“In no department can a leader spend time more profitably than in the selection of the men who are to accomplish the work.”

“The fulfillment of the cultural mandate involves hard work, and men need to be hard in order to do the work.”

“In today's world, we look at our presidents, our prime ministers, our princes and our potentates,and we describe them as our leaders. But they're not. They're merely our rulers.The leaders are the people who change the minds and stimulate the imaginations of the public,whether children or adults. That means the moviemakers, the people who make TV shows, the entertainment people in the business.”

“TV and the Internet are good because they keep stupid people from spending too much time out in public.”

“You may not instantly see why I bring the subject up, but that is because my mind works so phenomenally fast, and I am at a rough estimate thirty billion times more intelligent than you. Let me give you an example. Think of a number, any number.”“Er, five,” said the mattress.“Wrong,” said Marvin. “You see?”

“It took a bit of popcorn and a library snack bar to make me realize that being a librarian was about more than just giving people information. It was about serving a community. And if the community is hungry for more than just knowledge, then maybe it’s about time to open a snack bar.”

“Why are people born? Why do they die? Why do they want to spend so much of the intervening time wearing digital watches?”