The right of the people to peacefully assemble and petition their government for a redress of grievances is now worth a pitcher of warm spit. That's because TV will not come and treat it respectfully. Television is really something.

The heartbreaking necessity of lying about reality and the heartbreaking impossibilty of lying about it

I chose cultural anthropology, since it offered the greatest opportunity to write high-minded balderdash.

What we will be seeking... for the rest of our lives will be large, stable communities of like-minded people, which is to say relatives. They no longer exist. The lack of them is not only the main cause, but probably the only cause of our shapeless discontent in the midst of such prosperity.

The primary benefit of practicing any art, whether well or badly, is that it enables one's soul to grow.

I never knew a writer's wife who wasn't beautiful.

The arts are not a way to make a living.