A story has to be a good date, because the reader can stop at any time. Remember, readers are selfish and have no compulsion to be decent about anything.

I've got news for Mr. Santayana: we're doomed to repeat the past no matter what. That's what it is to be alive.

People are only animals, but special animals. Every animal has fought and killed to survive, even before the dinosaurs. We're the only ones that do it for fun. That's why I don't know about Darwinism. Supposedly evolution and natural selection are all about survival, but we haven't gotten smarter over the years, only more dangerous.

I beg you to believe the most ridiculous superstition of all: that humanity is at the center of the universe, the fulfiller or frustrateor of the grandest dreams of God Almighty.

We have to continually be jumping off cliffs and developing our wings on the way down.

His response was to fight it with the only weapons at hand—passive resistance and open displays of contempt.

Earthlings are the great explainers, explaining why this event is structured as it is, telling how other events may be achieved or avoided.