I have a kind of standard explanation why, which goes like this: Science fiction is one way of making sense out of a senseless world.

I found some time ago that I have to be careful, while working on a novel, what I read.

The future, according to some scientists, will be exactly like the past, only more expensive.

An artist's life is supposed to lead toward his masterpiece, not away from it.

I think these days an SF connection would be a boost to other books; I'm sure more people have read my two little detective puzzles because of the SF connection.

SF has at least the advantage of not depending on preconceptions.

In most conventional novels, God is not allowed to be nuts. Nor are nuts allowed to be God.

Whatever I'm reading at the moment seems to influence whatever I'm writing.

The problem and privilege we all have is being alive in this century and able to read this language. It makes any list meaningless except the list of an illiterate.

People have laughed at all great inventors and discoverers.

Most publishers seem very reluctant to publish short story collections at all; they bring them out in paperback, often disguised as novels.

The lasting sweetness of the wealth obtained is directly proportional to the honesty of its source. Dishonest wealth does not last.

Those who stand at the threshold of life always waiting for the right time to change are like the man who stands at the bank of a river waiting for the water to pass so he can cross on dry land.

Some tulips last so long you could almost dust them off, and others you can't trust over night.

There's no better friend to any merchant than a fair competitor.

I can't do a film if I don't start with the writing.

Start doing what you want to do, and everything else will be revealed to you.

You can only be free as an artist if you're free as a person.

Also, if you watch the film once, there are lots of things that you won't get because there are punch lines in the first act, the setup to which isn't until the second act.

One thing that these Buddhists have certainly gotten right is that attention to attention is the key to taking control of your mental life.

Three things are necessary for the salvation of man: to know what he ought to believe; to know what he ought to desire; and to know what he ought to do.