometry.

It's as if tendencies that seem most deeply rooted in our minds, most private and singular, have come in as spores on the prevailing wind, looking for any likely place to land, any welcome.

The most important knowledge is understanding what you can't do.

Which would you part with first -- your tobacco, your whiskey, or your religion?

No man can tell if he is rich or poor by turning to his ledger. It is the heart that makes a man rich. He is rich according to what he is, not according to what he has.

I did not grow up in the church. I'm not a church-goer now. I'm a very spiritual person.

Everybody makes mistakes. You have to be careful when you make your mistakes. Now is not a good time to make a mistake.