It seemed an advantage to be traveling alone. Our responses to the world are crucially moulded by the company we keep, for we temper our curiosity to fit in with the expectations of others...Being closely observed by a companion can also inhibit our observation of others; then, too, we may become caught up in adjusting ourselves to the companion's questions and remarks, or feel the need to make ourselves seem more normal than is good for our curiosity.

The genius of religions is that they structure the inner life.

It should not be Illiers-Combray that we visit: a genuine homage to Proust would be to look at our world through his eyes, not look at his world through our eyes.

Not being understood may be taken as a sign that there is much in one to understand.

We study biology, physics, movements of glaciers... Where are the classes on envy, feeling wronged, despair, bitterness.

Getting to the top has an unfortunate tendency to persuade people that the system is OK after all.

The desire for high status is never stronger than in situations where "ordinary" life fails to answer a median need for dignity and comfort.