It gripped her hand gently. 'Regret is for humans,' it said. She laughed. 'Really?' The machine shrugged and let go of her hand. 'Oh, no. It's just something we tell ourselves.

Something in your voice tells me we approach the question of remuneration.

Empathize with stupidity and you're halfway to thinking like an idiot.

Mr Blawke always reminded me of a heron; I'm not sure why. Something to do with a sense of rapacious stillness, perhaps, and also the aura of one who knows time is on his side.

There's an old Sysan saying that the soup of life is salty enough without adding tears to it.

Torture is such a slippery slope; as soon as you allow a society or any legal system to do that, almost instantly you get a situation where people are being tortured for very trivial reasons.

My point has always been that, ever since the Industrial Revolution, science fiction has been the most important genre there is.

I remember being shocked when I discovered some of my school pals didn't have books in their homes. I thought it was like not having oxygen, or hot water.

I am, as I have always been, of the opinion that while the niceties of normal moral constraints should be our guides, they must not be our masters.

I've always loved Scotland, and I'm not a huge fan of big cities, to be honest. I like them to dip into for a bit, but I'm not sure I would want to live in one again.

In theory, I work an eight-hour day and a five-day week which means I can socialise with my pals who mostly have normal jobs like teaching and computer programming.

The lives of many reflect the practices and standards of this present world . . . they are more interested in imitating the world system dominated by Satan than in imitating Christ.

The Glass has Shattered but the Cross Remains

I don't really pay too much attention to designers, I know what I like and I just try to find it, and I always try to find a cheaper deal because I have a tendency to be a cheapskate sometimes.

Asking "Why?" can lead to understanding. Asking "Why not?" can lead to breakthroughs.

I feel that working environmentalists are, in the main, happier than armchair environmentalists.

I think I will always have a place. I don't think I have to rule or reign but there's a place for me.

I am so changeable, being everything by turns and nothing long - such a strange melange of good and evil.

A simple layman armed with Scripture is greater than the mightiest pope without it

If something's not mean't for you, you won't get it, simple as that.

Being fooled into trying to make things work out for 'me' is called samsara.