I would be very ashamed of my civilization if we did not try to find out if there is life in outer space.

Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known.

It is far better to grasp the universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.

The nitrogen in our DNA, the calcium in our teeth, the iron in our blood, the carbon in our apple pies were made in the interiors of collapsing stars. We are made of starstuff.

Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were. But without it we go nowhere.

I don't want to believe. I want to know.

The absence of evidence is not the evidence of absence.

The brain is like a muscle. When it is in use we feel very good. Understanding is joyous.

We live in a society exquisitely dependent on science and technology, in which hardly anyone knows anything about science and technology.

For small creatures such as we the vastness is bearable only through love.

You have to know the past to understand the present.

No one could make you feel inferior without you already believing that you are.

Rich is the man who sees value in every person, even if there is none to be found.

Everyone has left me except my muse, that good nurse. She stays in my hand, a mild white mouse.

I just loved playing the mean girl. When you're not like a character, it's kind of fun to play.

Life's great moments evolve from simples acts of cooperation with God's mysterious promptings.

To be honest, after all the crap that happened with 'Summer Heights High,' I was like, 'I'm not going to write anything controversial or edgy ever again; I just can't handle the blame.'

I personally, only work with people in my business who show excellence. I have a business, the business of enlightenment.

In the '90s, there was a big bell-bottom craze. Everyone was wearing grungy bell-bottoms. It was so repugnant to me.

I think the first time I realised Downton Abbey was a hit was when I was sitting in a tea shop in New York and the couple next to me were talking about Downton Abbey, and then they recognised me.

What begins in arrogance often ends in shame.