In the greatest art, one is always aware of things that cannot be said. . .of the contradiction between expression and the presence of the inexpressible. Stylistic devices are also techniques of avoidance. The most potent elements of a work of art are, often, its silences.

The wisdom of literature is quite antithetical to having opinions. 'Nothing is my last word about anything,' said Henry James. Furnishing opinions, even correct opinions - whenever asked - cheapens what novelists and poets do best, which is to sponsor reflectiveness, to pursue complexity. Information will never replace illumination.

Strictly speaking, it is doubtful that a photograph can help us understand anything.

Reality has come to seem more and more like what we are shown by cameras.

'Camp' is a vision of the world in terms of style - but a particular style. It is the love of the exaggerated.

Photographs objectify: they turn an event or a person into something that can be possessed.

We are told we must choose - the old or the new. In fact, we must choose both. What is a life if not a series of negotiations between the old and the new?