Scientists derive satisfaction from figuring out the puzzle. It's about the quest, not the grail.

I type 90 words per minute on the typewriter; I type 100 words per minute on the word processor. But, of course, I don't keep that up indefinitely - every once in a while I do have to think a few seconds.

It pays to be obvious, especially if you have a reputation for subtlety.

I am not a speed reader. I am a speed understander.

It is the writer who might catch the imagination of young people, and plant a seed that will flower and come to fruition.

The fall of Empire, gentlemen, is a massive thing, however, and not easily fought. It is dictated by a rising bureaucracy, a receding initiative, a freezing of caste, a damming of curiosity — a hundred other factors. It has been going on, as I have said, for centuries, and it is too majestic and massive a movement to stop.

Nothing interferes with my concentration. You could put on an orgy in my office and I wouldn't look up. Well, maybe once.