When the ranch is in peace, no other life is more perfect.

I wish I could find words to express the trueness, the bravery, the hardihood, the sense of honor, the loyalty to their trust and to each other of the old trail hands.

Cowards never lasted long enough to become real cowboys.

Above all things, the plainsmen had to have in instinct for direction. I never had a compass in my life, but I was never lost.

Mr. Lisbon had the feeling that he didn't know who she was, that children were only strangers you agreed to live with.

You felt a deep sorrow, the kind of melancholy you feel when you're in a beautiful place and the sun is going down

A concrete love is a mass of emotion formed into a compound mixture of affection, care, desire and expectation.

The way to God is not vertically up. Never down. It is horizontal. Love lights up much of the path.

I certainly saw science as a kind of calling, and one with as much legitimacy as a religious calling.

A man with a silver spoon may get his share of supporters, but he can never be an inspiration for somebody! Patience and hard work are the key to every man's success.

So I want to thank the Pentagon, the Soviet Union and the military-industrial complex from the bottom of my heart. Without them, I could never have become the man I am today.

Drag your thoughts away from your troubles... by the ears, by the heels, or any other way you can manage it.

When I was younger I wanted to be a big movie star who'd get to be funny on talk shows and then I wanted to retire and write science fiction.