To 'know your place' is a good idea in politics. That is not to say 'stay in your place' or 'hang on to your place', because ambition or boredom may dictate upward or downward mobility, but a sense of place - a feel for one's own position in the control room-is useful in gauging what you should try to do.

Create your own constituency of the infuriated.

The wonderful thing about being a New York Times columnist is that it's like a Supreme Court appointment - they're stuck with you for a long time.

A reader should be able to identify a column without its byline or funny little picture on top purely by look or feel, or its turgidity ratio.

By elevating your reading, you will improve your writing or at least tickle your thinking.

One challenge to the arts in America is the need to make the arts, especially the classic masterpieces, accessible and relevant to today's audience.

I'm a right-wing pundit and have been for many years.