I was born in Palo Alto, California in 1961.

I was partly old-fashioned and partly modern.

My father was a professor of civil engineering at MIT, and my mother taught high school English.

After a semester or so, my infatuation with computers burnt out as quickly as it had begun.

It was there I met my future wife, Celeste Landry, although our lives took us separate ways for many years and we were not to marry until more than ten years later.

Travel provided many interesting experiences, but perhaps the most useful lesson I learned was that I really had no proficiency for learning the thousands of characters of the written Chinese language.

There are relatively few experiments in atomic physics these days that don't involve the use of a laser.

Six months after that, I left Taiwan, first for Hong Kong and then for mainland China, where I spent another three months studying still more Chinese and generally kicking around the country.

As it was, I realized choosing the study of Chinese literature as my life's work was probably a mistake.

I was born in Palo Alto, California in 1961.

Conversely, I came to realize that being good at something is hardly a reason to avoid doing it.

Just before my final year of high school, my brother, sister and I moved with my mother to San Francisco.

My freshman year of high school I joined the chess and math clubs.

My head was always bubbling over with facts and it seems to me this had little to do with my paying close attention in school and more to do with my voracious and omnivorous reading habits.

My fellow students there were very smart, but the really novel thing was that they actually seemed to put a lot of effort into their school work. By the end of my first semester there, I began to get into that habit as well.

With every passing year, BEC proves that it still has surprises left for us.

Between rounds of speed chess I read enough of a programming manual to teach myself to write programs on the school's DEC mainframe in the language Basic.

The postdoc explained to me how to distinguish different sorts of particles on the basis of the amounts of energy they deposited in various sorts of detectors, spark chambers, calorimeters, what have you.

The 1970s, the decade of my teenage years, was a transitional period in American youth culture.

I certainly remember building model rockets. It was fun to watch the rocket blast into the air, suspenseful to wonder if the parachute would open to bring the rocket safely back.

Most of my teachers probably found I made less trouble if they let me read.

There may be less of a chance of losing all the money you put into a mutual fund than there is of losing all the money you put into lottery tickets, but you're never going to win big in a mutual fund.

But this is neither here nor there why do I mention it? Ask my pen, it governs me, I govern not it.

The MVP award was very satisfying in terms of personal accomplishments, but the championship was the most important thing of all.

The only reason why we ask other people how their weekend was is so we can tell them about our own weekend.

Technically a memoir, 'The Woman Warrior' becomes almost magical through its inclusion of folk tales, dreams, and revisions.

At some point in my life, before I was gone, I wanted to make an album, even if it was for no reason other than posterity.

I was afterwards sorry for this, though, if I ever travel again, I shall trust to none but natives, as the climate of Africa is too trying to foreigners.

But aloud the praises and give the victor crown. To our noble hearted Firemen who fear not dangers frown.

I don't find slashing and blood flying everywhere to be scary. I just find it repulsive.

The day of the week changes, but one day in the week I eat vegetarian.

Chicago is unique. It is the only completely corrupt city in America.

It is motive alone that gives real value to the actions of men, and disinterestedness puts the cap to it

I suppose I see myself as a modern soul artist.

The nature of the lost-wax process is that there is no original in the popular sense.

The concept of total wellness recognizes that our every thought, word, and behavior affects our greater health and well-being. And we, in turn, are affected not only emotionally but also physically and spiritually.

Self-doubt is real. Everyone has it. Having confidence and losing confidence is real, too, and everyone has been in that position.

And though it is much to be a nobleman, it is more to be a gentleman.

Terrorism is not a public health threat, relative to cancer and heart disease and malaria and so forth.

I always wear beige, black or white. For one thing I look good in them. For another, when I'm beside a star at a fitting, and she looks into the mirror, I don't want to be competing in any way.

Worrying does not empty tomorrow of its trials, but it often empties today of its triumphs. Worrying accomplishes nothing.

Acumen Fund is my prayer in response to genocide and what happened in Rwanda.

I never thought I would be the oldest quarterback in the National Football League at one point, not in a million years. I never thought I would play as long as I did, either, seventeen years from start to finish, with stops in Houston, Minnesota, Seattle, and Kansas City.

This one, even though it called for San Francisco, I think they wanted to initially shoot part of the film up here, you know get the exteriors and then go back to L.A. We really fought to get it up here and I think Paramount was really pleased.

Reason is a whore, the greatest enemy that faith has.