Any artist must expect to work amid the total, rational indifference of everybody else to their work, for years, perhaps for life.

There are two kinds of knowledge, local and universal.

It is a real wilderness, and those who go there should not feel too safe.

Do you know how to read?" "No. It is one of the black arts." He nodded. "But a useful one," he said.

Crankish attacks on the freedom to read are common at present. When backed and coordinated by organized groups, they become sinister.

The menopause is probably the least glamorous topic imaginable; and this is interesting, because it is one of the very few topics to which cling some shreds and remnants of taboo. A serious mention of menopause is usually met with uneasy silence; a sneering reference to it is usually met with relieved sniggers. Both the silence and the sniggering are pretty sure indications of taboo.

When action grows unprofitable, gather information; when information grows unprofitable, sleep.