“There is only one real sin and that is to persuade oneself that the second best is anything but second best.”

“When you're young you think that you're going to sail into a lovely lake of quietude and peace. This is profoundly untrue.”

“What society doesn't realize is that in the past, ordinary people respected learning. They respected books, and they don't now, or not very much. That whole respect for serious literature and learning has disappeared.”

“There was a time when young people respected learning and literature and now they don't.”

“That is what learning is. You suddenly understand something you've understood all your life, but in a new way.”

“I think kids ought to travel. I think it's very good to carry kids around. It's good for them. Of course it's tough on the parents.”