More from Alan Lightman
No one ever expects poetry to sell…
Alan LightmanAlan Lightman I have always loved magic realism as a form of writing.
Alan LightmanAlan Lightman The urge to discover, to invent, to know the unknown, seems so deeply human that we cannot imagine our history without it.
Alan LightmanAlan Lightman One cannot walk down an avenue, converse with a friend, enter a building, browse beneath the sandstone arches of an old arcade without meeting an instrument of time.
Alan LightmanAlan Lightman I think e-mail is representative of our fast food mentality in the United States, where everything has gotten faster and faster, and we’re required to respond to inputs more quickly with less time for thought and reflection.
Alan LightmanAlan Lightman The relationship between science and the humanities is two-way. Science changes our view of the world and our place in it. In the other direction, the humanities provide the store of ideas and images and language available to us in understanding the world.
Alan LightmanAlan Lightman Time is a rigid, bonelike structure, extending infinitely ahead and behind, fossilizing the future as well as the past.
Alan LightmanAlan Lightman Others hold that each decision must be considered and committed to, that without commitment there is chaos. Such people are content to live in contradictory worlds, so long as they know the reason for each.
Alan LightmanAlan Lightman Originality is also very important to a writer. And all of the writers I’ve mentioned, of course, are original, but it’s important to me that every book that I do be really a completely fresh and new look at the world.
Alan LightmanAlan Lightman The tragedy of this world is that everyone is alone. For a life in the past cannot be shared with the present. Each person who gets stuck in time gets stuck alone.
Alan LightmanAlan Lightman As a scientist, I don’t believe science will ever discover whether God exists. Nor do I believe religion will ever prove it.
Alan LightmanAlan Lightman Not only will two different readers get something different but so will a single reader at different points in his life.
Alan LightmanAlan Lightman If you told a story that was all darkness, it wouldn’t be real.
Alan LightmanAlan Lightman And if we can’t unplug from that machine, eventually we’re going to become mindless.
Alan LightmanAlan Lightman The tragedy of this world is that no one is happy, whether stuck in a time of pain or joy.
Alan LightmanAlan Lightman Illuminated by only the most feeble red light, for light is diminished to almost nothing at the center of time, its vibrations slowed to echoes in vast canyons, its intensity reduced to the faint glow of fireflies.
Alan LightmanAlan Lightman
Original quotes
From our community writers
We were dirt poor but we had each other. We didn’t need much to have a lot.
Brad NeatonBrad Neaton Always show kindness and love to others. Your words might be filling the empty places in someone else heart.
Alexander KandovAlexander Kandov One quick sip of your memory I let it slip, and I go on without you.
Emma SchippersEmma Schippers If the scars on my heart were visible to the naked eye, maybe you’d think twice about inflicting more.
Laura Natoli-KearneyLaura Natoli-Kearney I am getting better at forgetting you. I am slowly but steadily learning the art of forgetting you.
Juana GarciaJuana Garcia Paper and pen petrify me, for they pierce right through me, drawing deep blue blood, leaving me utterly cold.
Shreya JoshiShreya Joshi Spend time with people who get excited over even the smallest victories you earn.
Sonia SabnisSonia Sabnis I wonder if you were the poison or the antidote.
Ginnie BaleGinnie Bale
Meet the writers