In a world in which time is a circle, every handshake, every kiss, every birth, every word, will be repeated precisely.

It's the Platonic philosophy in The Republic that philosophers should lead the country.

I spend a lot of time just listening to the ospreys. I watch them go through their life cycle. They spend the winter in South America. The mother and father osprey stay together. It's a monogamous relationship. And every summer they raise a new brood of children. They came back to the nest in the middle of April. They take separate vacations in the winter - the mother and father.

For my students who are trying to learn the craft of writing in a writing class - contemporary literature is what's most useful.

Writers are a loosely knit community - community is an overstated word. Writers don't see each other very much.

A world in which time is absolute is a world of consolation. For while the movements of people are unpredictable, the movement of time is predictable. While people can be doubted, time cannot be doubted. While people brood, time skips ahead without looking back. In the coffee houses, in the government buildings, in boats of Lake Geneva, people look at their watches and take refuge in time. Each person knows that somewhere is recorded the moment she was born, the moment she took her first step, the moment of her first passion, the moment she said goodbye to her parents.

A world with one month is a world of equality.