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

When the necessary eleven days were added, George Washington’s birthday, which fell on February 11, 1731, Old Style, became February 22, 1732, New Style.

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

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

Dispersed as the Jews are, they still form one nation, foreign to the land they live in.

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

Nothing is really real unless it happens on television.