The traveler used to go about the world to encounter the natives. A function of travel agencies now is to prevent this encounter.

American civilization, from its beginnings, had combined a dogmatic confidence in the future with a naive puzzlement over what the future might bring.

Reading is like the sex act - done privately, and often in bed.

The Christian test was a willingness to believe in the one Jesus Christ and His Message of salvation. What was demanded was not criticism but credulity. The Church Fathers observed that in the realm of thought only heresy had a history.

The hero was distinguished by his achievement; the celebrity by his image or trademark. The hero created himself; the celebrity is created by the media. The hero was a big man; the celebrity is a big name.

Americans expect to eat and stay thin, to be constantly on the move and ever more neighborly ... to revere God and be God.

As you make your bed, so you must lie in it.