You normally have to be bashed about a bit by life to see the point of daffodils, sunsets and uneventful nice days.

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

The Arab-Israeli conflict is also in many ways a conflict about status: it's a war between two peoples who feel deeply humiliated by the other, who want the other to respect them. Battles over status can be even more intractable than those over land or water or oil.

Work finally begins when the fear of doing nothing exceeds the fear of doing it badly.

Journeys are the midwives of thought. Few places are more conducive to internal conversations than moving planes, ships or trains.

You normally have to be bashed about a bit by life to see the point of daffodils, sunsets and uneventful nice days.

The desire for high status is never stronger than in situations where "ordinary" life fails to answer a median need for dignity and comfort.