The secret of becoming a writer is to write, write and keep on writing.

Science fiction made me aware of how big and strange the universe was, leaving aside the whole question of aliens.

The idea of determinism combined with complete human responsibility struck me as very hard to reconcile with an idea of justice, let alone mercy.

The real world is far too complex and unpredictable to make something like the idea of humanity controlling its own evolution or engineering itself - well, I wouldn't say impossible but it should be approached with a degree of caution.

Hey, this is Europe. We took it from nobody; we won it from the bare soil that the ice left. The bones of our ancestors, and the stones of their works, are everywhere. Our liberties were won in wars and revolutions so terrible that we do not fear our governors: they fear us. Our children giggle and eat ice-cream in the palaces of past rulers. We snap our fingers at kings. We laugh at popes. When we have built up tyrants, we have brought them down. And we have nuclear ********* weapons.

All life is a struggle for existence. Why should it cease to be a struggle if it spreads among the stars?

I'm a long-term optimist, and I don't think the problems with our society are from being overly optimistic.