The secret of becoming a writer is to write, write and keep on writing.

I don't really believe in the Devil, but if the Devil is the Father of Lies, then he certainly invented the Internet.

The world has become one big grassy knoll, crawling with lone gunmen who think they're the Warren Commission.

Falling in love indicated that your genes were complementary to those of the loved one. It told you nothing about when your personalities and sexualities were compatible.

What if capitalism is unsustainable, and socialism is impossible?

Change the problem by changing your mind.

The idea of determinism combined with complete human responsibility struck me as very hard to reconcile with an idea of justice, let alone mercy.

All life is a struggle for existence. Why should it cease to be a struggle if it spreads among the stars?

"Anyway... I find what you write interesting." "That's what people usually say when they disagree with it."

Of all the sciences, astronomy was the one the superstitious liked least.

For us scientists, on the other wing, life is not quite so simple. Because we learn the unknown. Unlike, hah-hah, our esteemed friends the philosophers, who learn the unknowable.

Be curious about the world in which you live. Look things up. Chase down every reference. Go deeper than anybody else--that's how you'll get ahead.

A little truth seasons a lie like salt.

Heaven's the place where all the dogs you've ever loved come to greet you.

No, but a cello is the perfect string bass for an accordion. Works with it beautifully.

As an actor, you have to get used to being told no, develop a thick skin, and just keep persevering.

I've been a military lawyer for 33 years. A member of al Qaeda or their affiliate group can be detained under a law of war as long as their threat to our nation without a trial.

But it was too late now. A lifetime too late. A million wishes too late.

I like film soundtracks. I like the soundtracks better than the movies.

I believe everyone should have a broad picture of how the universe operates and our place in it. It is a basic human desire. And it also puts our worries in perspective.

There are cultures that produce different kinds of attitudes, whether it's religion, fatalism, sense of fear, repression, the culture of God and the police minimizes confidence in people.