The desire to be connected with the cosmos reflects a profound reality, but we are connected; not in the trivial ways that astrology promises, but in the deepest ways.

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.

At drama school, we were taught to write down your dreams and carry them around in your wallet with you, and they'll come true, but I didn't do that.

You have to believe in yourself, that you're gonna succeed.

I liked being married instead of the girl who's looking for a guy.

There are two kinds of charlatan: the man who is called a charlatan, and the man who really is one. The first is the quack who cures you; the second is the highly qualified person who doesn't.

The universe considers me its personal cat toy.

I was always inspired by Sigourney [Weaver]. She's been able to have such beautiful diversity in her career and that's a really impressive thing.

I'm at my best when I'm working. Breaks are not great for me. I get frustrated sometimes, if I have a long break and somebody says, "Oh, that must be nice!"

Ayn Rand is a bloody socialist compared to me.

You know, you keep on innovating, you keep on making better stuff. And if you always want the latest and greatest, then you have to buy a new iPod at least once a year.