I was just looking at moving to Cambridge, and a house I was looking at cost a million dollars. Because somehow, that's what a house costs. And I was thinking, "How can it be?" And I was thinking, "What am I doing? Am I going to be Niall Ferguson, that horrible man?

My writing has always been met with derision or dismissal.

It is sad that unless you are born a god, your life,from its very beginning, is a mystery to you.

None of us seem to think that we should draw a line under what would be a satisfactory amount of wealth.

What frustrates me is to see African-Americans behave as though what European-Americans say is worthwhile. It simply isn't. It's just some silly people who can make laws and have the power to enforce them. I'm often amazed at the conversations black people have about themselves. They ought to be having these conversations about white people. It's white people who are flawed and at fault.

I've come to see that I'm saying something that people generally do not want to hear.

When I start to write something, I suppose I want it to change me, to make me into something not myself.