Still, I never really mind bad service in a restaurant. It makes me feel better about not leaving a tip.

Strange as it may seem, wrote Richard Feynman, we understand the distribution of matter in the interior of the Sun far better than we understand the interior of the Earth.

Every kid I knew had a father with a little stash of men's magazines which the father thought was secret and which the kid knew all about.

Why is it, I wondered, that old people are always so self-centered and excitable? But I just smiled benignly and stood back, comforted by the thought that soon they would be dead.

Black bears rarely attack. But here's the thing. Sometimes they do. All bears are agile, cunning and immensely strong, and they are always hungry. If they want to kill you and eat you, they can, and pretty much whenever they want. That doesn't happen often, but - and here is the absolutely salient point - once would be enough.

I come from Des Moines. Someone had to.

Most big companies don't like you very much, except hotels, airlines and Microsoft, which don't like you at all.