There was not an awareness of pop culture in the household. There was a lot of respect for working hard, and for intellectual and professional achievement.

I've always had individual friends, but I didn't find the people I wanted to learn from as an adult until my midtwenties.

Then if he's sore with me, let him dump my ass. That will just give me more time to be a genius.

There are times when things are clear in your head and your heart and everything comes all aligned and it's easy and it just feels good to do something. But most of the time it's not like that. Most of the time there's conflict between your head and your heart.

We tried not to smile, for smiling only encourages men to bore you and waste your time.

My parents are both scientists, and I was raised without god.

I studied art history and philosophy and took economics and political science classes. I just took whatever I wanted and I didn't worry about grades and I read and learned a lot, and I didn't have much of a social life, so it was deeply absorbing.