Imagination alone is not enough, because the reality of nature is far more wondrous than anything we can imagine

If you seek only easy problems to solve, then ultimately, there'll be nothing about you to distinguish yourself from others.

New generations of humans inherit the acquired discoveries of generations past, allowing cosmic insight to accumulate without limit. Each discovery of science therefore adds a rung to a ladder of knowledge whose end is not in sight because we are building the ladder as we go along. As far as I can tell, as we assemble and ascend this ladder, we will forever uncover the secrets of the universe - one by one.

I try to write in a way where you care deeply what the next paragraph will be. I hear the rhythm of prose and that, to me, distinguishes great writing from ordinary writing. By the way, I don't even claim that I'm good. I claim that I value it.

When you are a hammer, all of your problems will look like nails to you.

The universe's destiny has very little to do with the near-term destiny of Earth.

Mars once was wet and fertile. It's now bone dry. Something bad happened on Mars. I want to know what happened on Mars so that we may prevent it from happening here on Earth.