He always reminded us that every atom in our bodies was once part of a distant star that had exploded. He talked about how evolution moves from simplicity toward complexity, and how human intelligence is the highest known expression of evolution. I remember him telling me that a frog's brain is much more complex than a star. He saw human consciousness as the first neuron of the universe coming to life and awareness. A spark in the darkness, waiting to spread to fire.

My father has always been the heart of my Penn Cage novels.

When everything is at risk, good judgment, not haste, makes the difference between life and death. Panic is the enemy.

Sooner or later. It had better be sooner. Later is like the horizon; it recedes as you approach.

Man is the universe becoming conscious of itself.

If a man lived long enough, his past would always overtake him, no matter how fast he ran or how morally he tried to live subsequently. And how men dealt with that law ultimately revealed their true natures.

Any person who wants to govern the world is by definition the wrong person to do it.