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.

If an elderly but distinguished scientist says that something is possible, he is almost certainly right; but if he says that it is impossible, he is very probably wrong.

Science fiction seldom attempts to predict the future. More often than not, it tries to prevent the future.

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

My favorite definition of an intellectual: 'Someone who has been educated beyond his/her intelligence'.

Attempting to define science fiction is an undertaking almost as difficult, though not so popular, as trying to define pornography... In both pornography and SF, the problem lies in knowing exactly where to draw the line.

When all else failed, you had to rely on eyeball intrumentation.