I read very widely, both non-fiction and fiction, so I don't think there's a single writer who influences me.

I've never been hurt by a sea creature, except for jellyfish and sea urchins.

I believe implicitly that every young man in the world is fascinated with either sharks or dinosaurs.

No, the shark in an updated JAWS could not be the villain; it would have to be written as the victim, for, worldwide, sharks are much more the oppressed than the oppressors.

If man doesn't learn to treat the oceans and the rain forest with respect, man will become extinct.

You're gonna need a bigger boat.

There's nothing in the sea this fish would fear. Other fish run from bigger things. That's their instinct. But this fish doesn't run from anything. He doesn't fear.

I know now that the mythic monster I created was largely a fiction.

Sharks don't target human beings, and they certainly don't hold grudges.

Reputations rise and fall almost as regularly as the tides.

Without sharks, you take away the apex predator of the ocean, and you destroy the entire food chain

Inner beauty magnifies outer beauty.

He was driven to use the prerogatives of his profession, to act the parson.

Gratitude doesn't change the scenery.  It merely washes clean the glass you look through so you can clearly see the colors.

Every man has his own destiny the only imperative is to follow it to accept it no matter where it leads him.

Our firefighters are our last line of defense, baby.

We look for the sermon in the suicide, for the social or moral lesson in the murder of five. We interpret what we see, select the most workable of the multiple choices.

The humor for me is how far above your head the signature is - it's dislocated from the sign of the artist in such a distinct way that it could almost be a self-portrait of a sort.

I had been searching for joy in the relatively good times of life, now I had to find joy amidst darkness and agony.

When I campaigned, I'd let them throw a punch, but by gosh, I'd throw two back. I always said, the first rule in politics is never defend, always attack. I still believe that.

Minutes to learn, a lifetime to master. People just don't understand that