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

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

Giving his lecture for the third time freed Dr. Lionel Gift from paying much attention to it. He had a naturally expressive style of delivery, hones over the years in elementary-econ lecture halls. He knew, without even thinking, to address the middle rows of the hall, but to occasionally "shoot" the listeners in the back corners. He knew how to make eye contact and solicit the attention of those who were thinking of other things.

A theory of creativity is actually just a metaphor. A pool of ideas, a well of memories, a voice.

There are several methods for introducing your children to driving, and all of them are bad. Probably the worst is to put it off.

Horse racing is really much more intimidating than anything having to do with literature. When I had horses at the racetrack, I would wake up in terror in a way that I would never wake up while working on a novel.

If novels and stories are bulletins from the progressive states of ignorance a writer passes through over the years, observations and opinions about horses are all the more so, since horses are more mysterious than life and harder to understand.