I want to make a difference. But get a job? I worry that will make the ordinary, like everybody else.

He didn’t much like reading novels – he preferred history or philosophy – or poetry, although he could read only a little poetry at a time, because when a poem “spoke to him” it was...

She wanted to remind him, whether his family was there or not. She wanted. And wanted. And endured in her wanting: the damp seat, the dry chicken, more champagne, the headache the champagne brought, the...

It was supposed to say “Great Artist” on my tombstone, but if I died right now it would say “such a good teacher/daughter/friend” instead; and what I really want to shout, and want in big...

I needed them, sure, and we can all argue about the moment when the balance tipped and I needed them so much that I would hurt. But you can’t pretend they didn’t need me too,...

Geniuses have the shortest biographies.

Service is one of life’s great joys. It’s a privilege to be in service. It’s a great relief, a gift, to be faced with a job that you know absolutely you must do for the...