The real history of consciousness starts with one’s first lie.

Because every book of art, be it a poem or a cupola, is understandably a self-portrait of its author, we won’t strain ourselves too hard trying to distinguish between the author’s persona and the poem’s...

When hit by boredom, let yourself be crushed by it; submerge, hit bottom. In general, with things unpleasant, the rule is: The sooner you hit bottom, the faster you surface. The idea here is to...

[T]he longer you stay skeptical, doubtful, intellectually uncomfortable, the better it is for you.

Life—the way it really is—is a battle not between good and bad, but between bad and worse

Of all the parts of your body, be most vigilant over your index finger, for it is blame-thirsty. A pointed finger is a victim’s logo.

…in the business of writing what one accumulates is not expertise but uncertainties. Which is but another name for craft.

For darkness restores what light cannot repair.

There are worse crimes than burning books. One of them is not reading them.

… Now to die of griefwould mean, I’m afraid, to die belatedly, while latecomersare unwelcome, particularly in the future. …

[T]he accumulation of things not spelled out, not properly articulated, may result in neurosis.

Man is what he reads.