I try to figure out - intellectually, philosophically, psychologically - what the experience of beauty is.

Solemnity and a complete absence of irony also mark kitsch.

Beauty is nature’s way of acting at a distance.

It's a grave mistake in publishing, whether you're talking about Internet or print publication, to try to play to a limited repertoire of established reader interests.

I try to figure out - intellectually, philosophically, psychologically - what the experience of beauty is.

A few years ago, Bill Gates was boasting that we'll soon have sensors which will turn on the music that we like or show on the walls the paintings we like when we walk into a room. How boring! The hell with our preexisting likes; let's expand ourselves intellectually.

Dumbing down takes many forms: art that is good for you, museums that flatter you, universities that increase your self-esteem. Culture, after all, is really about you.