The hero created himself; the celebrity is created by the media.

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

Until now when we have started to talk about the uniqueness of America we have almost always ended by comparing ourselves to Europe. Toward her we have felt all the attraction and repulsions of Oedipus

Our discontent begins by finding false villains whom we can accuse of deceiving us. Next we find false heroes whom we expect to liberate us. The hardest, most discomfiting discovery is that each of us must emancipate himself.

Where ruts have not yet been worn, it requires less effort to stay out of them.

destruction is easy for humans but creation is too difficult.

An enamored amateur need not be a genius to stay out of the ruts he has never been trained in.