An essential part of power is the freedom not to think too deeply

Desire is never final, desire is imprecise and impractical [...]

And it's just anathema to being a writer. It's not healthy. But in another way, when I'm writing, what it's about for me is being good on the page. None of that noise could change the way I feel about my writing. Which is not always particularly positive.

People profess to have certain political positions, but their conservatism or liberalism is really the least interesting thing about them.

Oh, I know that. You know me, baby, I cannot be broken. Takes a giant to snap me in half.

I used to take that God's-eye view as a comfort when I was a child. I'd think, "Well, we couldn't find the world meaningful at all if it weren't for death." Of course, that is the smuggest and most intolerable of all perspectives because I'm not suffering from the death or the pain.

You don't come to live here unless the delusion of a reality shaped around your own desires isn't a strong aspect of your personality. A reality shaped around your own desires - there is something sociopathic in that ambition.