Both of us, me and Friedrich Nietzsche being writers, if we weren't capable of some strategic self-deception, we would have moved on to more lucrative careers long ago.

I don't care about the politics, I don't care about the practicality, I don't care about any of it.

Both of us, me and Friedrich Nietzsche being writers, if we weren't capable of some strategic self-deception, we would have moved on to more lucrative careers long ago.

What is the most fascinating kind of self-deception to me, and a kind that isn't necessarily unhealthy, is what Friedrich Nietzsche called "strategic self-deception." The kind of self-deception that you can engage in with your eyes wide open. You do it because you say, "There's things that I couldn't accomplish without this kind of self-deception."

Unreflective self-deception leads people into hypocrisy and all sorts of moral failings. When you look at these people who are busy pontificating like I was a moment ago - Saint Clancy - those are the people that get into the most egregious kinds of moral problems.

That is the person you want publishing your book. To be in it, you really have to believe in books and love whatever it is you're publishing. Both on the book side and especially on the magazine side, I've had editors that I did not get the same feeling from. That feeling of, "This is something I believe in, I don't care how long, I'm going to publish it" - that kind of passion and commitment means a lot to you.

I guess we romanticize the loser.