I left school at 16 but I wish I'd gone to university - I think I would have studied English literature. I had a knack for that. But I don't think you have the kind of wisdom at 16 to make that decision.

Wisdom finds its literary expression in wisdom literature.

Fiction is a kind of compassion-generating machine that saves us from sloth. Is life kind or cruel? Yes Literature answers. Are people good or bad? You bet says Literature. But unlike other systems of knowing Literature declines to eradicate one truth in favor of another.

The reason that fiction is more interesting than any other form of literature to those who really like to study people is that in fiction the author can really tell the truth without humiliating himself.

The genre has moved into this commercial aspect of itself and ignored this extraordinarily rich literature that's filed everywhere else except under travel.

My writing is a combination of three elements. The first is travel: not travel like a tourist but travel as exploration. The second is reading literature on the subject. The third is reflection.

In my teens I developed a passionate idolatry for a teacher of English literature. I wanted to do something that he would approve of more so I thought I should be some sort of a scholar.

Literature is my life of course but from an ontological point of view. From an existential point of view I like being a teacher.

I didn't read so much Japanese literature. Because my father was a teacher of Japanese literature I just wanted to do something else.

Internationalism on the other hand admits that spiritual achievements have their roots deep in national life from this national consciousness art and literature derive their character and strength and on it even many of the humanistic sciences are firmly based.

To achieve lasting literature fictional or factual a writer needs perceptive vision absorptive capacity and creative strength.

If you look at the purported dangers of salt or fat there is no consensus of support in scientific literature. So I would ask first: 'Is it possible to have an informed government that actually follows the science?' From what I've seen it's not likely.

I dislike literary jargon and never use it. Criticism has only one function and that is to help readers read and understand literature. It is not a science it is an aid to art.

Change is the principal feature of our age and literature should explore how people deal with it. The best science fiction does that head-on.

Beyond that I seem to be compelled to write science fiction rather than fantasy or mysteries or some other genre more likely to climb onto bestseller lists even though I enjoy reading a wide variety of literature both fiction and nonfiction.

In science read by preference the newest works. In literature read the oldest. The classics are always modern.

Facts are not science - as the dictionary is not literature.

Gender consciousness has become involved in almost every intellectual field: history literature science anthropology. There's been an extraordinary advance.

Science and literature give me answers. And they ask me questions I will never be able to answer.

The world of science and the world of literature have much in common. Each is an international club helping to tie mankind together across barriers of nationality race and language. I have been doubly lucky being accepted as a member of both.

Everything is becoming science fiction. From the margins of an almost invisible literature has sprung the intact reality of the 20th century.

Science means simply the aggregate of all the recipes that are always successful. All the rest is literature.

The most watched programme on the BBC after the news is probably 'Doctor Who.' What has happened is that science fiction has been subsumed into modern literature. There are grandparents out there who speak Klingon who are quite capable of holding down a job. No one would think twice now about a parallel universe.

In science read by preference the newest works in literature the oldest. The classic literature is always modern.