The real community of man, in the midst of all the self-contradictory simulacra of community, is the community of those who seek the truth, of the potential knowers, that is, in principle, of all men to the extent they desire to know. But in fact this includes only a few, the true friends, as Plato was to Aristotle at the very moment they were disagreeing about the nature of the good.

Law may prescribe that the male nipples be made equal to the female ones, but they still will not give milk.

The facile economic and psychological debunking of the theoretical life cannot do away with its irreducible beauties.

A new language always reflects a new point of view, and the gradual unconscious popularization of new words, or of old words used in new ways, is a sure sign of a profound change in people's articulation of the world.

Most of all I admire Mozart's capacity to be both deep and rational, a combination often said to be impossible.

Classical music is a special taste like Greek language or pre-Columbian archeology, not a common culture of reciprocal communication and psychological shorthand.

The students [of the 60's] substituted conspicuous compassion for their parents' conspicuous consumption.