The test of literature is, I suppose, whether we ourselves live more intensely for the reading of it.

Money buys access; access buys influence.

People are more violently opposed to fur than leather because it's safer to harass rich women than motorcycle gangs. People are very inclined to set moral standards for others.

Propaganda has a bad name, but its root meaning is simply to disseminate through a medium, and all writing therefore is propaganda for something. It's a seeding of the self in the consciousness of others.

The Republicans’ plan is that if they can’t buy the 2012 election they will steal it.

Democracy, like any non-coercive relationship, rests on a shared understanding of limits.

The test of literature is, I suppose, whether we ourselves live more intensely for the reading of it.