"Consciousness is a state of existence where subjects are aware of their surroundings and can respond to its demands according to internal and external perceptions."

"A culture fixated on female thinness is not an obsession about female beauty, but an obsession about female obedience. Dieting is the most potent political sedative in women’s history; a quietly mad population is a tractable one."

"When a lie makes a soft bed for everyone, may the truth lie low. God as commonly understood appears to be one such lie. God as non-existence is not everyone's cup of tea and He better remain so."

"The future is too interesting and dangerous to be entrusted to any predictable, reliable agency. We need all the fallibility we can get. Most of all, we need to preserve the absolute unpredictability and total improbability of our connected minds. That way we can keep open all the options, as we have in the past."

"Shukladhyan (pure contemplation of the Self, the Soul) means focused awareness of the eternal form of the Self, the Soul. Dhyan (contemplation or one’s focused effort) is a natural thing. And in pure applied awareness as Pure Soul (shuddha upayog), one must do spiritual effort with awareness of the separation of the Self and non-Self."

"What's interesting about science is that we're constantly discovering new things about the universe, about ourselves, about our bodies, about diseases, about the possibilities of the future. It's amazing. Science is one of the coolest things about being a human being - without a doubt."

"I don't like to think of it as 'stolen'. They have no proof that I didn't plan on giving it back.'You're kidding, right?'He shrugged. 'You have no proof either.'She squinted back at him. 'Were you planning on giving it back?'Maybe.'An orange light blinked on in the corner of Cinder's vision-her cyborg programming picking up on the lie."

"The arts that have escaped [uniformity] best are the arts in which the public take no interest. Poetry is an instance of what I mean. We have been able to have fine poetry in England because the public do not read it, and consequently do not influence it."