The idea that our son would be like Raymond Babbitt was a shocking reordering of everything. And something we couldn't quite fathom, really.

Who besides guys like me are part of the reality-based community?

Confidence is the immaterial residue of material actions. Confidence is the public face of competence.

Every person has their pantheon - the Bible, Hollywood, Shakespeare - their way of understanding the world.

You try to hold on to some notions you might have had before, that this will somehow work out, this is a spell that will lift or be broken.

I think that [Barack Obama] does say something that's - that is telling on that score, when he talks about the [George W.] Bush tax cuts and the swap he makes after the midterm elections, which is he doesn't agree with the Bush tax cuts.

The fact is, most journalists I know are not particularly political. They move around a lot.