The great paradox of determinism and free will, which has held the attention of the wisest of philosophers and psychologists for generations, can be phrased in more biological terms as follows: If our genes are inherited, and our environment is a train of physical events set in motion before we were born, how can there be a truly independent agent within the brain? The agent itself is created by the interaction of the genes and the environment. It would appear that our freedom is only a self delusion.

I like what Abba Eban once said during the 1967 war. He said, "When all else fails, men turn to reason."

The price of these failures has been a loss of moral consensus, a greater sense of helplessness about the human condition. ... The intellectual solution to the first dilemma can be achieved by a deeper and more courageous examination of human nature that combines the findings of biology with those of the social sciences.

Destroying rainforest for economic gain is like burning a Renaissance painting to cook a meal.

It's the technique, I think, of writing a novel that is difficult for a nonfiction writer.

There is no better high than discovery.

People respect nonfiction but they read novels.