In a society like ours, politics is improvisation. To the artful dodger rather than the true believer goes the prize.

Because there is no cosmic point to the life that each of us perceives on this distant bit of dust at galaxy's edge, all the more reason for us to maintain in proper balance what we have here. Because there is nothing else. Nothing. This is it. And quite enough, all in all.

God, or what have you, will not be found at the far end of a syllogism, no matter how brilliantly phrased or conceived.

You can't really succeed with a novel anyway; they're too big. It's like city planning. You can't plan a perfect city because there's too much going on that you can't take into account. You can, however, write a perfect sentence now and then. I have.

A superficial education would be worse than none. But a full education would open every man's eyes to the nature of human existence.

Obviously I'm in favor of protecting the rights of everybody: gay, black, women, what have you, American Indians.

The oligarchs think that the people are both dangerous and stupid. Their point is moot. But we do know that the oligarchs are a good deal more dangerous to the polity than the people at large.