"5) If you've nothing to say, say it any way you like. Stylistic innovations, contorted story lines or none, exotic or genderless pronouns, internal inconsistencies, the recipe for preparing your lover as a cannibal banquet: feel free. If what you have to say is important and/or difficult to follow, use the simplest language possible. If the reader doesn't get it then, let it not be your fault."

"4) It is a sin to waste the reader's time."

"3) Stories to end all stories on a given topic, don't."

"2) Never be embarrased or ashamed about anything you choose to write. (Think of this before you send it to a market)"

"1) Writers who write for other writers should write letters."

"19) Think before you make the coward's choice. Old age is not for sissies."

"17) No technique works if it isn't used."

"16) There is no cause so right that one cannot find a fool following it. To prove a point, one may seek out a foolish Socialist, thirteenth century Liberal, Scientologist, High Frontier advocate, Mensa member, science fiction fan, Jim Bakker acolyte, Christian, witch, or fanatical devotee of Special Interest Lib. It doesn't really reflect on the cause itself. Ad hominem argument saves time, but it's still a fallacy."

"11) There is a time and place for tact. And there are times when tact is entirely misplaced."

"10) Anarchy is the least stable of social structures."

"9) Ethics change with technology."

"8) History never repeats itself."

"7) Any damn fool can predict the past."

"6) It is easier to destroy than create. Bin Laden tore down the World Trade Center? Let's see him build one. If human beings didn't have a strong preference for creation, nothing would get built, ever."

"5) Psi and/or magical powers, if real, are nearly useless."

"4) Giving up freedom for security has begun to look naive. Even to me. Many of you were ahead of me on this — Three out of four hijacked airplanes destroyed the World Trade Center and a piece of the Pentagon in 2001. How is it possible that those planes were taken using only five perps armed with knives? It was possible because all those hundreds of passengers had been carefully stripped of every possible weapon. We may want to reconsider this approach. It doesn't work in high schools either."

"3) Mother Nature doesn't care if you're having fun."

"2) Never fire a laser at a mirror."

"1a) Never throw shit at an armed man. 1b) Never stand next to someone who is throwing shit at an armed man."

"Here is where the predictions failed: We didn't take Cargo Cult mentality into account: "if somebody has something I don't, he must have stolen it." We didn't understand how good we could get at communication — when you have something that someone else doesn't, the whole damn planet knows it."

"Cheap superconductors imply maglev trains everywhere. Computers could get big again, with RAM/ROM rising by powers of forty and fifty, if superconductors shed the heat. Laser handguns against superconducting armor. I'm not predicting; I just love playing with superconductors."

"We've fallen way behind. Building one space station for everyone was and is insane: we should have built a dozen."

"The wealth of the universe is all over your head. We need to take command of the solar system to gain that wealth, and to escape the sea of paper our government is becoming, and for some decent chance of stopping a Dinosaur Killer asteroid."

"We follow the scientists around and look over their shoulders. They're watching their feet: provable mistakes are bad for them. We're looking as far ahead as we can, and we don't get penalized for mistakes."

"“It’s a joy,” she said, “watching you keep your mouth shut.”"

"What’s intelligence for if not for seeking knowledge?"

"Sex was a game nobody lost."

"“I copied it.” “Sure you did, joker, but they drew what they thought you wanted and you copied what you thought you saw—”"

"Cooking was creation itself; It seemed to put the universe in perspective."

"Avalon was neutral. The children of Earth might die, they might thrive. Avalon would embrace their bones or the progeny with equal warmth."

"The difference between a good man and a bad one is the choice of cause."

"“I couldn’t sit here and tell you that I’m sorry it happened.” “Even with the death…?” “Everybody dies. The obstetrician slaps you on the ass with one hand and hands you a postdated death certificate with the other. What’s important is that our children have a better chance. It’s always been about the children. Always. Women have never loved being kept from education and treated as second-class citizens. Men have never enjoyed having their balls shot off in wars. Men and women didn’t fall into their roles accidentally, and each side doesn’t hate the other. It happened because for a thousand generations, that was the best way we knew to build a civilization, to build a better future for our children. The industrial revolution doomed slavery—racial, sexual, social. Civilization is worth fighting for.”"

"“They should give medals for this, Martinez.” “By the time the paperwork goes through, we’ll both be dead and gone.” “Too true.”"

"“Turning into a tradition, isn’t it?” “Around here, anything that happens twice is a tradition.”"

"Sometimes you just have to be satisfied with what you are."

"“You think that you are the great man because you know all of these things.” He waved his arms at the panels and the dials surrounding them, and out the windows to the stars beyond. He shook his head. “Poor foolish man. Do you really think that these things matter? No, you are nothing but a driver, a highly-paid, educated servant. The real decisions, the real power will always be with the men who understand money. And we will always own men like you.”"

"Everybody was talking and nobody was communicating."

"As I said before, Mr. Fleming, we understand terrorists. There are two things to remember in dealing with them. First: we must never accede to their demands. Second: those of us who abhor their actions must be prepared to stand together against them."

"“What the hell is this?” Acacia asked. Tammi examined a necklace of human teeth. “Looks like a cross between a santería minimart and a head shop.”"

"In certain video games, it is impossible to win. All you can do is survive as long as you can, piling up points, until you are eventually dragged down and killed. Much like life itself?"

"Nice to know that he had the gods on his side. Better make sure the lawyers were there, too."

"Whatever benefits voodoo conferred, intellectual agility was not among them."

"It was a bad omen. Glitches were a lot like cockroaches. If you didn’t catch them in time, they’d scuttle off into someplace dark and warm and begin to breed."

"We don’t break rules, but we bend the hell out of them."

"Isn’t the history of human interaction the conversion of neighbors into enemies? Or into nonhumans, that we might deprive them of said chattels, or life itself?"

"One bad, stupid decision could twist a life completely out of true."

"“I didn’t know you were such a fighter,” Eviane said. “Yeah, well, neither did I.” She smiled shyly. “Does that make a big difference?” he asked hesitantly. “Always,” she said. She stared at that bank of fog as if it concealed answers to every important question. “Oh, girls say that they want strong sensitive men. When we can’t find both, we settle for strong.” Some part of him resented that. “Evolution in action?” She nodded. “Sure. Deep down inside, we all know that something like this could happen. That the civilization we’d spent so much time and money building up could all come toppling down. And if it did, what would get us through is strength.” “Not just physical strength, though.”"

"“That’s pretty minor. What kind of Gods are these?” “Petty, like all Gods. On the other hand, there’s no penalty at all for masturbation.” “I’m changing religions,” Kevin said positively."

"“What’s it like being dead?” Hebert asked. “Not bad, really,” Wood Owl answered after a moment’s consideration. “Like waiting for a tax refund, only slower.”"

"“Last coffee I had was on the tube out from Denver.” He made a face. Hippogryph was willing. “That bad?” “Let’s put it this way. I had the concierge send it out to a lab. Got a call back saying ‘Congratulations, your moose is pregnant.’”"