Early every morning an old woman goes to the market to curse a grocery clerk, who curses back.

The novelty we want is always close to the familiar.

Free competition exists inside shelters of law, custom, insurance, political approval, and carefully protected status.

Sex is not imaginary, but it is not quite real either.

Eagerness to please attracts bullies and bores.

Modernized by tin roofs and T-shirts, Third World poverty is no longer picturesque.

Even the most fickle are faithful to a few bad habits.