In some ways, I had a traditional 'old South' upbringing, meaning that I spent some time in a military school, and acquired an inoculum of the military ethic that is still with me today: honor, duty, loyalty.

I would say that for the sake of human progress, the best thing we could possibly do would be to diminish, to the point of eliminating, religious faiths. But certainly not eliminating the natural yearnings of our species or the asking of these great questions.

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

Search until you find a passion and go all out to excel in its expression.

[T]he true natural sciences lock together in theory and evidence to form the ineradicable technical base of modern civilization. The pseudosciences satisfy personal psychological needs... but lack the ideas or the means to contribute to the technical base.

We ought to recognize that religious strife is not the consequence of differences among people. It's about conflicts between creation stories.

You teach me, I forget. You show me, I remember. You involve me, I understand.