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.

An argument in a couple: 2 people attempting to introduce each other to important truths - by panicked shouting.

Choosing a spouse and a choosing career: the two great decisions for which society refuses to set up institutional guidance.

We used to build temples, and museums are about as close as secular society dares to go in facing up to the idea that a good building can change your life (and a bad one ruin it).

The challenge for a human now is to be more interesting to another than his or her smartphone.

We envy only those whom we feel ourselves to be like; we envy only members of our reference group. There are few successes more unendurable than those of our close friends.

One of the unexpectedly important things that art can do for us is to teach us how to suffer more successfully.