I must have been one of the least surprised people on earth on September 11. I felt very braced for that. I knew something like that was going to come.

The great thing about the United States and the historically magnetic effect it has had on a lot of people like me is its generosity, to put it simply.

We are unlikely to cease making gods or inventing ceremonies to please them for as long as we are afraid of death, or of the dark, and for as long as we ­persist in self-­centeredness. That could be a lengthy stretch of time.

One has children in the expectation of dying before them. In fact, you want to make damn sure you die before them, just as you plant a tree or build a house knowing, hoping that it will outlive you. That's how the human species has done as well as it has.

I'm not that keen on the idea of being unconscious.

The mildest criticism of religion is also the most radical and the most devastating one. Religion is man-made.

High moral character is not a precondition for great moral accomplishments.