It's hard not to be afraid. Be less afraid.

One man thinks before he acts. Another man thinks after he acts. Each is of the opinon that the other thinks too much.

That tendency of social thought to generalize, to describe a leading tendency in a society in such a way that it seems that everything falls within its iron laws, is very common. Of course our own experience tells us that life is not as monochrome as these thinkers depict it. On the other hand they are very valuable because they alert us to transformations we are likely to take for granted.

...what I write is smarter than I am. Because I can rewrite it.

A writer, I think, is someone who pays attention to the world.

A thing is a thing, not what is said of that thing.

Decline of the letter, the rise of the notebook! One doesn't write to others any more; one writes to oneself.