It's very hard to respect people on holiday - everybody looks so silly at the beach, it makes you hate humanity - but when you see people at their work they elicit respect, whether it's a mechanic, a stonemason or an accountant.

One rarely falls in love without being as much attracted to what is interestingly wrong with someone as what is objectively healthy.

There is always the option of being emotionally lazy, that is, of quoting.

Only by declaring a book completely finished can one start to see how much remains to be done on it.

We read the weird tales in newspapers to crowd out the even weirder stuff inside us.

What kills us isn't one big thing, but thousands of tiny obligations we can't turn down for fear of disappointing others.

People who hold important positions in society are commonly labelled "somebodies," and their inverse "nobodies"-both of which are, of course, nonsensical descriptors, for we are all, by necessity, individuals with distinct identities and comparable claims on existence. Such words are nevertheless an apt vehicle for conveying the disparate treatment accorded to different groups. Those without status are all but invisible: they are treated brusquely by others, their complexities trampled upon and their singularities ignored.