People say that you always have to tell the truth. But they do not mean this because you are not allowed to tell old people that they are old and you are not allowed to tell people if they smell funny or if a grown-up has made a fart. And you are not allowed to say, 'I don't like you,' unless that person has been horrible to you.

Every life is narrow. Our only escape is not to run away, but to learn to love the people we are and the world in which we find ourselves.

My book has a very simple surface, but there are layers of irony and paradox all the way through it.

I like having my back pressed against a wall and being made to work harder so I don't embarrass myself.

Lots of things are mysteries. But that doesn't mean there isn't an answer to them. It's just that scientists haven't found the answer yet.

The one thing you have to do if you write a book is put yourself in someone else's shoes. The reader's shoes. You've got to entertain them.

Science and literature give me answers. And they ask me questions I will never be able to answer.