it is through the ghost [writer] that the great gift of knowledge which the inarticulate have for the world can be made available.

This is the power of the powerful to define, to structure, to say, 'This is the way the world works.' It's enormous power. Among the powers of the weak, I think the first one is the power not to believe the powerful.

As long as mixed grills and combination salads are popular, anthologies will undoubtedly continue in favor.

If there's nothing more powerful than an idea whose time has come, there is nothing more ubiquitously pervasive than an idea whose time won't go.

Powerful people get away with things. That's one way to demonstrate their difference from the rest of us.

we expect definitions to tell us not only what is, but what to do about it; to show us how the world fits together and how its different parts connect and work. ... A label is the first step toward action.

Love between women is seen as a paradigm of love between equals, and that is perhaps its greatest attraction.