All men are brothers, we like to say, half-wishing sometimes in secret it were not true. But perhaps it is true. And is the evolutionary line from protozoan to Spinoza any less certain? That also may be true. We are obliged, therefore, to spread the news, painful and bitter though it may be for some to hear, that all living things on earth are kindred.

Nothing could be more reckless than to base one's moral philosophy on the latest pronouncements of science.

When the situation is hopeless, there's nothing to worry about.

Too many American authors have a servile streak where their backbone should be. Where's our latest Nobel laureate? More than likely you'll find him in the Rose Garden kissing the First Lady's foot.

Climbing K2 or floating the Grand Canyon in an inner tube; there are some things one would rather have done than do.

It is an author's most solemn obligation to honor truth. If the free and independent writer does not speak truth to power, who will?

All serious writers want the obvious rewards: fame, money, women, love -- and most of all, an audience!