I don't want unnecessary violence, sergeant," said Blouse. "Right you are, sir!" said the sergeant. "Carborundum! First man comes through that door runnin', I want him nailed to the wall!" He caught the lieutenant's eye, and added: "But not too hard!

I don’t see why it matters what is written. Not when it’s about people. It can always be crossed out.

No. Men should die for lies. But the truth is too precious to die for.

People think that stories are shaped by people. In fact, it's the other way around.

Sometimes I think a man could wander across the disc all his life and not see everything there is to see,' said Twoflower. 'And now it seems there are lots of other worlds as well. When I think I might die without seeing a hundredth of all there is to see it makes me feel,' he paused, then added, 'well, humble, I suppose. And very angry, of course.

If there was anything that depressed him more than his own cynicism, it was that quite often it still wasn't as cynical as real life.

I got into science fiction by being interested in astronomy first.