The people are immensely likable— cheerful, extrovert, quick-witted, and unfailingly obliging. Their cities are safe and clean and nearly always built on water. They have a society that is prosperous, well ordered, and instinctively egalitarian. The food is excellent. The beer is cold. The sun nearly always shines. There is coffee on every corner. Life doesn't get much better than this.

The universe is not only queerer than we suppose; it is queerer than we can suppose

As the saying goes, it takes all kinds to make the world go around, though perhaps some shouldn't go quite so far around it as others.

And before long there will be no more milk in bottles delivered to the doorstep or sleepy rural pubs, and the countryside will be mostly shopping centers and theme parks. Forgive me. I don't mean to get upset. But you are taking my world away from me, piece by little piece, and sometimes it just pisses me off. Sorry.

It is a curious feature of our existance that we come from a planet that is very good at promoting life but even better at extinguishing it.

As a rule of thumb, I would submit that if you need to call your floss provider, for any reason, you are probably not ready for this level of oral hygiene.

Most of what has lived on Earth has left behind no record at all.