Reading computer manuals without the hardware is as frustrating as reading sex manuals without the software.

In accordance with the terms of the Clarke-Asimov treaty, the second-best science writer dedicates this book to the second-best science-fiction writer. [dedication to Isaac Asimov from Arthur C. Clarke in his book Report on Planet Three]

If there are any gods whose chief concern is man, they can't be very important gods.

The crossing of space ... may do much to turn men's minds outwards and away from their present tribal squabbles. In this sense, the rocket, far from being one of the destroyers of civilisation, may provide the safety-value that is needed to preserve it.

Now I'm a scientific expert; that means I know nothing about absolutely everything.

It was a pity that there was no radar to guide one across the trackless seas of life. Every man had to find his own way, steered by some secret compass of the soul. And sometimes, late or early, the compass lost its power and spun aimlessly on its bearings. Alan Bishop

Can the synthesis of man and machine ever be stable, or will the purely organic component become such a hindrance that it has to be discarded?