The brave view is that talking it out helps work it out. Maybe the realistic view is that talking it out inflames the issues further. But that is America, especially these days.

English majors understand human nature better than economists do.

A novelist is on the cusp between someone who knows everything and someone who knows nothing.

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

Gossip. The more you talk about why people do things, the more ideas you have about how the world works.

We sort of read two or three big newspapers but we don't get the flavor of the local events, the local news as much.

Well, in fact everybody - everybody - in the entire nation has enough stuff in their life to write about that's interesting that they could write their autobiography. And in the end that's why I find people interesting.