The knowledge that my discriminations are skewed and not always universally desirable doesn't stop me in the least from making them.

I'm fortunate in being able to find great satisfaction in my work.

The essay must be artistically rendered: You must keep the reader engaged, whether with wit, conflict, mischief, and/or yes, with honesty.

Hedonism can be a rational response to a difficult life.

... I vowed that I would always respect the right of an individual to kill himself. Whether suicide was a moral or immoral act I no longer felt sure, but of the dignity of its intransigence I was convinced.

The prospect of a long day at the beach makes me panic. There is no harder work I can think of than taking myself off to somewhere pleasant, where I am forced to stay for hours and 'have fun'.

My wife and daughter have accused me of being too silent at breakfast but I don't want to talk when I don't have much to say.