“Unlike rockers and replicants, one thing geeks are not is reckless.”

“There is a loneliness that can be rocked. Arms crossed, knees drawn up, holding, holding on, this motion, unlike a ship's, smooths and contains the rocker. It's an inside kind--wrapped tight like skin. Then there is the loneliness that roams. No rocking can hold it down. It is alive. On its own. A dry and spreading thing that makes the sound of one's own feet going seem to come from a far-off place.”

“One of the advantages of science is that one's work, ultimately, is either replicated or it is not.”

“The simplest things that need self-restraint are the most difficult to replicate.”

“The word "geek" today does not mean what it used to mean. A geek isn't the skinny kid with a pocket protector and acne. There can be computer geeks, video game geeks, car geeks, military geeks, and sports geeks. Being a geek just means that you're passionate about something.”

“One of the strangest things about writing well is that it requires two different zones in the brain--rigor and recklessness--simultaneously.”