Learning to ignore things is one of the great paths to inner peace.

Not wanting to die was another universal constant, it seemed.

No one disputes that seeming order can come out of the application of simple rules. But who wrote the rules?

Since ancient times, the philosophers' secret has always been this: we know that God does not exist, or, at least, if he does, he's utterly indifferent to our individual affairs--but we can't let the rabble know that; it's the fear of God, the threat of divine punishment and the promise of divine reward, that keeps in line those too unsophisticated to work out questions of morality on their own.

If theft is advantageous to everyone who succeeds at it, and adultery is a good strategy, at least for males, for increasing presence in the gene pool, why do we feel they are wrong? Shouldn't the only morality that evolution produces be the kind Bill Clinton had - being sorry you got caught?

A science fiction writer should try to combine the intimately human with the grandly cosmic.

General principles should not be based on exceptional cases.