Placing the extraordinary at the center of the ordinary, as realism does, is a great comfort to us stay-at-homes.

Doubt is long-winded. Certainty is brief.

Jokes are unanswerable objections.

Glamour looks eloquent but seldom talks.

Sophistication knows the score, but is powerless to change it.

Reason argues the case, but fact may determine the judgment.

Deconstruction glorifies the critic, humiliates the author, and makes the reader wonder why he bothered.