Human Nature

"People and places are the twin pillars on which most nonfiction is built. Every human event happens somewhere, and the reader wants to know what that somewhere was like."

"Early to Bed and Early to Rise is a Bad Rule for any one who wishes to become acquainted with our most Prominent and Influential People."

"Think of how many religions attempt to validate themselves with prophecy. Think of how many people rely on these prophecies, however vague, however unfulfilled, to support or prop up their beliefs. Ye…"

"SSA Piro asked Hussein why Iraq was the only country to applaud the 9/11 attack, which Hussein immediately denied.... Hussein stated that he wrote editorials against the attack, but also spoke of the …"

"It is unfortunate for all that no moral issue has ever been clearer. Any attempt to plea-bargain with outlaws and renegades will only be at the expense of honor, decency and self-respect. The Serbs, a…"

"The social Commons is where we generate the good will that allows a society to cohere as a cultural entity. Markets and governments are an extension of a people’s social identity. Without the continuo…"

"Other people’s faults can be fascinating. One’s own are dreary."

"I can't. I can't go on. It goes so fast. We don't have time to look at one another. I didn't realize. So all that was going on and we never noticed. Take me back — up the hill — to my grave. But first…"

"LA is easier. People have garages. And then as you go up the coast, in Washington and Oregon people have bigger houses and bigger garages, and people have parents."

"I am trying hardest to see no one, because I find it tiresome. I have people descending on me and flattering me. I fall for flattery."

"I hate having people feed me fine French meals when all I want is macaroni and cheese!"

"I found people looked better when they laughed."

"Shan had always said that in any multiple choice about human motivation, the real answer was always "all of the above."

"Honore de Balzac's The Human Comedy : A Pathfinder"

"I was hardly fit for human society. Thus destiny shaped me to be a science fiction writer."

"All feelings are false and deceptive. Enlightenment is to be emptied of feelings and thus at one with the pure sensation of divine being. And that pretty well sums up the whole spiritual process. But …"

"Let a state be considered as subordinate to the people: But let everything else be subordinate to the state."

"A society needs famous people; the question is whom it chooses for that role. Any criticism of its choice is by implication a criticism of that society."

"In these discussions we are not asking you to accept anything on blind faith. We are definitely asking that you not immediately reject anything either. We suggest that you do some research for yoursel…"

"People must not do things for fun. We are not here for fun. There is no reference to fun in any Act of Parliament."