I don't really think myself that sex work is necessarily more demeaning than other kinds of demeaning work.

Sexism goes so deep that at first it's hard to see; you think it's just reality.

Within walking distance of any spot on Earth there's probably more than enough mystery to investigate in a lifetime.

Ever since Freud, being alone has been considered something of a psychological failure. The point, according to Freudian theory, is to be able to love and connect. But I don't believe that at all. I think that being alone and being coupled and being in a group are all natural states in which people can thrive.

People often say to me now, "Your work changed my life." I'm sure that's an exaggeration, but they say it had a big effect on them and enabled them to change. I'm not sure I believe that a book will cause someone to change.

I don't really think myself that sex work is necessarily more demeaning than other kinds of demeaning work.

I did not intend to be a writer. I first wanted to be a lawyer, like my father. Then I got bit by the bug of philosophy and wanted to be a philosophy professor. I went to graduate school and quickly discovered it was impossible for a woman in those days - this was the early fifties - to be a philosopher, so I gave that up.