People don't get to our ages without having pasts. I'm more interested in the future.

...the collective wisdom of humanity [is] enshrined in its poetry.

Nothing is permanent in this wicked world, not even our troubles.

Be determined to live in the light.

Matter is real to my senses, but they aren't trustworthy. If Galileo or Copernicus had accepted what they saw, they would never have discovered the movement of the earth and planets.

There is something decidedly faux about the camaraderie of Facebook, something illusory about the connectedness of Twitter.

In general, a little controversy isn't harmful: if anything, it gets people interested.

There certainly does seem a possibility that the detective story will come to an end, simply because the public will have learnt all the tricks.

There are not one hundred people in the United States who hate The Catholic Church, but there are millions who hate what they wrongly perceive the Catholic Church to be.

I was playing violin for a long time, about 6 years. It takes a while. You need very patient people in your house when you have a violin.

In The Argonauts, Maggie Nelson turns 'making the personal public' into a romantic, intellectual wet dream. A gorgeous book, inventive, fearless, and full of heart.

It's funny, but I never knew I was hot or could be beautiful until I saw 'Basic Instinct,' and I was so shocked when I saw how pretty they made me.