All writers have roots they draw from - travel, work, family. My roots are in science and it is fertile ground for… — Alan Lightman Copy Share Image
I think it is always a long shot getting a book made into a film. Making that book into a film is… — Alan Lightman Book Copy Share Image
The history of science can be viewed as the recasting of phenomena that were once thought to be accidents as phenomena that… — Alan Lightman Accidents Copy Share Image
“Consider a world in which cause and effect are erratic. Sometimes the first precedes the second, and sometimes the second the first.… — Alan Lightman Cause and effect Copy Share Image
As a scientist, I don't believe science will ever discover whether God exists. Nor do I believe religion will ever prove it. — Alan Lightman Copy Share Image
I have always loved magic realism as a form of writing. I have also been fascinated for a long time with the… — Alan Lightman Copy Share Image
The world is moving faster and faster, but where are we going?I think one of the reasons why things are getting blurry… — Alan Lightman Copy Share Image
I think what gets you through a small writing project, is just one burst of inspiration. A book, especially a longer book,… — Alan Lightman Book Copy Share Image
"The Diagnosis" had ten drafts of very significant changing, where I went through the whole book, wholesale and changed everything. Then the… — Alan Lightman Book Copy Share Image
“And I think of the night-blooming cereus, a plant that looks like a leathery weed most of the year. But for one… — Alan Lightman Flower Copy Share Image
I picked such seemingly disparate essays, I thought it was important to say what was the guiding principle in the selection rather… — Alan Lightman Authenticity Copy Share Image
I oppose any belief that contradicts experimental evidence as determined by the methods of science. All beliefs not in such contradiction may… — Alan Lightman Belief Copy Share Image
But what is the past? Could it be, the firmness of the past is just illusion? Could the past be a kaleidoscope,… — Alan Lightman Breeze Copy Share Image
“Consider a world in which cause and effect are erratic. Sometimes the first precedes the second, sometimes the second the first… Each… — Alan Lightman Cause and effect Copy Share Image
In this world, there are two times. There is mechanical time and there is body time." "They do not keep clocks in… — Alan Lightman Body Copy Share Image
The tragedy of this world is that no one is happy, whether stuck in atime of pain or of joy. The tragedy… — Alan Lightman Joy Copy Share Image
If I were not a writer, I would spend more time doing the things that I am already doing, which include doing… — Alan Lightman Copy Share Image
As human beings, don't we need questions without answers as well as questions with answers, questions that we might someday answer and… — Alan Lightman Copy Share Image
I've taken a philosophical position on e-mail. Although I think it's a wonderful communication technology, and it has a lot of good… — Alan Lightman Communication Copy Share Image
It's not necessarily a large number of people that affect the culture. You don't count the number of influential voices, you weigh… — Alan Lightman Culture Copy Share Image
In this world, artists are joyous. Unpredictability is the life of their paintings, their music, their novels. They delight in events not… — Alan Lightman Art Copy Share Image
It is a world of impulse. It is a world of sincerity. It is a world in which every word spoken speaks… — Alan Lightman Copy Share Image
For it is only habit and memory that dulls the physical passion. Without memory, each night is the first night, each morning… — Alan Lightman Copy Share Image
As I understand it, a universe is a ... well, a totality. A universe is everything that is, as far as the… — Alan Lightman Physics Copy Share Image
With a background in science I am extremely interested in the meeting ground of science, theology, and philosophy, especially the ethical questions… — Alan Lightman Copy Share Image
As both a scientist and a humanist myself, I have struggled to understand different claims to knowledge, and I have eventually come… — Alan Lightman Belief Copy Share Image
We're plugged in 24 hours a day now. We're all part of one big machine, whether we are conscious of that or… — Alan Lightman Copy Share Image
In fiction writing, I would say there are several different strands that have been woven through my own writing, and each influenced… — Alan Lightman Copy Share Image
I value my correspondence with writers...I was in New York and had lunch with Oliver Sachs and compared notes with him -… — Alan Lightman Correspondence Copy Share Image
Nature is purposeless. Nature simply is. We may find nature beautiful or terrible, but those feelings are human constructions. Such utter and… — Alan Lightman Copy Share Image
One metaphor for how we are living is that you see so may people with cell phones. In restaurants, walking, they have… — Alan Lightman Body Copy Share Image
Originality is also very important to a writer. And all of the writers I've mentioned, of course, are original, but it's important… — Alan Lightman Book Copy Share Image
I have a family and you know very well the time that that takes. That's good time. I have a couple hobbies.… — Alan Lightman Bridges Copy Share Image
The book is finished by the reader. A good novel should invite the reader in and let the reader participate in the… — Alan Lightman Book Copy Share Image
“In a world of fixed future, there can be no right or wrong. Right and wrong demand freedom of choice, but if… — Alan Lightman Choice Copy Share Image
“In another house, a man sits alone at his table, laid out for two. Ten years ago, he sat here across from… — Alan Lightman Father Copy Share Image
Despite our strongly felt kinship and oneness with nature, all the evidence suggests that nature doesn't care one whit about us. Tornadoes,… — Alan Lightman Care Copy Share Image
Some make light of decisions, arguing that all possible decisions will occur. In such a world, how could one be responsible for… — Alan Lightman Action Copy Share Image
In a world without future, each parting of friends is a death. In a world without future, each loneliness is final. In… — Alan Lightman Copy Share Image
I go to live in Maine for the summer. Without computer, and without the telephone service we are mercifully without the faxes… — Alan Lightman Computer Copy Share Image
