Where lies the line between sorcery and science? It is only a matter of terminology, my friend.

The thing all writers do best is find ways to avoid writing.

Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting.

Keep writing. Try to do a little bit every day, even if the result looks like crap. Getting from page four to page five is more important than spending three weeks getting page four perfect.

It is always hard when reality intrudes on belief.

Spontaneity is one of the joys of existence, especially if you prepare for it in advance.

In one book, CACHALOT, just for my own amusement, every character is based directly on someone I have known.

How much research I have to do depends on the nature of the story. For fantasy, none at all.

Advances have fallen, generally, for everything except the biggest potential bestsellers. Given all the changes, both economic and technological, SF hasn't done too badly.

If you're crazy, there's two things you can do to make yourself feel better: One is to get yourself cured. The other is to make everyone you have to deal with crazy.

The universe is full of dead people who lived by assumption.

A writer is a world trapped in a person.

the only way to get over a death is by seeing it as a life completed, instead of a life interrupted.

I suppose I'm interested in sorrow, which is very different from depression or despair. Sorrow is continuous with the world; it allows for creativity.

When we love what is, it becomes so simple to live in the world. The world is exactly as it should be.

I was going through a break up. I was depressed... I really did need to do something. Recording an album was a great escape. I don't know what would have happened if I wouldn't have started to work.

Who has not for the sake of his reputation sacrificed himself?

Television has the obvious benefits of regularity and intimacy.

I saw that there are people who will connive against innovation. They're hostile to it. And that has shaped my behavior ever since.

Belief in a future life is the appetite of reason.

It's easier to rip somebody to shreds while you're making them laugh.