In an age when the fashion is to be in love with yourself, confessing to be in love with somebody else is an admission of unfaithfulness to one's beloved.

The best advice I can give anybody about going out into the world is this: Don't do it. I have been out there. It is a mess....

Letter writing was clearly important to Reagan. Even as president he kept dashing off letters to friends, pen pals, media people, statesmen, critics, and the kind of people who write to presidents never expecting a reply.

Journalism talk is part of the nonstop background noise of American life.

Etiquette is the grease that makes it possible for all of us to rub together without unnecessary overheating.

The charm of television entertainment is its ability to bridge the chasm between dinner and bedtime without mental distraction.

Skinny women don't enjoy being told they're skinny nowadays. They enjoy telling you how they got that way, as though starvation were an achievement.