Most bad books get that way because their authors are engaged in trying to justify themselves. If a vain author is an alcoholic, then the most sympathetically portrayed character in his book will be an alcoholic. This sort of thing is very boring for outsiders.

Consistency is a virtue for trains: what we want from a philosopher is insights, whether he comes by them consistently or not.

Like all wage slaves, he had two crosses to bear: the people he worked for and the people he worked with

The only virtue a character needs to possess between hardcovers, even if he bears a real person's name, is vitality: if he comes to life in our imaginations, he passes the test.

Most bad books get that way because their authors are engaged in trying to justify themselves. If a vain author is an alcoholic, then the most sympathetically portrayed character in his book will be an alcoholic. This sort of thing is very boring for outsiders.

When you close your eyes to tragedy, you close your eyes to greatness.

Perhaps in a book review it is not out of place to note that the safety of the state depends on cultivating the imagination.