...(that) any general system of conveying passengers would ... go at a velocity exceeding ten miles an hour, or thereabouts, is extremely improbable.

Engineering is the art of directing the great sources of power in nature for the use and convenience of man.

In monasteries, seminaries, retreats and synagogues, they fear hell and seek paradise. Those who know the mysteries of God never let that seed be planted in their souls.

My greatest qualification for writing fiction was my ability, as a child, to lie with a straight face.

I wanted to see Chameleons, Then I saw my friends!

Love and hatred belong to the same plant: one is rose, the other is thorn.

Father God, we thank You for Your Marvelous, Creation! We are Fearfully and Wonderfully made. We give You praise, honor and glory!

Education without execution is extinction

You are more powerful than any fearful force. Your Divine willingness can out-will any darkness that the world has ever seen.

I didn't much like being in Parliament physically. I found it a bit depressing. It's very dark and heavy. I like being out and about.

Did you tell freedom hello for me?

I would say that Edgar Allan Poe, [Georges] Perec, Thomas Pynchon, and [Jorge Luis] Borges are all boy-writers. These are writers who take... a kind of demonic joy in writing.