Evelyn Waugh was in error when he said that in New York there was a neurosis in the air which the inhabitants mistook for energy. There was, rather, a tensile excitement in the air which made one think - made me think for many years - that time spent asleep in New York was somehow time wasted. Whether this thought has lengthened or shortened my life I shall never know, but it has certainly colored it.

Shepherds don't look after sheep because they love them - although I do think some shepherds like their sheep too much. They look after their sheep so they can, first, fleece them and second, turn them into meat. That's much more like the priesthood as I know it.

Only the aspirants for president are fool enough to believe what they read in the newspapers.

I retain what's interesting to me, but I don't have a lot of strategic depth.

A faction willing to take the risks of making war on the ossified status quo in the Middle East can be described as many things, but not as conservative.

To what faults do you feel most indulgent? To the ones that arise from urgent material needs.

The secular argument, or the liberal argument, is to as much as possible remove taboos so things do not become unmentionable; to let some air into the discussion.