It turns out that our intuition is a greater genius than we are.

I think fiction is all about the exercise of the empathetic imagination. Part of what I do is let the stuff I read about meld with what I have experienced.

I'm tempted to do everything. And sometimes I think, "Oh, come on. You can stick that detail somewhere."

I think there's no question that historians create; they would tell you that, I think. If I'm trying to imagine an imperial Roman position, it's much easier to imagine the poor schlub who's not even sure why he's doing what he's doing than it is to imagine Caesar. At least for me. And I'm intrigued, too, by the position of the poor schlub who *still* finds himself supporting the imperial project.

The longer you go by yourself the weirder you get, and the weirder you get the longer you go by yourself.

I don't think conservativism is about a deficiency. I think it's about a commitment to an ideology that has to in some ways devalue the usefulness of empathy. I do think empathy can be learned. And enhanced.

Class is the most taboo subject in America. The American media would rather talk about race or perversion or anything else considered taboo before class.