Democracy is the fig leaf of elitism.

The proliferation of support groups suggests to me that too many Americans are growing up in homes that do not contain a grandmoth.

Wit goes for the jugular, not the jocular, and it's the opposite of football; instead of building character, it tears it down.

In other countries, congenital introverts simply remain introverts all their lives, neither advancing nor retreating, but America's commitment to extroversion as a national art form can abrade some naturally aloof personalities until they flower into deadly nightshade.

Learn to spot and avoid "writer groupies." The writer's self-sufficiency and our love for our work tend to attract insecure people who never can get enough love. They grow jealous of our work and come to regard it as a rival. These people can destroy you, so kick them out of your life or don't admit them in the first place.

Each time a mediocre singer performs, he is saying, in effect, "This is good enough for you." The audience, thrust into that familiar American mood of knowing something is wrong but not knowing what it is, unconsciously absorbs the insult and projects it back onto the mediocre performer in the form of inattention, rudeness and noise.

If whisky or salt won't cure it, then to hell with it. I worry about important things.