I am aware that many critics consider the conditions in the stars not sufficiently extreme . . . the stars are not hot enough. The critics lay themselves open to an obvious retort: we tell them to go and find a hotter place.

A star is drawing on some vast reservoir of energy by means unknown to us. This reservoir can scarcely be other than the subatomic energy which, it is known exists abundantly in all matter; we sometimes dream that man will one day learn how to release it and use it for his service. The store is well nigh inexhaustible, if only it could be tapped. There is sufficient in the Sun to maintain its output of heat for 15 billion years.

We are bits of stellar matter that got cold by accident, bits of a star gone wrong.

It is reasonable to hope that in the not too distant future we shall be competent to understand so simple a thing as a star.

You cannot disturb the tiniest petal of a flower without the troubling of a distant star.