I have a particular dislike of human pride. And if you think that you can engineer outcomes, that's a manifestation of pride. Among other things, it's impractical. It just doesn't work. The world doesn't work that way.

Writing is still my main career, but I would love, for instance, to serve in the New York State Assembly.

Marxists are people whose insides are torn up day after day because they want to rule the world and no one will even publish their letter to the editor.

...this marvelous graceful thing, this joy of physics, this perfect balance between rebellion and obedience, is God's own signature on earth.

Heavy blizzards start as a gentle and persistent snow.

Lonely people have enthusiasms which cannot always be explained. When something strikes them as funny, the intensity and length of their laughter mirrors the depth of their loneliness, and they are capable of laughing like hyenas. When something touches their emotions, it runs through them like Paul Revere, awakening feelings that gather into great armies.

La guerre, la guerre, everything la guerre. That's how I grew up. So for me, it's real. It's not something in the past.