If you attack Stupidity you attack an entrenched interest with friends in government and every walk of public life.

The love that dare not speak its name has become the love that won't shut up.

The egotist is all surface; underneath is a pulpy mess and a lot of self-doubt. But the egoist may be yielding and even deferential in things he doesn't consider important; in anything that touches his core he is remorseless.

"There is no disputing about tastes," says the old saw. In my experience there is little else.

Never harbor grudges; they sour your stomach and do no harm to anyone else.

These matters require what I think of as the Shakespearean cast of thought. That is to say, a fine credulity about everything, kept in check by a lively skepticism about everything.... It keeps you constantly alert to every possibility.

If you're going to do something that looks evil, don't smear it with icing and pretend it's good; just bloody well do it and keep your eyes peeled.