The single definition of government I've ever seen that makes sense is that it's the organization which claims the right to kill people who won't do what it wants.

A fanatic's willingness to kill or be killed in the service of a cause cannot prove the rightness of that cause.

In Harvest of Stars, there is this notion, not original with me of course, that it will become possible to download at least the basic aspects of a human personality into a machine program.

In my considered opinion, the profit to be made by permanent settlement in space is nothing less than the survival of industrial civilization, and therefore the survival of nearly the entire human race, along with such amenities as peace, freedom, enough to eat, and the chance to reach a high age in good health.

Will none wipe the sneer off the face of the cosmos?

If we knew exactly what to expect throughout the Solar System, we would have no reason to explore it.

I wrote the first book, Harvest of Stars, and as I was writing it, I saw that certain implications had barely been touched on... It's perfectly obvious that two completely revolutionary things are going on, with cybernetics, and biological science.