Douglas Hofstadter

You make decisions, take actions, affect the world, receive feedback from the world, incorporate it into yourself, then the updated 'you' makes more decisions, and so forth, 'round and 'round.

I don't feel I have the right to snuff the lives of chicken and fish.

If a mosquito has a soul, it is mostly evil. So I don't have too many qualms about putting a mosquito out of its misery. I'm a little more respectful of ants.

I'm kind of proud of myself. I've been able to keep a certain grace about me, even in the times of disgrace and craziness.

If approval was a criterion in this country, nothing would ever get done.

What people don't understand about Sarah Palin is that she is a rancher's wife. From Alberta down to Texas I've known women like that: good common sense, bright and vilified by city people.