The world is a thing of utter inordinate complexity and richness and strangeness that is absolutely awesome. I mean the idea that such complexity can arise not only out of such simplicity, but probably absolutely out of nothing, is the most fabulous extraordinary idea. And once you get some kind of inkling of how that might have happened ' it's just wonderful. And . . . the opportunity to spend 70 or 80 years of your life in such a universe is time well spent as far as I am concerned.

Technology is the name we give to stuff that doesn't work properly yet

High on a rocky promontory sat an Electric Monk on a bored horse.

Protect me from knowing what I don't need to know. Protect me from even knowing that there are things to know that I don't know. Protect me from knowing that I decided not to know about the things that I decided not to know about. Amen. [...] Lord, lord, lord. Protect me from the consequences of the above prayer.

Deep in the fundamental heart of mind and Universe there is a reason.

Why should I want to make anything up? Life's bad enough as it is without wanting to invent any more of it.

I refuse to answer that question on the grounds that I don't know the answer