The real requirement, if we are to avoid runaway global warming, is probably 80% by 2030, and almost no burning whatever of fossil fuels (coal, gas and oil) by 2050.

As the most religious country of the 18 surveyed, the U.S. also comes in with the highest rates for teen pregnancy and for gonorrhea and syphilis.

Take the year a country first reaches 50% literacy and add one or two generations to allow the idea to sink in and, democracy, more or less automatically, appears.

It doesn't matter what we think we are there [in Afghanistan] for; it matters what they think. They think we are invaders.

The scientists are really scared. Their [global warming] observations over the past two or three years suggest that everything is happening a lot faster than their climate models predicted.

What makes the Arabs suitable candidates for democracy is their heritage as human beings, not their specific cultural or historical antecedents.

Writer's block is a fancy term made up by whiners so they can have an excuse to drink alcohol.

The truth is that you may mess up a bit. Don’t panic. Relax and remember to give your best and let the chips fall where they may.

Never trust books on the question of whether or not to trust your rational thinking. Trust your rational thinking on the question of whether or not to trust the books.

The barbarians never take a city until someone holds the gates open to them. And it's your own multicultural authorities who will do it for you

I had good innings, as the British say. I wrote for 38 years at the top of my form, and I wanted to quit on a high note.

Calamity was ordained for man.

Responsibility does not only lie with the leaders of our countries or with those who have been appointed or elected to do a particular job. It lies with each of us individually.

Compassion, along with love, is the face of altruism.

My mom had to beg the guys to let me play. I couldn't even play the drums right - Brian had to show me.

To be a programmer is to develop a carefully managed relationship with error. There's no getting around it. You either make your accomodations with failure, or the work will become intolerable.