All human plans [are] subject to ruthless revision by Nature, or Fate, or whatever one preferred to call the powers behind the Universe.

You can't have it both ways. You can't have both free will and a benevolent higher power who protects you from yourself.

Guns are the crutches of the impotent.

Sometimes a decision has to be made by a single individual, who has the authority to enforce it. That's why you need a captain. You can't run a ship by a committee-at least not all the time.

There is the possibility that humankind can outgrow its infantile tendencies, as I suggested in 'Childhood's End.' But it is amazing how childishly gullible humans are.

What was more, they had taken the first step toward genuine friendship. They had exchanged vulnerabilities.

If children have interests, then education happens.