I Would Say That By Virtue Of

I Think That Foreignness Is Always With You. Indeed, I Find California More Foreign To Me The Longer I Live Here. In Thirty Years Of Living Here On And Off, It Hasn't Lost Anything Of Foreignness. If Anything, It Has Gained.

I Think People Like Me Are In A Relatively Privileged Position Because We Have To Some Extent Chosen To Live In Foreign Places. I Would Always Make The Distinction Between Those Who Are Exiles In Terms Of Being Thrown Out Of The Place They Want To Be, And Others Who Are Exiles In Terms Of Going Toward A Place They Would Rather Be.

I Think America The Symbol And America The Notion Are Still Very Different From America The Nation. What's Touching And Almost Regenerative Is That Whatever Is Happening In The Reality Of America, Where There Is A Murder Rate Worse Than Lebanon's And Where There Is So Much Homelessness And Poverty, Still America Will Be A Shorthand Throughout The World For Everything That Is Young And Modern And Free.

The Central Paradox Of The Machines That Have Made Our Lives So Much Brighter, Quicker, Longer And Healthier Is That They Cannot Teach Us How To Make The Best Use Of Them; The Information Revolution Came Without An Instruction Manual.

In The Past, Ive Visited Remote Places - North Korea, Ethiopia, Easter Island - Partly As A Way To Visit Remote States Of Mind: Remote Parts Of Myself That I Wouldnt Ordinarily Explore.