Guns are the crutches of the impotent.

When you finally understand the universe, it will not only be stranger than you imagine, it will be stranger than you can imagine.

Much blood has also been spilled on the carpet in attempts to distinguish between science fiction and fantasy. I have suggested an operational definition: science fiction is something that COULD happen - but usually you wouldn't want it to. Fantasy is something that COULDN'T happen - though often you only wish that it could.

It may be that our role on this planet is not to worship God - but to create him.

But please remember: this is only a work of fiction. The truth, as always, will be far stranger.

In this universe the night was falling; the shadows were lengthening towards an east that would not know another dawn. But elsewhere the stars were still young and the light of morning lingered; and along the path he once had followed, Man would one day go again.

Two possibilities exist: Either we are alone in the Universe or we are not. Both are equally terrifying.