One of the pleasures of being a Jew, I don't have to tell you, it allows you anti-Semitism.

Courage is nine-tenths context. What is courageous in one setting can be foolhardy in another and even cowardly in a third.

What, really, is wanted from a neighborhood? Convenience, certainly, an absence of major aggravation, to be sure. But perhaps mostof all, ideally, what is wanted is a comfortable background, a breathing space of intermission between the intensities of private life and the calculations of public life.

Envy is never general, but always very particular - at least envy of the kind one feels strongly.

The reason 'closure' is a cliche is that it is used too often, too imprecisely, and doesn't in any case reflect reality. In reality, such closure in broken friendships and much else in life is rarely achieved; only death brings closure and then not always for those still living.

I know from the middle distance I give off the look of being prolific, which is a funny compliment to receive.

By the way, the secret of speaking French is confidence. Whether you are right or wrong, you don't hesitate.