“In the long run, failure was the only thing that worked predictably. All else was accidental.”

They agreed that it was neither possible nor necessary to educate people who never questioned anything.

Some men are born mediocre, some men achieve mediocrity, and some men have mediocrity thrust upon them.

The question is: what is a sane man to do in an insane society?

Be glad you’re even alive. Be furious you’re going to die.

I’ve only had four ideas for a novel in my life, and I’ve written all of them.

I think in every country that there is at least one executive who is scared of going crazy.

The country was in peril; he was jeopardizing his traditional rights of freedom and independence by daring to exercise them.

There was no telling what people might find out once they felt free to ask whatever questions they wanted to.

Destiny is a good thing to accept when it’s going your way. When it isn’t, don’t call it destiny; call it injustice, treachery, or simple bad luck.

The villains will come along. There were plenty in the Carter administration, and there will be plenty with Reagan.

Every writer I know has trouble writing.

Death to all modifiers, he declared one day, and out of every letter that passed through his hands went every adverb and every adjective.

There is no disappointment so numbing as someone no better than you achieving more.

Remember that everyone deserves some fun during working hours.

She was the epitome of stately sorrow each time she smiled.

I wouldn’t want to live without strong misgivings.

A photograph is not an accident – it is a concept.

Seriousness is an accident of time. It consists of putting too high a value on time. In eternity there is no time. Eternity is a moment, just long enough for a joke.

We don’t make mistakes, just happy little accidents.

You are not here accidentally – you are here meaningfully. There is a purpose behind you. The whole intends to do something through you.

We don’t make mistakes. We just have happy accidents.

The accident was a horrible thing – but that horrible thing made Chris, at the end of his life, Superman. It’s a happy irony if there is such a thing. I’m proud to have known him.

The principle of self-government cannot be violated with impunity. The individual’s right to it is sacred – regardless of class, caste, race, color, sex or any other accident or incident of birth.

We do not suffer by accident.