When I select a topic, it's usually a commitment of two to three years of my life

In a very basic way, a prominent landmark such as Mt. Holyoke tells you where you are. They let you know that you're not the first person in a place

What I like about non-fiction is that it covers such a huge territory. The best non-fiction is also creative

The goofiness of radicals thinking they have to dress in Guatemalan peasant clothes. The poor don't want you to look like them. They want you to dress in a suit and go get them food and water. Comma.

Curing yourself of obsessive compulsive disorder by going to a strip club is pretty strange.

I've gotta keep life and computers separate, or else I'm gonna go mad.

That's when I feel most alive, he told me once on an airplane, when I'm helping people.