Caring, whether for children or the dying, shouldn't be instrumental. It should be an intrinsic, moral good.

If you just got enough expertise and enough special techniques and read up enough, then you could shape a child into the kind of adult you wanted. There's almost this kind of competitive enterprise. That picture is the picture I think people often imply when they use the word "parenting".

Animals are certainly more sophisticated than we used to think. And we shouldn't lump together animals as a group. Crows and chimps and dogs are all highly intelligent in very different ways.

The brain knows the real secret of seduction, more effective than even music and martinis. Just keep whispering, 'Gee, you are really special' to that sack of water and protein that is a body, and you can get it to do practically anything.

What teenagers want most of all are social rewards, especially the respect of their peers.

The radio was an improvement on the telegraph but it didn't have the same exponential, transformative effect.

Texts and e-mails travel no faster than phone calls and telegrams, and their content isn't necessarily richer or poorer.