The greatest challenge facing mankind is the challenge of distinguishing reality from fantasy, truth from propaganda. Perceiving the truth has always been a challenge to mankind, but in the information age (or as I think of it, the disinformation age) it takes on a special urgency and importance.

People were so naive about plants, Ellie thought. They just chose plants for appearance, as they would choose a picture for the wall. It never occurred to them that plants were actually living things, busily performing all the living functions of respiration, ingestion, excretion, reproduction---and defense.

The system didn't screw you. The system revealed you.

I tended to faint when I saw accident victims in the emergency ward, during surgery, or while drawing blood.

Life is wonderful. It's a gift to be alive, to see the sun and breathe the air. And there isn't really anything else.

Auschwitz exists because of politicized science.

A man can see by starlight, if he takes the time.