The improved American highway system isolated the American-in-transit. On his speedway he had no contact with the towns which he by-passed. If he stopped for food or gas, he was served no local fare or local fuel, but had one of Howard Johnson's nationally branded ice cream flavors, and so many gallons of Exxon. This vast ocean of superhighways was nearly as free of culture as the sea traversed by the Mayflower Pilgrims.

The hero was distinguished by his achievement; the celebrity by his name or trademark.

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

God is the celebrity author of the world's best seller. We have made god into the biggest celebrity of all, to contain our own emptiness.

Human models are more vivid and more persuasive than explicit moral commands.

In America, communities existed before governments. There were many groups of people with a common sense of purpose and a feeling of duty to one another before there were political institutions.

There's something beautifully soothing about a fact — even (or perhaps especially) if we're not sure what it means.