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

Taking architecture seriously therefore makes some singular and strenuous demands upon us...It means conceding that we are inconveniently vulnerable to the colour of our wallpaper and that our sense of purpose may be derailed by an unfortunate bedspread

Sublime places repeat in grand terms a lesson that ordinary life typically teaches viciously: that the universe is mightier than we are, that we are frail and temporary and have no alternative but to accept limitations on our will; that we must bow to necessities greater than ourselves.

Booksellers are the most valuable destination for the lonely, given the numbers of books that were written because authors couldn't find anyone to talk to.

If one felt successful, there'd be so little incentive to be successful.

One of the better guarantors of ending up in a good relationship: an advanced capacity to be alone.

People who go on to be writers are those who can forgive themselves the horror of the first draft.