“As evolutionary time is measured, we have only just turned up and have hardly had time to catch breath, still marveling at our thumbs, still learning to use the brand-new gift of language. Being so...”

“We are, perhaps uniquely among the earths creatures, the worrying animal. We worry away our lives, fearing the future, discontent with the present, unable to take the idea of dying, unable to sit s...”

“It is in our genes to understand the universe if we can, to keep trying even if we cannot, and to be enchanted by the act of learning all the way.”

“The capacity to blunder slightly is the real marvel of DNA. Without this special attribute, we would still be anaerobic bacteria and there would be no music.”

“The greatest single achievement of nature to date was surely the invention of the molecule DNA.”

“Not all social animals are social with the same degree of commitment. In some species, the members are so tied to each other and interdependent as to seem the loosely conjoined cells of a tissue. T...”

“Everything is important. To the smallest insect, even the mouldering tree, the deepest stone in the drift.”

“Now I sense the perfume of flowers like seeing a new thing.I know they smell just as well as I know I existed.Theyre things known from the outside.But now I know with my breathing from the back of ...”

“Existence is a priceless gift and the beauties of nature are the priceless gifts of the existence!”

“It is better to be hated for what you are than to be loved for what you are not.”

“If I am going to be drownedif I am going to be drownedif I am going to be drowned, why, in the name of the seven mad gods who rule the sea, was I allowed to come thus far and contemplate sand and t...”

“I'm an Earth ecstatic, and my creed is simple: All life is sacred, life loves life, and we are capable of improving our behavior toward one another. As basic as that is, for me it's also tonic and ...”

“You, dear reader, have now two accounts to choose between and there can be no doubt which is most probable.”

“The fact that we can neither prove nor disprove the existence of something does not put existence and non-existence on an even footing.”