New York loves itself in an unkind and fanatical way.
Intelligence is predatory, but full of fastidiousness and frights.
Comedy distances pain, but leaves signs of it everywhere.
If you corner me, you are going to hear some unwelcome truths.
If "there is no harm in asking," why guilt and fear when we do so?
The aphorism offers a momentary sense of mastery over some confusion or unhappiness.