The secular world is full of holes. We have secularized badly.

The problem is if you really believe in a society where those who merit to get to the top, get to the top, you’ll also, by implication … believe in a society where those who deserve to get to the bottom also get to the bottom and stay there.

Maturity: knowing where you're crazy, trying to warn others of the fact and striving to keep yourself under control.

It's hard loving those who don't much like themselves: "If you're so great, why would you think I'm so great.

When Proust urges us to evaluate the world properly, he repeatedly reminds us of the value of modest scenes.

Travel agents would be wiser to ask us what we hope to change about our lives rather than simply where we wish to go.

I am conscious of trying to stretch the boundaries of non-fiction writing. It's always surprised me how little attention many non-fiction writers pay to the formal aspects of their work.