It may be argued that to know one kind of beetle is to know them all. But a species is not like a molecule in a cloud of molecules-it is a unique population.

Humanity needs a vision of an expanding and unending future.

One difference between ants and humans is that while ants send their old women off to war, humans send their young men.

Science offers the boldest metaphysics of the age. It is a thoroughly human construct, driven by the faith that if we dream, press to discover, explain, and dream again, thereby plunging repeatedly into new terrain, the world will somehow come clearer and we will grasp the true strangeness of the universe. And the strangeness will all prove to be connected, and make sense.

What we need is an electronic encyclopedia of life, with one page for each species. On each page is given everything known about that species.

Secular humanists can sit around and talk about their love of humanity, but it doesn't stack up against a two-millennium-old funeral high mass.

One thing I did was grow up as an ardent naturalist. I never grew out of my bug period.