A lack of seriousness has led to all sorts of wonderful insights.

It is a very mixed blessing to be brought back from the dead.

Use the time of a total stranger in such a way that he or she will not feel the time was wasted.

A first grader should understand that her or his culture isn't a rational invention; that there are thousands of other cultures and they all work pretty well; that all cultures function on faith rather than truth; that there are lots of alternatives to our own society...Cultural relativity is defensible, attractive. It's a source of hope. It means we don't have to continue this way if we don't like it.

It is harder to be unhappy when you are eating.

That's one thing Earthlings might learn to do, if they tried hard enough: Ignore the awful times and concentrate on the good ones.

Don't put anything into a story that does not reveal character or advance the action.