I am unable to distinguish clearly between your religious ceremonies and apparently identical behavior at the… — Arthur C. Clarke

Since women are better at producing babies, presumably Nature has given men some talent to compensate. But for the moment I can't think of it.

There was no substitute for reality; one should be aware of imitations.

The fates could not possibly be so malevolent, now that he had only a few hundred meters to go.

He was whistling in the dark, of course. How many aircraft had crashed at the very edge of the runway, after safely crossing an ocean? How many times had machines or muscles failed when there were only millimeters to go? Every possible piece of luck, bad as well as good, happened to somebody, somewhere. He had no right to expect any special treatment.