The writer learns to write, in the last resort, only by writing. He must get words onto paper even if he is dissatisfied with them. A young writer must cross many psychological barriers to acquire confidence in his capacity to produce good work-especially his first full-length book-and he cannot do this by staring at a piece of blank paper, searching for the perfect sentence.

In the long term, it is desirable that the human race, faced with the prospect of extinction on Earth, should prepare an escape route for itself to another inhabitable planet.

If we want foxes, to observe and delight in, we must have hunting.

I like that lady - Sarah Palin. She's great. I like the cut of her jib.

Democracy has many enemies, and the terrorist is only one of them.

...the century's most radical vice... the notion that human beings can be shoveled around like concrete.

The most socially subversive institution of our time is the one-parent family.