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.

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

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

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.

Science fiction is trying to find alternative ways of looking at realities.

Every day you have to be open to like things you’ve never liked before. Every day you have to realize you can’t get too comfortable.

Keep Inspiring everyday, because when you retire, you will lose desire, become tired, and expire.

For me, experimenting involves traditionalism.

When I was younger I was completely without money - when I was studying in Budapest, when I was a refugee

I like rules. Without them, we don't know what to break.

It is admirably remarked, by a most excellent writer, that zeal can no more hurry a man to act in direct opposition to itself than a rapid stream can carry a boat against its own current.

All great art is an imperfect, halting attempt to catch up upon life.

If you can identify a delusional popular belief, you can find what lies hidden behind it: the contrarian truth.

A lover would find life less broken apart after a misguided love affair if they could feel that they had been sinful rather than foolish.

I have been a bit of a risk-taker all my life.