Humankind struggles with collective powers for its freedom, the individual struggles with dehumanization for the possession of his soul.

Art is order, made out of the chaos of life.

Boredom is an instrument of social control. Power is the power to impose boredom, to command stasis, to combine this stasis with anguish. The real tedium, deep tedium, is seasoned with terror and with death.

There are times when the most practical thing is to lie down.

There is only one way to defeat the enemy, and that is to write as well as one can. The best argument is an undeniably good book.

If I had a child of school age, I would send him to one of the Waldorf Schools.

You're all alone when you're a writer. Sometimes you just feel you need a humanity bath. Even a ride on the subway will do that. But it's much more interesting to talk about books. After all, that's what life used to be for writers: they talk books, politics, history, America. Nothing has replaced that.