We wanted to test each other's capacity for survival: only if we had tried in vain to destroy one another would we know we were safe.

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.

Gaffe-focused journalism: revenge of intelligent people who know true evils are out there but lack the access/time to get to them.

To be shown love is to feel ourselves the object of concern: our presence is noted, our name is registered, our views are listened to, our failings are treated with indulgence and our needs are ministered to. And under such care, we flourish.

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

It is the most ambitious and driven among us who are the most sorely in need of having our reckless hopes dampened through immersive dousings in the darkness which religions have explored. This is a particular priority for secular Americans, perhaps the most anxious and disappointed people on earth, for their nation infuses them with the most extreme hopes about what they may be able to achieve in their working lives and relationships.

Must being in love always mean being in pain?