But the need for conflict to expose prejudice and unclear reasoning, which is deeply embedded in my philosophy of science, has its origin in these debates.

My childhood home backed onto wheat and cotton fields.

The questions worth asking, in other words, come not from other people but from nature, and are for the most part delicate things easily drowned out by the noise of everyday life.

My mother also had us take piano lessons, and this had a similar effect. I hated those lessons, but I now play regularly for pleasure and have even tried my hand at composing.

A person obsessed with ultimate truth is a person asking to be relieved of money.

In parallel with the development of my interests in technical gadgetry I began to acquire a profound love of and respect for the natural world which motivates my scientific thinking to this day.

The modern concept of the vacuum of space, confirmed every day by experiment, is a relativistic ether.

It is an interesting fact that during my tour I was never allowed access to computers, radios, or anything else that I might damage through curiosity, or perhaps something more sinister.

Western society has many flaws, and it is good for an educated person to have thought some of these through, even at the expense of losing a lecture or two to tear gas.

It was at Bell Labs that I first made direct contact with real semiconductor experts and thus began to fully understand what amazing materials they were and what they could do.

I was an extremely reclusive and introverted boy.

Just don't be afraid of your mistakes because those mistakes can be the best way how to learn to do it right.

I'd forgotten so many important things. I'd stolen away my own past. It made me feel like a coward.

Slurring is the cursive of speech.

We're raising children who have little tolerance for disappointment

To invent something you have to be removed from the world. In order to have liberty to imagine something better, you need to step outside for a while.

If you want to split a bottle with a friend, then Sammy Hagar is your guy. If you want to split your friend with a bottle than give me a call.

What does not contain love must contain an illusion.

I get to hang out with people I think are awesome, and do work I think is awesome. It's really cool.

Looking at paintings was a huge part of finding my way into the lush world of the 18th century.

When teaching a rapidly changing technology, perspective is more important than content.