It is the effect of scarcity; one’s rules of propriety make one thirst for the improper.

The fruits of labor are delicious, but individually they’re not particularly fattening. So don’t share yours, and munch on those of others whenever you can.

Childbirth changed my perception of my wife. She was now the bloodied special forces soldier who had fought and risked everything for our family.

I take six or seven years to write really small books. There is a kind of aesthetic of leanness, of brevity.

When people, particularly young people and especially young men, can't imagine themselves as heroes in narratives that they construct for themselves, they look to be heroes in some other way. So young men in America of, let's say, Muslim background, only a tiny, tiny minority - so small as to be almost zero - are likely to ever commit terrorist acts.

I'd rather create a miniature painting than a Taj Mahal of a book.

We need a self because the complexity of the chemical processes that make up our individual humanities exceeds the processing power of our brains.