The ballet embodies the notes of music. And sometimes you almost feel like you can see the notes dance up there on the stage.

My interest is in power. How power works.

Robert Moses wasn't elected to anything. We're taught that in a democracy power comes from being elected. He had more power than anyone, and he held it for 48 years

I think President Obama has done more than he is given credit for.

You have to be an extremely good reader to appreciate what a good writer is. There are some people who are completely insensitive to good writing.

I write from seven to about noon. I used to try to write longer, but I read and I found that I was always getting myself tired by working in the afternoon and then I was just throwing out what I wrote in the afternoon, so writing then was counterproductive.

To my mind, the prose in a non-fiction work that's going to endure has to be of the same quality as the prose in a work of fiction that endures.