I can't understand why people use religion to hurt each other when there's already so much pain in the world.

A person could see a lot without ever leaving his own living room. Especially if he had the right tools.

I don't take notes; I don't outline, I don't do anything like that. I just flail away at the goddamn thing. I'm a salami writer. I try to write good salami, but salami is salami. You can't sell it as caviar.

I never saw any of my dad's stories. My mother said he had piles and piles of manuscripts.

I never met a writer who wasn't lazy.

I'd been raised by my parents to believe barfing your feelings on other people was the height of impoliteness.

Man has come to dominate the planet thanks to two essential traits. One is intelligence. The other has been the absolute willingness to kill anyone and anything that gets in his way.