The idea of determinism combined with complete human responsibility struck me as very hard to reconcile with an idea of justice, let alone mercy.

The secret of becoming a writer is to write, write and keep on writing.

I don't really believe in the Devil, but if the Devil is the Father of Lies, then he certainly invented the Internet.

The world has become one big grassy knoll, crawling with lone gunmen who think they're the Warren Commission.

Falling in love indicated that your genes were complementary to those of the loved one. It told you nothing about when your personalities and sexualities were compatible.

What if capitalism is unsustainable, and socialism is impossible?

Change the problem by changing your mind.

All life is a struggle for existence. Why should it cease to be a struggle if it spreads among the stars?

"Anyway... I find what you write interesting." "That's what people usually say when they disagree with it."

Of all the sciences, astronomy was the one the superstitious liked least.

For us scientists, on the other wing, life is not quite so simple. Because we learn the unknown. Unlike, hah-hah, our esteemed friends the philosophers, who learn the unknowable.

Only if we live consciously, we can die consciously.

Her two outstanding characteristics were self-confidence and candor. The latter sometimes got her into hot water Durrance later told Charlotte, but the former kept it from scalding her.

The stars looked like nail heads in the sky--pull a few of them out and the darkness would fall.

For passion, be it observed, brings insight with it; it can give a sort of intelligence to simpletons, fools, and idiots, especially during youth.

We are told not to privilege one story above another. All the stories must be told. Well, maybe that's true, maybe all stories are worth hearing, but not all stories are worth telling.

Be yourself, be pleasant, play hard and have no regrets.

I think that's the moment when we all grow up, when we stop blaming our parents for the messes we've made out of our lives and start owning the consequences of our actions.

Art is beyond the enmity! That's why you can always love the art of your enemy, even though you hate him!

New York was an idea, I thought, an idea held simultaneously by thirteen million people.

The only thing that matters in life is your own opinion about yourself, nobody can destroy your dignity then, because it is not dependent on anybody's opinion.