There had been a popular joke on Freedom, started by a man named Calder. Looking down from space, he had said, the dominant life forms on Earth were obviously the cereals and other grasses. They occupied all the most desirable and fertile land; and they had tamed insects and animals to care for them. In particular, they had domesticated the bipeds to nurture and cultivate them and to save and plant their seed. Now, watching the farmers, Alex could easily imagine that they were worshiping and genuflecting before their masters.

Never be embarrassed or ashamed by anything you choose to write.

The best advice I was ever given was on my twenty-first birthday when my father said, Son, here's a million dollars. Don't lose it.

I do suspect that privacy was a passing fad.

Never fire a laser at a mirror.

I've got five or six unpublished stories kicking around looking for somebody to buy them.

Building one space station for everyone was and is insane: we should have built a dozen.