“The book is finished by the reader. A good novel should invite the reader in and let the reader participate in the creative experience and bring their own life experiences to it, interpret with their own individual life experiences. Every reader gets something different from a book and every reader, in a sense, completes it in a different way.” WayShouldBookDifferentIndividualNovelCreativeReaderFinishedDifferent WaysInvitesLife ExperienceIndividual Life Author:Alan Lightman
“A good book changes for you every few years because you are in a different place in your own life. That's a sign of a good novel. Not only will two different readers get something different but so will a single reader at different points in his life.” YearsTwoBookDifferentNovelReaderGood BookDifferent Place Author:Alan Lightman
“I think that the scienti?c way of looking at the world, and the humanistic way of looking at the world are complementary. There are important differences which should be preserved, and in trying to do away with those differences we would lose something the same way as if we tried to make all religions one religion or all races one race. There is a cultural diversity that's very valuable, and it's valuable to have different ways of looking at the world.” IfsThinkingWorldWayShouldTryingImportantDifferentLosesDifferencesRaceDiversityValuableDifferent WaysCultural DiversityComplementaryHumanistic Author:Alan Lightman
“In fiction writing, I would say there are several different strands that have been woven through my own writing, and each influenced by a different group of writers.” WritingHas BeensDifferentMy OwnFictionGroupsWovenFiction WritingStrands Author:Alan Lightman
“I picked such seemingly disparate essays, I thought it was important to say what was the guiding principle in the selection rather than focus on any one essay. I reached for some principle that had been subconscious in me and lifted it into consciousness. Authenticity and sincerity were the most important unifying principles of all these apparently different essays.” ImportantDifferentConsciousnessPrinciplesFocusAuthenticitySinceritySubconsciousEssaysSelectionUnifyingGuiding Principles Author:Alan Lightman
“I think what gets you through a small writing project, is just one burst of inspiration. A book, especially a longer book, it's a different kind of force that pushes you through it. It's a vision of the whole thing.” ThinkingWritingKindBookDifferentWholeInspirationForceVisionProjectsJust OneDifferent Kinds Author:Alan Lightman
“Every reader gets something different from a book and every reader, in a sense, completes it in a different way.” WayBookDifferentReaderDifferent Ways Author:Alan Lightman
“I re-read a lot of books that I like a lot. There are some books that I try to reread every couple of years. A good book changes for you every few years because you are in a different place in your own life.” TryingYearsBookDifferentCoupleGood BookDifferent Place Author:Alan Lightman
“I think people all over the institution recognize that different ways of understanding are valuable. Artists may think in a different way than biologists or chemists, but you can learn something from that. It is true that the arts at MIT don't have the same amount of funding or same status as the sciences or engineering.” PeopleThinkingWayMayArtDifferentArtistUnderstandingAmountInstitutionsValuableDifferent WaysEngineeringFundingBiologistChemistMit Author:Alan Lightman
“In this world, time has three dimensions, like space. Just as an object may move in three perpendicular directions, corresponding to horizontal, vertical, and longitudinal, so an object may participate in three perpendicular futures. Each future moves in a different direction of time. Each future is real. At every point of decision, the world splits into three worlds, each with the same people, but different fates for those people. In time, there are an infinity of worlds.” PeopleWorldMayDifferentRealMovingThreeSpaceDecisionFateObjectsThis WorldDimensionsInfinitySplitsDifferent DirectionsCorrespondingVerticalHorizontalThree Dimensions Book:Einstein's Dreams Source: Einstein's Dreams
“As both a scientist and a humanist myself, I have struggled to understand different claims to knowledge, and I have eventually come to a formulation of the kind of religious belief that would, in my view, be compatible with science.” KindDifferentBeliefReligiousViewsScientistClaimsHumanistReligious BeliefCompatible Book:The Accidental Universe: The World You Thought You Knew Source: The Accidental Universe: The World You Thought You Knew
