Good books put a finger on emotions that are deeply our own - but that we could never have described on our own.

The only possible way to begin a book is to tell oneself that its eventual failure is guaranteed — but survivable.

We are sad at home and blame the weather and the ugliness of the buildings, but on the tropical island we learn that the state of the skies and the appearance of our dwellings can never on their own underwrite our joy nor condemn us to misery.

It is in dialogue with pain that many beautiful things acquire their value. Acquaintance with grief turns out to be one of the more unusual prerequisites of architectural appreciation. We might, quite aside from all other requirements, need to be a little sad before buildings can properly touch us.

Must being in love always mean being in pain?

as the determinants of high status keep shifting, so, too, naturally, will the triggers of status anxiety be altered.

We should read other people's books in order to learn what we feel; it is our own thoughts we should be developing, even if it is another writer's thought that help us to do so.