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

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

Curiosity takes ignorance seriously - and is confident enough to admit when it's in the dark. It is aware of not knowing. And then it sets out to do something about it.

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.

My writing always came out of a very personal place, out of an attempt to stay sane.

The more dignity is widely and freely available in a society, the less people want to be famous.