It surprises me constantly that my sometimes-unorthodox approach has such a large following, but I'm very grateful to my readers for allowing me to continue writing 10 or 12 hours a day.

The interior of our skulls contains a portal to infinity.

I just wanted all the wars to be over so that we could spend the money on starships and Mars colonies.

A cannon fires only once but words detonate across centuries

Everyone does magic all the time in different ways. "Life" plus "significance" = magic.

Sometimes you wonder, in an interconnected universe, who's dreaming who?

Study yourself the way a hunter studied prey. Exploit your own weaknesses to create desired changes within yourself.

There's a palace in your head, boy. Learn to live in it always.

If our shallow, self-critical culture sometimes seems to lack a sense of the numinous or spiritual it's only in the same way a fish lacks a sense of the ocean.

Laugh and the world laughs with you!

I'm the evil mastermind behind the scenes. I'm the wicked puppeteer who pulls the strings and makes you dance. I'm your writer.

Love is the perfect safety, or the perfect weapon.

The Egyptian military plays positive and negative roles in Egypt, but the most significant single thing it did under Mubarak was to guarantee an Islamist victory once he left the scene.

SAD, BUT ONE DAY OUR KIDS WILL HAVE TO VISIT MUSEUMS TO SEE WHAT A LADY LOOKS LIKE.

The permit limits are pretty close to what the reality is.

I find Mexico exciting to visit, but I think [it] is looked down upon. Mexico is not a very respected place, unless you're Mexican, and even then it's something of a love/hate relationship.

A list of authors who have made themselves most beloved and therefore, most comfortable financially, shows that it is our national joy to mistake for the first-rate, the fecund rate.

So what if you're not perfect? nobody else is either.

One serial killer sends me a human head in a box, and I get all spooked; Go figure.

I eat to live, to serve, and also, if it so happens, to enjoy, but I do not eat for the sake of enjoyment.

We played soccer a lot with our friends and at school. We weren't on an official team or anything, but we'd definitely be up for it in gym or in after-school pickup games where we live.