The body, the mind, and the spirit don't form a pyramid, they form a circle. Each of them runs into the other two. The body isn't below the mind and the spirit; from the point of view it's between them. if you reside too much in the mind, then you get too abstract and cut off from the world. You long for the spiritual life, but you can't get to it, and you fall into despair. The exercise of the senses frees you from abstraction and opens the way to transcendence.

I have noticed before that there is a category of acquaintanceship that is not friendship or business or romance, but speculation, fascination.

Another thing I learned is that novels, even those from apparently distant times and places, remain current and enlightening, and also comforting.

Every first draft is perfect, because all a first draft has to do is exist.

Oh, that sound? I'm in the hot tub, reading a novel.

Ignorance is a self-generating state of mind; one of its characteristics is that it doesn't recognize itself as ignorance.

Is human nature basically good or evil? No economist can embark upon his profession without considering this question, and yet they all seem to. And they all seem to think human nature is basically good, or they wouldn't be surprised by the effects of deregulation.