Love, like a sense of humor, is now claimed by everyone even though Love, like a sense of humor, is rather more rare than not, and to most of us poor muddlers unbearable at full strength.

I'm a true reactionary. Like all patricians, I'd like to restore the original republic, which we lost 40 years ago when Harry Truman imposed the national security state on us, which has kept us at war, hot or cold, for almost half a century, and it's got us $4 trillion into debt.

All I want is that Americans still be able to read the alphabet in a hundred years. I am not very ambitious.

I never miss a chance to have sex or appear on television.

Where there is no desire or pursuits, there is no wholeness. But there are satisfying lesser states, fragments.

In America, the race goes to the loud, the solemn, the hustler. If you think you're a great writer, you must say that you are.

It is notable how little empathy is cultivated or valued in our society. I put this down to our traditional racism and obsessive sectarianism. Even so, one would think that we would be encouraged to project ourselves into the character of someone of a different race or class, if only to be able to control him. But no effort is made.