What is the purpose of a city if not to grant the greatest of gifts, anonymity?

The eye always fills in the imperfections.

What is the purpose of a city if not to grant the greatest of gifts, anonymity?

Is life less thrilling if your neighbors are rational, if they don’t bomb your power stations whenever they feel you need to be admonished? Is it less rousing if they don’t rattle your windows and nerves with indiscriminate sonic booms just because they can?

I believe one has to escape oneself to discover oneself.

I wonder if being sane means disregarding the chaos that is life, pretending only an infinitesimal segment of it is reality.

I'm an atheist, a devout atheist, but I find religion fascinating. Primarily because of cultural references, as in: This is what we grew up with. Both on a personal level and a collective level.