One of Walt Whitman's best-known poems is this one: When I heard the learn'd astronomer,.... The trouble is, Whitman is talking through his hat, but the poor soul didn't know any better

That's the harm of Close Encounters: that it convinces tens of millions that that's what just science fiction is.

Was there anything more exciting in life than seeking answers?

Of course there are worlds. Millions of them! Every star you see has worlds, and most of those you don't see.

Until I became a published writer, I remained completely ignorant of books on how to write and courses on the subject ... they would have spoiled my natural style; made me observe caution; would have hedged me with rules.

I don't expect to live forever, nor do I repine over that, but I am weak enough to want to be remembered forever. - Yet how few of those who have lived, even of those who have accomplished far more than I have, linger on in world memory for even a single century after death

We're forever teetering on the brink of the unknowable, and trying to understand what can't be understood.