“The right to be irresponsible and stupid is something I hold very dear. And luckily it is something I do well.”

“When you do something stupid and die, it's pathetic,” I said. “When you do something stupid and survive it, then you get to call it impressive or heroic.”

“I looked at Rachel. "You're not going to do anything stupid, are you? I mean…. you talked to Chiron, right?"
She managed a faint smile. "You're worried aboutdoing something stupid?”

“This fascination with computer models is something I understand very well. Richard Feynmann called it a disease. I fear he is right.”

“If you're going to do something stupid—and we all do—it might as well be a brave and foolish thing.”

“The universe is seeming really huge right now. I need something to hold on to.”

“Dear Jesus, do something.”

“Because I'm a person who always has to do something. If I cannot do anything, I'm in a very bad way. But really I'm always working on something. And I always want to work, too. Well, the few artists I know really well, they are all so... It's a really bad block when you think, right, now I've got to do art. It really is very important to learn that that is not the most important thing.”

“I’m not stupid, nor a liar,” I said, “and if I can’t do any good, I can at least do something”

“Yes, it is true that sometimes unusually intelligent and sensitive children can appear to be stupid. But stupid children can sometimes appear to be stupid as well. I think that's something you might have to consider.”