“In the beginning there was nothing, which exploded.” — Terry Pratchett Quote

“In the beginning there was nothing, which exploded.”

“Mum had done everything you need to educate a kid. She made me a kid who likes books and she told me about 'Wind in the Willows' and read it and I thought this is weird, Rat, Mole, Toad and my first ever Bolshie thought - you know about 'The Wind in the Willows.'”

“In theory it was, around now, Literature. Susan hated Literature. She'd much prefer to read a good book.”

“Journalism makes you think fast. You have to speak to people in all walks of life. Especially local journalism.”

“I read the 'Old Testament' all the way through when I was about 13 and was horrified. A few months afterwards I read 'The Origin Of Species', hallucinating very mildly because I was in bed with flu at the time. Despite that, or because of that, it all made perfect sense.”

“Gods don't like people not doing much work. People who aren't busy all the time might start to think.”

“What we perceive as disorder is often the universe optimizing itself through feedback and adaptation - Tom Golway”

“As a songwriter, pop music really is a love and a joy and a science, and I feel like a lot of people look at pop music with a very formulaic perspective in numbers and patterns, but an outsider would think that the process is very natural.”

“To find the universal elements enough; to find the air and the water exhilarating; to be refreshed by a morning walk or an evening saunter... to be thrilled by the stars at night; to be elated over a bird's nest or a wildflower in spring — these are some of the rewards of the simple life.”

“I started writing this book two years ago, to write the book I wish I had when I was finishing my undergrad or in my first years of grad school.”

“Science knows no country, because knowledge belongs to humanity, and is the torch which illuminates the world.”

“I didn't invent forensic science and medicine. I just was one of the first people to recognize how interesting it is.”