Banking may well be a career from which no man really recovers.

These are the days when men of all social disciplines and all political faiths seek the comfortable and the accepted; when the man of controversy is looked upon as a disturbing influence; when originality is taken to be a mark of instability; and when, in minor modification of the original parable, the bland lead the bland.

Wealth is not without its advantages and the case to the contrary, although it has often been made, has never proved widely persuasive.

When people put their ballots in the boxes, they are, by that act, inoculated against the feeling that the government is not theirs. They then accept, in some measure, that its errors are their errors, its aberrations their aberrations, that any revolt will be against them. It's a remarkably shrewd and rather conservative arrangement when one thinks of it.

Originality is something that is easily exaggerated, especially by authors contemplating their own work.

I've become accustomed to supporting politicians who are more conservative than I am. This is not entirely a surprise.

I'm certainly going to support Al Gore because, on the whole, he's the more sensible figure and you vote not for the perfect but for the best. Coupled with that is a special situation.