Try not to live in a linguistic slum.

Silence remains, inescapably, a form of speech.

Al forms of consensus about ''great'' books and ''perennial'' problems, once stabilized, tend to deteriorate eventually into something philistine. The real life of the mind is always at the frontiers of ''what is already known.'' Those great books don't only need custodians and transmitters. To stay alive, they also need adversaries. The most interesting ideas are heresies.

I want to live as long as possible, just to see how stupid it gets.

Why wouldn't you write to escape yourself as much as you might write to express yourself? It's far more interesting to write about others.

What is the most beautiful in virile men is something feminine; what is most beautiful in feminine women is something masculine.

Fear binds people together. And fear disperses them. Courage inspires communities: the courage of an example - for courage is as contagious as fear. But courage, certain kinds of courage, can also isolate the brave.